2 Legit 2 Quit

The Star Truck Innerthighs flies again!

In this, the fourth year of establishing myself as an independent playwright, an uphill road to say the very least, I had three very special surprises that keep the fires stoked when the flames begin to flicker.

First off, Melanie Delbridge of Sugar High Theatricals in Galesburg, Illinois contacted me after finding DEAD TUESDAYon my  online storefront and wished to produce it, appropriately enough, on Fat Tuesday back in February. Alas, the date was postponed and rescheduled for April, adding two additional performances. First off, finding the play to begin with harkens back to what began this whole process for me when The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville discovered SONG OF THE CANYON KID back in 2012. After that, I met my angel and another Mel, Melanie Roady of Mel O'Drama Theater who commissioned me to pen my first murder mystery, THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, a play I have since re-named DEAD TUESDAY, thanks to another angel, producer Jerri Wiseman of StageCoach Theatre.

Secondly, producer/director Roscoe of the San Luis Valley Theatre Company of Fort Garland, Colorado will present the second production of STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON under its brand spanking new title MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER on the first weekend of June. Activate fist pump sequence...NOW!

If one of my plays is produced, I am obviously over the moon. However, I am in this for the long haul and prefer that these are not one night stands. In my insecure mind, one production is a fluke, but a second time around makes it legitimate. For example, SONG OF THE CANYON KID had its premiere at the late and legendary Palace Showboat Theatre in 1986. Once I put the script out there by self-publishing it, the second production did not occur until over 25 years later. The vindication for DEAD TUESDAY happened last year, two years after its initial offering. Now MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER becomes legit two years later as well.

Just to wrap this all up in a pretty bow, SONG OF THE CANYON KID will be the last production in series of melodramas this summer at the Mantorville Theatre Company in Minnesota, a group I have been soliciting every year since I first began marketing my plays. But thanks to Mantorville's Melisa Ferris pushing this through, my persistence-and pestering-has paid off.

There seems to be something about women named Mel that must transform them into theater angels. As for Jerri and Roscoe, I may have to call you Mel too. After all, who knows for whom the Mel tolls. It tolls for me.

On that note, I'll just exit, stage right.

Like these theater companies on Facebook, wouldja?
SUGAR HIGH THEATRICALS 
SAN LUIS VALLEY THEATRE COMPANY
MANTORVILLE THEATRE COMPANY
STAGECOACH THEATRE COMPANY
MEL O'DRAMA THEATER

For more info about my plays, please visit SCOTT CHERNEY'S STOREFRONT or my website
WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

See also: BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY

Sunset on the Lone Prairie

It's official.

The melodrama formerly known as SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE will be known from this day forward as SONG OF THE CANYON KID. This coincides with the book of the same name making it all one big happy Canyon Kid family. Just call me Marlon Re-Brando. Next up is the SONG OF THE CANYON KID coloring book, the SONG OF THE CANYON KID action figures and of course, LEGO SONG OF THE CANYON KID which you can curse to the high heavens when you step on one of the pieces in the middle of the night when you're on your way to the can.

This here proclamation o' mine  also arrives just in the nick of time for the next (and last for 2016) production of SOTCK begins July 22 and running through August 27 at Theatre Suburbia in Houston, Texas as what they charmingly refer to as their annual Summer "Mellerdrammer".

THEATRE SUBURBIA WEBSITE

That will make five productions in the past three years. Not bad for a nearly 30 year old property, even though it was almost three decades between the first and second staging of said "classic".

I've chronicled the creation of this script in previous posts, most notably THE CANYON KID RIDES AGAIN,  And quite frankly, it;s been very good for me. It's my best melodrama script and I am completely floored, flattered and absolutely flabbergasted by its success, something I will never take lightly..

But after the 2014 show at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano where it was named SONG OF THE CANYON KID  for the first time, I wanted to make it a permanent change. I drug my feet because there were theaters that I had submitted the script under its original name and since they has already announce for their seasons, I didn't feel I could change it until after those made their final curtains.

