Wade Bradford’s Blog

Barnes and Noble will be launching their Summer Reading Kickoff for kids this week, and I will be making a couple appearances.

I will be reading my picture book, “Why Do I Have to Make My Bed?” at the Burbank Barnes and Noble this Thursday. Here’s the store’s address and info:

Media City Center
Burbank Town Center, 731 N San Fernando Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502, 818-558-1383

This coming Saturday at 10:30 I will be reading and signing books at the Thousand Oaks Barnes and Noble. (160 S. Westlake Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
805-446-2820)

I guess I should say I will be signing my books. I won’t just go around the store signing random books. They probably wouldn’t like that.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone! And Happy Birthday to my wife Cheri!

From Cabaret Night at Westminster College:

I don’t know that I have ever had writer’s block. I have always been able to sit down and write something (although it wasn’t always good, and it wasn’t always what i was supposed to be writing.)

However, I often go through periods when I am too busy to focus on my writing projects. That has happened a lot since my kids came into the world, God Bless them. Sometimes I have to grade papers. Sometimes I have to do things around the house. Sometimes I am doing stuff at the Canyon Theatre Guild.

But what I have noticed lately is that when I am not able to write, I have been very moody, sort of filled with angry daydreams of what I would be writing if I could be writing. It was getting very frustrating.

Normally I respond to this negative mood by staying up late and trying to write after a long busy day of doing other stuff. But the quality of my late night writing is general not that great. And since I am getting old, I am getting tired.

So, I tried something for the first time in my life. I gave myself a week in which I would NOT write creatively. (I had to keep up with my About.com Guidesite, of course — but that’s mostly non-fiction stuff.) I also did my best to STOP THINKING ABOUT WRITING. So basically, I have been trying to be very present in my daily life, and not so embittered with daydreams.

It’s been about three days since my self-imposed writer’s block has come to an end, and I feel revitalized. I am not sure if it’s because I forced myself to stop brooding and to take a break, or if I am just re-energized because I have really missed just sitting at my computer writing stuff. Whatever the cause, the effect seems positive. here’s what I am working on presently:

I am currently tinkering with “The Greatest Play Ever Written” (Yes, that’s the actual title. Pretentious, isn’t it? But in my defense, my editors suggested the title.)

I am also looking for a home for “Curse of the Pharaoh’s Kiss.” My friend Chris Sands has been seeking a theater for about two years now, but kismet hasn’t kicked in yet.

I just finished a One Act play — it’s in my Shakespeare Spoof series, in the tradition of “Romeo Revised,” “Hopeless Hamlet,” and “Macbeth Mixed Up.”

And my big project is a middle grade novel. I won’t mention the name, but I will say it’s an adventure that takes place at a summer camp. (Or, perhaps I should say, it starts at a summer camp.)

Finally I am happy to announce that I will be attending the SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles. I am especially excited about this because I haven’t been there in almost three years — and I always come up with great ideas every time I attend.

So, good things are going on with me. What about you out there in cyberland? What are you working on?

The Junior Cabaret was a smashing success. Someday when I have more time to blog I’ll put up some photos. The kids were terrific. We had one serious technical problem in Act One — the microphones started to die. (We didn’t change the batteries.) But the kids pulled through, sang louder than ever, and we quickly fixed the problem during intermission. I think the Canyon Theatre Guild raised over 8000 dollars.

It was a great night.

And tomorrow (June 11th), I am looking forward to a great morning. I will be reading my book “Why Do I Have to Make My Bed?” at the Barnes and Noble in Manhattan Beach. Story time starts at 11am, and I will be signing copies afterward. Here’s the address in case you are interested:

Manhattan Gateway Shopping Center, 1800 Rosecrans Avenue Building B, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266,
Phone: 310-725-7025

Hey, all friends and followers in the Southern California area, I hope you can check out our show. Help support the arts and youth theater!

The Canyon Theater proudly presents “Junior Cabaret: Back to the Summer.” This fund-raising event, filled with music, dance, and laughter, features some of the most talented and enthusiastic kids in the Santa Clarita Valley. “Back to the Summer” is a musical romp through time, jam-packed with upbeat songs from across the decades!

Seats are between $20 and $40. Order tickets our box office at (661) 799-2702. (The sooner the better, because we might sell out!)

PS — This awesome poster was created by our equally awesome vocal director, Marcella Lively!

I often don’t blog about my Plays/Drama Guidesite on my personal blog, but I probably should — because I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

One of my most proudest moments was back in 2007 when I was first hired to write for About.com. It was the first and only time I have been paid to write on a monthly basis. And best of all, I get to write about what I love: PLAYS!

Every time I write an article, I learn something new. Today, I wrote about Rain Boxes — a cool old fashioned sound effects still used in theaters today.

Last winter, my little play Promedy (one of my personal favorites) was selected and performed by a group of students from an academy in Montreal, Quebec. I stumbled across one of the photos from the school production. Looks like they did a great job!

As always, I am grateful when schools perform my play, and it is especially exciting when other countries take on my material.

I love this lengthy photograph!

I hope it fits on my blog.

Cinderella in New York is available at Eldridge Plays. It marks a bittersweet turning point in my playwriting career because it was the first children’s show that I created in which I did not direct. Back in the 90s, my friend Joshua and I directed several original musicals (all of which, in some form or another) became published plays. The last of those Wade and Josh productions was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: the Musical” – which was probably our best show. That was back in 2000, which is the year I finished college and realized it was time for me to start working full-time and focus on raising a family. So, I said farewell to directing shows during the spring and summer time.

But I kept writing, of course, and was very pleased when Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera produced one last Bradford show: Cinderella in New York. It’s my little valentine to a city I wish I could visit much more often.

Laurisa was kind enough to interview me for her blog, A 1000 Wrongs. If you are wondering about the title, it is explained via a Dennis Miller quote at the top of her website:

“Two wrongs may not make a right, but a thousand wrongs make a writer.” – Dennis Miller

Love it.

Click here to read the interview, and guests on her blog can leave a comment and enter to win a free copy of “Why Do I Have to Make My Bed?”

Here’s my book featured at the Early Childhood School Library.

Normally, I am afraid of alligators. But this guy seems friendly. (At the very least, he has good taste in children’s literature.)

They also wrote a very nice review of “Why Do I Have to Make My Bed?” Thanks so much for your support, ECS Library!