It's September, right? No, wait. It's October!
Hey Neighbors! It's been a wild summer. Here's a quick wrap up:
#HumansLog : In June, I was able to join some of my husband's family for a cross-country family reunion. I flew to Kansas City to meet up with the Racine and Chicago fam, and from there we drove to visit the Fort Collins, CO fam, celebrate a wedding and cousins' baby announcement, then we drove to Broken Bow, Nebraska to lay the family matriarch to rest in Comstock. From Nebraska, we drove back to Wisconsin to drop off #TeamRacine, then back home to Chicago. In 8 days? It was lovely time well-spent. There was joy and mourning. Beer, tears, an ER visit (all is well), and the best steak I've had in my life. And. When we got home, the introverts needed a vacation from vacation. IYKYK
#ActorsLog : The American Premiere of LONDON ROAD that I was in with Shattered Globe Theatre won a Jeff Award for Direction and Production in the Medium Theatre category! For reference, The Jeff Awards are like the Tony's for Chicagoland Theatre. Also for reference, it's an awarding system that struggles with disproportionate gatekeeping. There's been some progress. And. Work to do. All told, it was a lovely evening to celebrate and recognize and be recognized along side of my fellow artists, many of whom I have admired for decades. My sweet husband and my wonderful Dad (representing for the Sheppard/Larkin folks) were able to join me for the event. It was a really special moment.
#AlsoActorsLog : Y'all. I co-narrated my first audiobook, EVERYTHING THERE IS by two-time Giller Prize winner M.G. Vassanji! It was such a cool experience! Y'all, I can get down with some audiobook narration…
#AvailableForHireUnderTheAppropriateUnionContract
And speaking of contracts...
#FairLaborSeason : Ou! It's been QUITE a season. I'm a union member of both SAG-AFTRA and Actor's Equity. If you'd like to know about the streaming contract strike, you can visit https://www.sagaftrastrike.org . Negotiators are back at the table for the streaming contract after 50+ days of the strike (PRAISE THE LORD!) Negotiations are ongoing for the Video Games/Interactive contract, and for Actor's Equity, we're currently negotiating terms for the expired Chicago Area Theatres (CAT) contracts. The big issues for each of these negotiations are wages, use of artificial intelligence to generate new content (for SAG-AFTRA), and safe working conditions across all three contracts. As a dual-union member, there's a lot of information to try to wrap my mind around, for sure. Some Sister-Friends and I have been meeting daily for a prayer call to lift up all directly and adjacently affected by the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP strikes. We're still at it! All are welcome to join the call.
And now I come to….
#WritersLog : For the sci-fi novel, I've been able to write and map pretty consistently over the last few months. I'm at 658 pages and counting!!! I'm closer to where I think the first draft of the first book in the series ends. Then I'll start moving towards developmental editing (for themes, flow, comprehension, etc.) Then re-writes. Because writing is re-writing. There's a lot to do, but/and I'm excited! Here is an excerpt I'd like to share with you, circa pg. 622:
Sergeant Gin helped me wash the rest of the blood from my hair. Now she ties off my puff of curls low at the nape of my neck and smooths down the hairs at my temples.
“We have a PA in the infirmary, Lieutenant Doker, who made sure all the attendees knew how to lay edges,” she says, “In case we have any patients who don’t want to be hurt, sick, and ‘lookin’ a whole mess’!” she laughs, warm.
“Please send my compliments to the Lieutenant!” I try to smile, but the right side of my face is still a little numb. She wraps a scarf around my hairline to set the hold gel.
“Aw! I’m not as good as he is at it, but we’ll get your baby hairs together.” She gets quiet a moment. “Was…"
I love a hair-moment, but what resonates with me about this is the thoughtfulness and the kindness of a care-professional taking the extra time to style this Black woman's hair. Never underestimate the power of a fresh do. Never underestimate the power of a little extra kindness.
So, like I said, I am pressing on and writing pages. If you're able to donate to support our coffee supply, I would really appreciate your extra kindness.
Thanks for reading my summer rippity-wrap-up!
Love y'all!
-Leslie Ann
p.s. I don't remember if I've mentioned this, but I have a newish IG account (since my other main account got hacked). You can follow me on Instagram @leslieannsheppardlewks ! #auditionfitcheck