Now I can, have and did. THE LONE PRAIRIE now rides into the sunset. Adios, old friend. Vaya con dios.

To obtain a copy of the script for SONG OF THE CANYON KID in paperback or download, please visit my store.
SCOTT CHERNEY'S STOREFRONT.
You can also find the novelization of said script there as well, not to mention e-books available at
AMAZON, NOOK, I-TUNES and KOBO.

For information about stage rights for SONG OF THE CANYON KID, drop me a line at:
writtenbysc@gmail.com.

Press Press Pull

The recowboybooting of The Song of the Canyon Kid book continues with this here press release.

Be it ever so hostile, there's no place like home.

Such is the hard lesson learned by a singing cowboy's homecoming in Scott Cherney's new western comedy romance novel, Song of the Canyon Kid.

A straight-shooting, guitar strumming buckaroo known as The Canyon Kid returns to Dirt Clod, Missouri only to find his hometown in ruins due to the machinations of a corrupt "hanging" judge. To make matters worse, he discovers that his childhood sweetheart is about to marry his sworn enemy, a ruthless desperado who is not only the town sheriff, but also dead set on framing The Canyon Kid for murder.

"It's a total cartoon," Cherney explains. "I mean the main character is a singing cowboy. When is the last book you hummed? And, in full disclosure, it's also a novelization."

The author adapted his story from his comic melodramatic play entitled Song of the Lone Prairie or Poem on the Range which debuted in 1987 at the late, great Pollardville Palace Showboat Theater in Stockton, California, a production he also directed.

"Pollardville was a magical place," Cherney recalls. "We had a melodrama/vaudeville theater as well as our very own western ghost town on the property where we'd get paid to play cowboy on the weekends. Our duties included robbing the train, engaging in fisticuffs and shooting it out with fellow gunslingers at High Noon. This was the birthplace of The Canyon Kid."

Cherney realizes the stigma of a novelization, but he felt creatively stagnated and needed a writing exercise to get himself in gear. Digging through his old writings, he came across his script for Lone Prairie, a melodrama he considers his best and the culmination of everything he learned at Pollardville.

Adapting it into novel form came fairly easy, fleshing out the characters and story while transposing the stage direction into prose. Soon, it began took on a life of its own.

"I loved revisiting my old characters and giving them back stories like Nastassia Kinky and her brother, Two Gun Boris, the fastest gun this side of the Ukraine. I also made The Kid's horse, Thunder, more of a supporting character. And the love story is something I never I thought I was capable of pulling off, but I feel like I did. Overall I had a blast with this, the most fun I've had with a project since I wrote the original back in the '80's. It certainly helped to rekindle my love for writing.”

Concurrent with the release of Song of the Canyon Kid has been renewed interest in the original source material, the melodrama which has been performed across the United States for the third year in a row. This summer, The Canyon Kid and Co. will riding into two separate productions in Texas. On Memorial Day Weekend, The Brazos Theatre Group in Waco will be the final performances of Song of the Lone Prairie under that title. The same show with the revised title of Song of the Canyon Kid opens this July in Houston’s Theatre Suburbia.

“The Canyon Kid has been very good to me. I hope I’ve returned the favor,” author/playwright  Scott Cherney declares about his creation. “By digging back into my roots, I’ve found that sometimes you have to take step back in order to move forward.”

Song of the Canyon Kid is available in paperback and e-book.

More information can be found at: http://www.scottcherney.com                                                                                           

The Return of the Song of the Canyon Kid

I don't think The Canyon Kid has gotten a fair shot.

Oh, not on stage. That's where he's found his greatest success what with SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE appearing across the US of A on stages in California, Wyoming and this summer in Texas at the Brazos Theatre Group in Waco and Theatre Suburbia in Houston.
.

No, I'm talking about the book SONG OF THE CANYON KID, the novelization I wrote based on the play SONG OF...oh, you know. Therefore, I am relaunching this here western comedy romance o' mine that was originally released back in 2014. I like it. In fact, I am in love with it. If  I wasn't already married, I would make it my wife. Then my exes can get together and sigh a big sigh of relief that they were able to make a clean getaway from the freak that had a sordid affair a book. But that's neither here nor there or anywhere for that matter.

