Are you sliding into the dog days of summer? I don't know about where you're at, but it is HOT! A few years back, in the midst of a heatwave, I wondered what life would be like if Maggie took whatever force was behind it. And, lo, Lazy, Hazy Days of MacKays was born! This is a Maggie MacKay: Holiday Special and these short(ish) stories run about 40-pages of mindless, fluffy fun. They're basically just an opportunity to hang out with your favorite characters. You can grab your copy on all the sites!

(And if you're reading the story, here's a bonus colorized picture of the historic camera obscura.)

But what else is going on? Well, I killed almost all my social media (sorry about that, folks!) in a desperate effort to quit falling down the unending internet hole of doom scrolling and use that time for writing. If you're reading this newsletter, CONGRATS! You are now the most up-to-date of everyone! I always knew you were a cut above the rest.

But you may be cocking your head and going, "Kate? I haven't seen anything about you doing any fancy new 'writing' lately..."

Well, that's because it has all been on stage. I had four shows go up in ONE weekend last month across the globe. I KNOW! It's crazy awesome! And they also ALL needed rewrites. That was not crazy awesome. But it's a lovely challenge to have.

The first show that might put a smile on your face is that I adapted A Spirited Manor for the stage. It started with a full production at Vashon High School, then a staged reading at the Driftwood Players, and now armed with all the knowledge of those experiences, I'm desperately rewriting for a full production at Bellevue College next summer. Eep! It lives!

(Vashon High School cast of A Spirited Manor - directed by Andy James)

(Driftwood After Dark staged reading cast - directed by Tammis Doyle)

Working for Crumbs (formerly BureauCRAZY) has also gone on to new life. It was included in the Vashon Rep Theatre Festival, directed by Christopher Kehoe, and had a fantastic reading at the Snapdragon Cafe. There's nothing better than watching super talented people read your words while sipping a cup of coffee and snacking on a cookie (NOT OATMEAL RAISIN.)

(I appreciated they had created an altar to cookies in that fish tank with the lights on the righthand side. AS IT SHOULD BE.)

Meanwhile, across the pond, I had a couple pieces go up with the Director's Cut as part of End of Term and Art from the Heart at the Southwark Playhouse. It's a really incredible group and they are worth following. The talent pool there is insane and I feel very privileged to have gotten looped in with them from halfway around the globe. It's like the old rep theatres that have all but disappeared here in the states. There's a very old skool Steppenwolf feel to what's happening there.

Cecilie Fray (assistant director - Moulin Rouge! West End) from the Director's Cut Theatre chose to workshop some scenes from Working for Crumbs as part the Encompass Scheme at the Pleasance Theatre. She's now taken the show under her wing, so if you know any producers in London who might want to put on a show, let me know!

Meanwhile, Chris Rowley (director - Molly Moon, Bonneville) snatched up Building Madness to workshop as part of the Encompass Scheme at the Southwark Playhouse. Rumor has it that Building Madness maaaaay get a full production in the Pacific Northwest next year, but it's still in pencil, so don't count any unhatched chickens yet.

MEANWHILE, it was the pandemic and Agatha Christie's first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, came into the public domain here in the United States, so I figured, what the heck. Why not try to adapt it? Well, I put it up on the New Play Exchange and out of the blue, Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis contacts me, asking if I'd be willing to go through a development process with them in prep for a full production in the fall. To which I said, "HECK YES!"

So, we met every week starting in June. A cast would read it on Zoom, everyone would give notes, I'd have a week to do all the rewrites, and then we'd read the next draft, rinse and repeat until we did a full public reading. I'm locking in the script this week (that means, "It's DONE! NO MORE CHANGES!") and we're gearing up for the full production in November/December.

Auditions are happening now if you live in Minneapolis! It's been a joy and I've fallen so in love with this world. I sincerely hope that I've done justice to Agatha Christie's characters and story because I tell you what, she was a pretty good at the whole writing thing.

Well, that's it for now! HAHAHAH!! THAT'S IT! THAT's IT! Apologies for the world's longest newsletter. But hey, this is why you haven't seen any new books from me for awhile. However, pick up Lazy, Hazy Days of MacKays if you haven't already. It's super fun. Tell your friends if you like my books! The proceeds of all sales right now are going to the making of theatre! Every purchase makes you and them a direct patron of the arts! The muses thank ye! And so do I!