My Life is a High School Musical: How the
Arts Impacted My Teen Years
Every night
after dinner, I used to hold my napkin over my head and say in a sing-song
voice, “Hope you enjoyed our sho-o-ow!” With a dramatic flick of my fingers, I
would release the napkin over my face, and that was the final curtain on our
meal. Family dinners were one big stage production, at least for me. As the
youngest of four, I had to do something
to get everyone’s attention.
Growing up,
I took dance and choir classes. I loved the idea of singing and dancing just
like the people did in all those wonderful musicals I watched or listened to.
Being the center of attention never seemed to bother them. But when it was me in front of people
who weren’t my family at the dinner table, I wanted to run and hide behind a
napkin.
It wasn’t
until high school when I found my niche in the arts. A group of friends and I
entered ourselves into the variety show to perform a play that I co-wrote. I
don’t remember what the play was called, but it was about a dating show gone
horribly wrong. I played the part of a crazy lady who has a strange fascination
with picnic blankets. Umm, yeah. But I wasn’t too nervous about performing on
stage because I wasn’t playing myself. Okay, maybe that’s debatable, but still.
Anyway, we
received a standing ovation for our play, and I was completely hooked. Both the
writing and playing the part of other people fascinated me, and my imagination
took off. I became other people in my stories, but they became the center of attention, not me. As an author, I get to
hide behind my computer screen instead of a napkin!
At the end
of the next book I write, instead of typing THE END, I’m going to type HOPE YOU
ENJOYED OUR SHO-O-OW! The book will come with a free napkin, or better yet—a
picnic blanket!
How about
you? Are you an in front of the napkin kind of person? Or do you like to hide
behind it with me?
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Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school
librarian in rural Kansas. When she's not discussing books with anyone who will
listen, she's dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and
she'll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced
coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize.
She's been
with her significant other for almost two decades.
To find out
more, visit: http://www.lindseyrloucks.com
Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead -- just like the prom queen did. While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging. She should have listened. Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth. With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.
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