I'm coming up so you better get this party started

To start this rebooting (or recowboybooting, rather) of my Canyon Kid tome, I am making a personal appearance, my first in five years) at the Beaverton City Library's NW Local Author Fair on Saturday, May 21 in Beaverton, Oregon. Of course I won't be the only author in attendance, but I will have ten whole minutes to say a few words, read a passage from SONG OF THE CANYON KID and maybe have enough time to take suggestions from the audience such as "GET OFF THE STAGE!"

So come join me, won't you? I'll be selling copies of SONG OF THE CANYON KID and my true travel tale PLEASE HOLD THUMBS at the table they are providing for me. Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring your enemies. (That would show 'em.)

Come see the one and only me on the first leg of my farewell tour!

SATURDAY MAY 21 11-2 @ BEAVERTON CITY LIBRARY' NW LOCAL AUTHOR FAIR IN BEAVERTON, OREGON

Those unable to attend this gala can obtain SONG OF THE CANYON KID in paperback at SCOTT CHERNEY'S STOREFRONT  (20% below AMAZON) and on e-book at AMAZON, NOOK, I-TUNES and KOBO.

And for more information about SONG OF THE CANYON KID and to read a free excerpt (or any other of my fine tomes, plays and whatnot), go to my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Yin v. Yang: Dawn of Just Us

Mr. Cherney, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news.

Of course you do. That's how you people operate.

You people?


Skip it. What's the good news?


Well, the good news is that for the third year in a row, your plays are being produced in various parts of the country.


That is good news. I'm afraid to ask. What's the bad news?

You know that place you've been living for the past ten years? You're going to have to vacate in 90 days. Your landlords are kicking you to the curb.


Lovely. Just lovely. Looks like I've got the makings of a new melodrama.

Such is the year 2016 for your humble narrator, a shit storm with patches of intermittent sunbursts. This recent life development has made us just another goddamn casualty of the housing market feeding frenzy that's tearing up the greater Portland metro area and rest of the formerly free world. Our landlords ambushed us with the news that they have decided to put our home sweet home on the market this summer. A Seller's Market in this economy should be a good thing, but not for the flotsam and jetsam in this society that we suddenly find ourselves to be. One shouldn't really begrudge them this golden opportunity after the housing crisis, but this has created another housing crisis as a result: OURS. So I'm summoning up some old Hungarian black magic and putting a curse of this joint when we walk out the door for the last time, probably involving bleeding walls.On second thought, I'll wait until we got they return our deposit.

We're not alone in our currently miserable situation. Truth to tell, we could have gotten 30 days notice instead of 90 as so many have, but rent prices have skyrocketed and the rules of the game have been rigged against us...and apparently everyone else trying to find a place to live. In most scenarios, rental applicants must have income three times the rental price of even the dumpiest of dumps. The long slog of searching for the new Casa de Cherney continues on for forty days and forty nights with parking and burning bush available for an additional fee. But hey, everyone wants to show you their lovely clubhouse and fitness center, neither one you allowed to move into even though they make the actual living space a spider hole in comparison. Then there's the fluctuating rents that are up, down, flying around like the stock market so that what was quoted today will be another story entirely tomorrow even if it is a day away.

The initial anger over the whole situation hasn't diminished much, even with the brave face I am using to mask my true feelings. Soon panic will set in and that's never a good thing. The rug has pulled pulled out from under my wife and I, uncovering an open trap door on a Wile E. Coyote cliff over The Dreaded Depths of Despair. It won't be long before we start standing at freeway exits with cardboard signs that read: WILL WORK FOR RENTAL APPLICATION FEES

It's all so overwhelming and all encompassing, not to mention the fact that it is occurring at an extremely inopportune moment in time. (I don't know, kid. When exactly would be a  more convenient time to get tossed out in the snow on your ass by Mr. and Mrs. Snidely Whiplash?)  This prolific period of creativity I find myself in (aka The Final Push) is getting side-lined by this mess and the pause button is working overtime, adding to my frustration, stress levels and ever looming depression. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let this become another lame excuse for procrastination. The iron's hot and so am I. Not just under the collar either.

