Chaturday Post #23
acting, acting, and writing
Hiya, dear readers!
Branding News
As you may have noticed, what was once Rogues & Starships is now The Typing Cat Dispatch, which mirrors my publishing brand Typing Cat Press. Rogues & Starships was something I fell into without much thought, and as my writing expands beyond science fiction into epic fantasy, supernatural thrillers, actual plays and more, this new name gives me room to grow. We still have a few more branding touches to take care of, but all of it should be complete by next week.
Don’t worry Outworld Ranger fans, I’ll still be writing science fiction adventures, too.
Writing Updates
Outworld Ranger 6 chapters continue to be planned, written, and edited. This is going to be an awesome book. And for those who may have missed the update last week, Book 6 now has an official title: Protocol SLK-001.
Chains of a Dark Goddess chapters are being edited as time permits, and I will start posting those very soon.
I’m evaluating future edits on Storm Phase. Expect a lot more from that series in 2025.
Acting Adventures
I was cast in a short film (currently delayed) and played two days in an indie feature film—Reparation—as a cold, racist antebellum killer. I love being on set. There’s always so much great creative energy. On Reparashun I got to work with a stunt coordinator on a fight scene—throwing punches, pistol-whipping someone, wielding a prop firearm. That was so much fun, and a great learning experience too.
But wow, was it brutal.
For the scenes I was in, we filmed two nights in July in Georgia with daytime temps hitting the mid-90s. The heat was brutal, but it was far from the worst part. We were filming out in the woods. And dear gods, the chiggers. Even using bug spray, they ate me up. That first morning, I woke up with my legs burning without a clue what was going on. After the second day of filming, my legs were a topographical map of the country Itch. I had so many bug bites that I was under the weather for a week afterward. I’ve been getting chigger bites since I was a toddler, but never that many with such a bad reaction.
But you know what? It was all so worth it because acting is hella fun, and I had a great time with all of the cool people on set. I'm looking forward to the movie's debut.
The Two-Day Marathon
Recently, I had 16 auditions due in the span of two days, with only three days to prepare. That was intense and didn't leave much time for writing, which I didn't care for. I prefer to maintain a balance. With that many auditions, it's hard to do justice to the roles. Most were day player roles, so for those, I just loaded the lines into memory right before filming, did the thing, and then moved on. I focused my energy on the lead and supporting roles.
The One That Got Away
I was nearly offered a lead role for an indie feature film, a horror piece with a great script. But unfortunately, the filming schedule would have required me to travel to NJ nine times. They didn't have the budget for that, and given what they were paying and what I earn writing, unfortunately neither did I. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing how the movie turns out!
What's Next
Today, I'm heading to a workshop with one of the casting directors I've gotten background roles and many auditions from. They're going to critique one of my auditions (one I didn't do for them) and take questions. I’ll get to learn what I’m doing right, and what I’m doing wrong.
It's very exciting to get a chance like this, plus it's good to interact with people in real life. I don’t do that much.
Reading
- The Ironsworn: Starforged rulebook
- The Shining
Watching
Season 3 of The Boys, after finishing Preacher (which was great).
Listening
Industrial synthwave music by the artist SIERRA.
Let's Connect
Any of you on Duolingo? If so, feel free to add me as a friend! My profile name is TypingCat. I'm always up for new language learning buddies.
Best wishes, and happy reading,
David Alastair Hayden
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