the slack daily

A Step Closer to Honeymoon #2!

Will, to me:

Since we're leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow, should I stay on the couch tonight? Pretend it's the night before* our wedding?

Me, to Will:

Wouldn't that entail staying out 'til 3am and losing all our money?

*I still let him sleep in the bed.

The Honeymooners

Two and a half years after getting married, Will and I are finally going on a (small) honeymoon. We're heading up to San Francisco (if you'd like to see us, RSVP to this!) for a few days. 

We're flying Virgin, which offers the opportunity to upgrade 24 hours before you fly for a smaller fee than if you had booked a first class ticket at the start.  Seats were available, so I took the plunge.

Why not? How many times are we going to go on a honeymoon? I asked him.

Three times, tops.

Second Semester?

Many of you have been reading here for years. Some of you have been reading me for much, much longer. As long as I've been writing on the Internet (erm, 12 years now...) I've been writing about my writing career.

Or lack thereof.

You've seen the ups, the downs, the way-downs, the rock bottom, the pick-axe to break through rock bottom, and the gradual ascent as I've clawed my way back up. The past six months have been a whirlwind of vampires and zombies and vampires.

And it may not be over.

People have been asking about a second season of Valemont. Today, I heard from my boss, mentor, and all-around transmedia smartypants Brent that we may have a shot at a season two.

From his post on Valemont Commons:

We are currently in serious talks with MTV about growing Valemont into a real TV show.   Towards that end, MTV is airing a 1hr. "Extended Edition" of the earlier 1/2 hour special they already aired a few weeks back.   This will be a new cut, ending at around Ep 20 story-wise, withmessaging to drive new viewers to MTV.com where they can watch the last 15 Episodes (plus two alternate endings) of the show.   Obviously, you have probably already seen all the episodes.   But where you can help is this:  ask all your family and friends who might enjoy the show to please watch this special edition; if you want to rewatch that would be great too.

Strong TV ratings on the special would be nice, but the key here is the clickthru rate from on-air to online.   How many viewers get hooked by the end of the 1 hr. edition and migrate to MTV.com to watch the remaining 15 Eps will go a long way in determining the fate of Valemont.  So if you want to help guarantee a Season 2, let's overwhelm MTV with positive numbers this Sat night!

So I'm asking for your help.

Please watch the Valemont special (one hour! Cut together! With extras!) on MTV this Saturday, November 28 at 6pm EST then go to MTV.com to watch the final 15 episodes. Tell your friends! Tell your co-workers! Tell your family!

If you're forgetful (like I am) you can RSVP to the "event" here on Facebook.

Many thanks.

xo!

It's a Good Thing Will Was Sick.

If you watch our show, you know that Will has a thing for Jason Segel. As boy-crushes go, I totally approve.

A couple of nights ago, Jason sat in with The Swell Season at the Wiltern here in LA to perform a song he wrote.

It's a good thing Will was sick.

As many of you know, the show I'm working on is winding down, and there's no better way to celebrate my soon-to-be-unemployment than by catching Paul F. Tompkins' show this Saturday, November 21 at Largo at the Coronet. If you live in LA, you should go, too.

(Yes, I know. We talk about the PFT a lot but that's because he's made of funny, and people with that much talent should be showering in thousand dollar bills. Although thousand dollar bills are probably dirty, seeing as how rich people use them to blow their nose in. May have to work on that one.)

Want the PFT to come to your town? Start a Facebook group, and get 300 people to do. Details here.

(And if you find yourself in need of a TV/Comedy/Animation/Web/Transmedia/ARG writer in December, well, you know where to find me.)

This Is One of Those Posts Where I Post About How I Haven't Been Posting.

Miss me? No? Well, too bad. I'm back. For like half a second, so if you didn't miss me you're lucky in that this will be short (but longer than half a second. See? Believe the hype, I'm a liar, too!)

Work has been worky (and wonderful. But worky!) and there are days when I want to take the Internet, fold it up into a small square and stuff it in my pocket until later. Later will now be the first week of December, when Will and I take our belated honeymoon. If you're in San Francisco on December 1, join us for cocktails! Details here.

Saturday marked our return to BetheMarriage LIVE! (On Ice), our first regular show in weeks. It was boozy, dirty, and one person had to be kicked out of the chatroom...so business as usual. Missed it? Lucky for you, you can catch it below.

Remembering Dad of Boy.

In case you missed last night's special BetheMarriage, you can catch it here:

Once again, thank you to all who came, watched, and participated in the chat room. Will and I are endlessly grateful.

Right now the house smells of garlic and basil.  Meatballs and sausage are simmering on the stove. Wine is out and the table is set.

We'll see some of you shortly.

A Special BetheMarriage...

This Saturday night, Will and I are bringing back BetheMarriage at a special time to honor Dad of Boy with an hour (or more) of toasts and tales like these.

Join us at 6pm PST (that's 9pm Eastern) on Saturday, November 7th for BetheMarriage: Remembering Dad of Boy.

(He would have loved that he was our greatest source of material.)

Thank you all for your kindness, and we'll see you on Saturday night!

The Power of Now.

Twitter is all about the power of now. It was one of the things I stressed in my talk at the 140 Conference last week. Right after I spoke, I had an idea.

As many of you know, I wrote the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) for Valemont which takes place over multiple platforms (ValemontU.com, Facebook, Twitter, Poppy's Blog, with a healthy dose of help from the fan-run Valemont Commons.) I also tweet as multiple characters in the show.

Tonight marks our last on-air episodes on MTV; we currently air at 9:57pm (before the Hills) and at 11:00pm (after the City.) A Big Secret is revealed tonight at the Panthera House Party. A party that many in our online community are dying to go to.

So I wondered, what would happen if someone broke into the party, and tweeted from it as if it was happening in real time? As is, right before, during, and after the episodes aired?

And that's when PantheraHP was born. We'll be breaking into the party at 9:30 EST.

The account is protected, because breaking into a House Party on the Valemont campus is dangerous. So you must have a Twitter account to pay along.

Join us...if you dare.

MTV is also running all 12 episodes of Valemont late tonight (1:00am) back to back in a half-hour format. Missed an episode? Hate waiting through The Hills?  Check your local listings and set your DVRs!

How I Became a Zombie (Amongst Other Things) on Twitter.

My talk at the 140 Conference last week: 

This past weekend I had a realization: I need to stop selling myself as a TV Writer who dabbles in Web TV. I do more than dabble. And transmedia storytelling is the first thing that I have been truly excited about since I got my first writing job.  I have lived and played and created online since 1997. When I started, there wasn't a word for that.

And now? I'm an ARG Creator and a Transmedia Storyteller.

(Who needs business cards.)

While we're on the subject, check out my friend Taryn O'Neill's new series "Hurtling Through Space at an Alarming Rate" which premiered TODAY! Congrats, Taryn!