What's really keeping me afloat, besides the love of my life who is in the same rapidly sinking ship with me and the support of my family, is my continuing good fortune with my plays. No sooner did the StageCoach Theatre Company production of DEAD TUESDAY end that the Brazos Theatre Group in Waco, Texas agreed to produce SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE over Memorial Day weekend. That will be the last time the show will go under that title for in July, Theatre Suburbia in Houston, Texas (a Lone Star two-fer!) had agreed to stage the same show under that thar other title, SONG OF THE CANYON KID as their summer mellerdrammer (their word, not mine.) This will be the name of that particular script going forward and I begin a re-branding process I should have started a year ago.

On top of all that, I am relaunching the novelization of SONG OF THE CANYON KID at Northwest Local, the Beaverton City Library's local author fair on May 21. I'll be doing a reading, selling my wares and try not to think about what freeway underpass I may be sleeping under soon. Gotta keep my pecker up for that. (No, not that one.) Stiff upper lip and all that rot. It ain't easy. My mouth is cramping.

In the midst of this chaos, it's tough to gain perspective, but I think I have a handle on it, though my grip is slippery thanks to my sweaty palms.

I reckon I've been on the carousel for too long. It's a pleasant enough ride traveling in circles, not without its ups and downs if you decide to hop on a pony.But if you choose to sit in the swan, you can sit back and allow the passing world lull you into submission. And there lies the problem. The merry-go-round can lull you into a false sense of security, dulling your senses and ultimately making you the one thing you can't afford to be in today's world: vulnerable. And when you're yanked off the carousel and thrust into the driver's seat of a bumper car and discover the steering wheel is missing, forcing you to get out and hitchhike. Wait until you get on the roller coaster. Some of the tracks are missing.

You know what? I'm sick of this goddamn carnival. The rides suck, the games are rigged and the hot dog on a stick has splinters. It's time to shake it off, regain our footing and quit acting like victims. We ain't down and out, but we have been knocked for a loop by a sucker punch out of nowhere. But we're gonna keep a'comin'. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out. They can't lick us. We'll go on forever 'cuz we're the people!

Oh boy. I've turned into Ma Joad. But I'm okay with that. I can go all Howard Beale too. That's a righteous combination in my book. More importantly, I gotta be me. I'm dead serious when I say that this is Cherney's Last Stand and I'll be damned if I'm going let this get in my way . There's no way in Heaven, Hell or Hillsboro that this thing is over yet.

It's yin and yang, yang and yin. If it ain't yin, it's yang, vice versa and simultaneously. They seem to be on equal footing at the moment, which at least allows me some semblance of balance in this mine field. Then again, this could all very well be a knockdown, drag-out fight for the ownership of my soul. But I'm not going to stand on the sidelines while it all goes down. I'm throwing down the gauntlet myself and declaring this triple threat match because I'm stepping back into the ring.

In the words of Yogi Berra, Lenny Kravitz and the fat lady getting ready to sing at the opera, it ain't over 'til it's over.

Two Finger Salute

In the words of Leon Russell, "Don't get hung up about Easter."  

This has never been one of my favorite holidays. I'm not religious, the buffets suck ass and I'm just not into pastel colors. Maybe my disdain for this holiday goes back to my childhood.

We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard of my cousin's house. I found the golden egg. This meant I got the special prize: My very own goldfish and a little can of fish food. We put him a bowl of his own when we got home and before I went to bed, I told him,

"When you live with me, you're gonna eat good." (Don't correct my grammar. I was six.)

I then turned the can of food upside and emptied at least a third of it into the bowl. The next morning, he was floating at the top of the bowl sideways. DOA. I wanted to name him Floaty, but I ended up flushing him instead. 

Fast forward to this Easter Sunday 2016, I hereby make the following proclamation. The interactive murder-mystery formerly known as THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS will officially known from this day forward as DEAD TUESDAY. (see previous blog post). This joins SONG OF THE CANYON KID (aka LONE PRAIRIE) as I reboot these projects for more exposure and marketability. Lastly, I have decided to change STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON to MURDER: THE FINAL FRONTIER for the same reasons. The other plays-LA RUE'S RETURN and THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE remain the same with no other title changes in the works. I've had to do this with a long gestating project that originally had the name CHEAP THRILLS. As the years have gone by, some have other books and movies with same moniker (and similar plot devises...ughhh....) have popped up and basically gone away. Still I felt the need to convert this to a new 'un and golly gosh if it hasn't given me the gumption to actually get back to work and complete this 'afore I'm daid in the ground.  There are couple of more plays in the works too, one I finished a major re-write this last weekend and another down the line, so stay glued to your screens for these announcements. No. Seriously. Glued. 

This post was partially created usually voice to text technology which I am hoping will be an important tool in my immediate future. What keeps me from being more prolific as I should be is that I am one of the world's slowest typists. The creation of all of my works have been with two fingers. Yes, I still write in long-hand as well. I have dozens of notebooks from over the years that need to be transcribed in order for me to continue. I need all the help I can get and the clock is ticking. As it stands now, if I lose the use of either of my fingers for any reason, I am totally sca-rewed. Hopefully, nobody will punch me in the nose. (Wait for it)

Well, I've got eggs to open. Hopefully, I got some panty hose this year. 

Goddamn it, I'm old. And I still miss Floaty.

For more info about my plays, please visit my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY or my Facebook author also known as WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY because I am basically a one trick pony. (No, I'm not interested in a little pony play. The bridle is always too tight.)

Dead Tuesday

Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!

The StageCoach Theatre Company's next production is an interactive murder mystery written by yours truly entitled DEAD TUESDAY. The show will be performed over the next month in venues around Virginia and the Washington, DC metro area, previously uncharted territory for one of my shows.

DEAD TUESDAY is not a new script of mine. It has been re-titled from its original, THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, which debuted in 2014 (see previous post: CROAK AND DAGGER)  If this is the first you've heard of it, the show tells the tale of an international philanthropist playboy who is the one who can solve the mystery of a prominent New Orlenas socialite during Mardi Gras, even though he's hampered by his own problems. A voodoo curse is turning him into a frog. Yep, it's a strange story to say the least. Most of the characters are based on the paintings of artist Jann Harrison. I was commissioned by Melanie Roady of Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville to create a script using her creations and voila, here it is. It is such an odd duck of a show, I had my doubts whether or not it would see the light of a stage again. But thanks to Jerri Wiseman of StageCoach Theatre Company, Francois hops again.

Jerri asked if I would consider a name change since the original isn't very marketable. This is something I've toyed with myself, using the rather awful but compromised alternative MARDI GRAS MAYHEM in my own solicitations. This being a purely commercial venture, I'm totally flexible with this change and have no problem with her suggestion of DEAD TUESDAY (a riff on Mardi Gars' Fat Tuesday). Back in 2013, the Great American Melodrama asked to change the title of my melo from SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE to TALES OF THE CANYON KID. I opted for SONG OF THE CANYON KID to coincide with the novel version I had just published. (That play will now be known by that title alone) Theaters wishing to make changes to a work should be flown by the author and I appreciate the integrity of an organization having the respect to do so, especially for an independent like myself.

So welcome back, Francois. Let the good times croak.

For more information of the StageCoach Theatre Company production of DEAD TUESDAY, visit their website at stagecoachtc.com and their Facebook page 

To read an excerpt or find more information about  DEAD TUESDAY aka THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, go to my website. WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performance rights are available. For more info, e-mail at writtenbysc@gmail.com

2014-Crossing the Finish Line

Outside my window, the sky is clear, blue and the sun is shining. There is also a powerful icy wind that giving us a current temperature of about 19 degrees. That kind of sums up 2014.

For so many, the fact that this year is nearly over and done with is a blessing, as though the changing of the calendar puts everything right again. Time is relative, folks and sometimes, a drunk uncle at that who gets all handsy at family gatherings. The world continues to go ape-shit, chock-a-block with WTF moments from one end of the globe to the other. It's difficult to make sense of it all. What's it all about, Alfie and why the hell am I asking you anyway?

But I had a damn decent year. I feel almost apologetic admitting that to y'all, especially when so many of you wish 2014 never existed. I have always been empathetic to a fault. When bad news permeates the atmosphere, whether personal or widespread, I tend to suppress my accomplishments to the point that they become not yesterday's headlines, but buried in the back archives next to last month's Dog of the Week. Hey, it wasn't a merry-go-round each and every day. However I did find some balance for the first time in years thanks to some good fortune and people in my life. There is the inevitable suck of everyday existence that has pinned me to the ground and drained me of all hope and desire. Then there were those moments-and there were blessedly plentiful-that lifted me up where I belong, where the eagles cry on a mountain high.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote a murder mystery script (THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS) that was produced less than four months later by Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville. Next Halloween, my latest foray into the same genre is set to premiere, all due to producer extraordinaire Melanie Roady whose website I found by chance last year at this time.

My melodrama, SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE, retitled SONG OF THE CANYON KID, was the summer attraction at the Great American melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, CA. It was the first time this show had been staged since the 1980s. Next summer in the same exact spot, my first show, LA RUE'S RETURN co-written with Edward Thorpe, will sit in the same exact spot on the calendar on the same exact stage at the Great American.

SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE, under its original title, opened in August in Jamestown, CA for the Footlight Theatre Co. with dates running concurrently with the Oceano production.

This has all given me a new lease on life or a renewal of my lease at least because I have aggressively marketing these plays as well as THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE since then in hopes of more success down the road. i have several irons in several fires that I am trying to warm my coffers without burning myself in the process. I am putting myself out there liker never before so that may reach actual goals I have set for myself and not living off of memories and regret, a diet I don't recommend.The world is my oyster and all I need to do is to shuck it.

What has always helped me in these time of nada damn thing is this family of mine that has blossomed into a full blown garden of love. These guys continue to nurture and amaze me, keeping me afloat in times of nearly abandoning the ship. In better times, they're more important to me than ever. This year, I had the amazingly good fortune to enjoy the company of all three of my grandchildren. A return trip to Colorado at the start of  summer culminated in the exquisite delight of our youngest's, Aefa, third birthday party. A couple of months later, we were reunited with our eldest, Kardena, when she and her mom visited Oregon not two weeks after seeing my show in Oceano. Then my grandson Sebastian, shooting up like a corn stalk so that he can literally see me eye-to-eye, has become my own personal motivational speaker, boosting my way-too-fragile ego lengths and bounds as he always has, but at times when I least expect it. When we had a discussion about his own future, I told him flippantly, yet quite honestly:
"Don't end up like me."
To which he replied:
"What-a successful playwright?"
Damn, I love that kid. I love them all. They've made me want to be a better person or for them, I strive to be.  

If I were to pick a definitive highlight that sits at the very top of 2014, the memory I will always cherish occurred in Oceano when my best friend Ed Thorpe gave me the incredible gift of making this visit to see my show possible. SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE (CANYON KID)  had been rewritten since its debut on the Palace Showboat stage with new scenes that never seen the light of day before, in particular an extension of a confrontation between the two principal characters, The Canyon Kid and Darla Darling. The scene was a sad, rather melancholic scene in the midst of all the other goofiness in the script. I'll be goddamned if it didn't work. Thanks to the director and the two actors in the scene-Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold-it put a lump in my throat and a tear to my eye which lead to a moment of complete validation. I knew the jokes would work but I wasn't so sure about the love story. Now I knew. Ultimately, this meant it ain't over for me yet. While I haven't just begun, I am back on the right track and not fermenting like so much kim chee. I still have it in me to move forward onward and upward so 'scuze me while I attempt to kiss the sky...again. Just as I want to be a better person for my grandkids, this makes me want to be better just for myself. The most important thing is that it make me want to TRY.

The Third Act has begun. It started in 2014.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. All wrapped up into one.

Happy New Year

The Legend Continues

Rising from the ashes...or emerging from a pile of papers...is THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, yet another western comedy melodrama in the grand tradition of SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE.

Grand tradition, my Aunt Petunia's pooting patootie. Boy, two productions of the same script in one year and all of a sudden, it's OUR TOWN. Never mind that it took 27 years for even a second show to get off the ground...

SHUT  UP, YOU! Ignore that snarky naysayer in my head. How the hell did he find his way into this blog?

THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE was my first solo effort as a melodrama playwright after Ed Thorpe and I wrote LA RUE'S RETURN for the Palace Showboat Theater stage at Pollardville. This is my homage to the masked western hero sub-genre which includes The Lone Ranger, Zorro and Marvel Comics' Two Gun Kid. Coincidentally enough, I had penned a Lone Ranger sketch for the previous show at the Palace, GOODBYE TV, HELLO BURLESQUE.

The Rogue had been a character I created out in the Pollardville Ghost Town but never got the chance to bring him to life on those mean streets, so I featured the character in another script called THE WRATH OF THE ROGUE or WHO IS THIS GUY ZORRO ANYWAY? It landed with a thud after I unsuccessfully submitted the script to Goldie Pollard, the producer and Mother of Us All at the Ville. The Rogue was more of a Zorro type complete with cape, mask and sword that glowed in the dark. It wasn't much, except for this exchange between the hero Brian Ryan and the heroine Georgia Washington after she discovers his secret identity. These were meant to be asides to audience.

BRIAN: If only she knew.
GEORGIA: If only he knew
BRIAN: If only she knew that I know that she knows.

Eat your heart out, David Mamet.

But I gave it another go a few months later, turning the new script into an origin story instead and a plot similar to a movie from my youth: THE LONE RANGER AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD. However, I needed a major element that THE WRATH sorely lacked: A good villain. What's an evil trait not seen in most melodrama bad guys. Well, I hear racism's pretty bad. How about a good old fashioned bigot? Alright, but what kind? Hey, it's the Old West, what say we have an ex-Confederate officer, a Foghorn Leghorn type, who wants to fight another Civil War and set things right again? And he can oppress the Indians at the same time? But what to call him? A name hit me from the deep recesses of my demented creative soul...Randolph Hitlear. Of course! A Kentucky Fried version of the worst villain of all time!

Once I had my villain, I was off and running. I knocked out a first draft in four days time. Within another week, I handed it off to Goldie and, saints be praised, it green-lit as the next production. I didn't have a sub-title at the time and reluctantly settled for GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK, also the name of a Chuck Norris film, one that my mom once mispronounced as BLACK GUYS WEAR GOOD, another concept entirely.  

(The saga of this particular production where I was chosen as the writer/director of the vaudeville section as well, is a tumultuous tale to be told another time. Let's just say in the most cliched of terms, "Be careful what you wish for.")

However, I will say that THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, directed by Bill Humphreys, had its one and only run at the Palace Showboat for the first six months of 1981. I never got a chance to see it because I was in the cast. It has not seen the light of day since.

The personal triumph of SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE this past summer has given me the initiative to revisit this story that I had felt was beyond help. But a fresh perspective works wonders and I realized that I hadn't given the material enough credit. There was enough here for salvation and development, so I went ahead and expanded the story and characters to make more it more of a well-rounded story instead of an elongated sketch. Hence, THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE lives again and this time with a different sub-title: MASK ME NO QUESTIONS. I'm still only half-sold on this, but I have a feeling Chuck Norris might come after me for copyright infringement. Sure, he might pull a ham-string kicking me in the face at his age, but then again, I didn't need my face rearranged into a Picasso either.

Here's the story and yes, it's full of very obvious spoilers:

Hard times have fallen on the Clayfoot Indian tribe with the arrival of Randolph Hitlear, an ex-Confederate general obsessed with idea of starting a second Civil War under his leadership. To finance this effort, Hitlear searches for the Clayfoot's mountain treasure, the Tomb of Gold. With the help of his dastardly henchmen, Ashley and Rhett, Hitlear forces the tribe into slavery to dig for the gold including the Clayfoot leader, Chief Boyardee. His daughter, Fawn, is a mystic who has the ability to speak to the Great Spirits. From them she learns of a prophecy that states that "the dark cloud of evil shall ride a warrior of good who shall become a savior". With that thought in mind, Fawn seeks the help of Brian Ryan in nearby Parched Throat, Arizona, a handsome young lawyer who moonlights as sheriff of this one lizard town. Brian falls in love with Fawn at first glance, raising the ire of saloon singer Sugar De Spice who wants to put her claws into the novice lawman herself. When the sheriff agrees to help, a jealous Sugar, along with the weasely corrupt Indian agent Percival P. Pestt, inform Hitlear. Laying in wait for the sheriff, Hitlear gets the upper hand upon Brian's arrival and in the fracas, Fawn is killed. When Brian is left for dead himself in the desert, Sugar has a change of heart and rescues him. Back in town, Fawn's spirit comes to him in his delirium and empowers Brian with special abilities given to him by the Great Spirits since he is indeed the warrior of good in the prophecy. Brian dons a mask and adopts the persona of the masked avenger known as The Rogue. He catches up to Hitlear just as he enters the fabled Tomb of Gold and thwarts his plans once and for all, saving the Clayfoot tribe and the nation from this vicious war criminal. And the rest is legendary... 

Now THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE has been published by Off the Wall Plays. Performance rights are available.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE PREVIEW OF LEGEND OF THE ROGUE AND TO INQUIRE ABOUT PERFORMANCE RIGHTS

Like the title says, the legend continues...

More Yin, Less Yang

Here we are at the mid-point of summer already. Time flies when you’re not paying attention.

Prop from THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS

Life is a funny thing with that yin, yang and the whole dang thang. On one hand, it’s a nightmare of apocalyptic proportions…Malaysian airliners shot down or just disappear altogether, Iraq is back, my hometown of Stockton turns into a sequel of the film HEAT adding much tension and chaos to natural disasters such as fire season, drought and hey, are the locust on stand-by? Mix this up in a blender with the stresses of everyday living in the 21^st century and you’ve got the draft of a suicide note ready to be posted in your Facebook status.

Then…there’s the good stuff, the things that fortunately are weighing in on the good side to provide balance in this cockamamie world-family, friends, home and everything that floats our collective boats

AND…THE BLESSED EXTRAS…

For me, it’s been the production of my plays this summer, something I’ve been striving for since the dawn of the planet of the Cherney. 

THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS just wrapped up in Nashville TN for the Mel O’Drama Theater company. My thanks again to the cast, crew and especially producer Melanie Roady for this unique opportunity. I’d never written a script on spec before, let alone a murder mystery. It was also a challenge trying to collaborate from opposite sides of the country, but apparently, it all came together.  Me in Nashville…who da thunk it?

Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold in SOTCK, Oceano style

Then there’s SONG OF THE CANYON KID at the Great American Melodrama in Oceano, CA that is currently running through September and has picked up three…count ‘em…three great reviews.

REVIEW#1

REVIEW#2

REVIEW#3

The fact that I’m not mentioned in any of these write-ups is beside the point. However…

SONG OF THE CANYON KID WAS WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

So there
.

What was really nifty, keen, cool and boss-o was that these two shows were running at the same time. Never happened before, but hopefully will happen again.

In the meantime, the same show, SONG OF THE CANYON KID under its original title SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE is set to open August 29 in Jamestown, CA for the Footlight Theatre Company at the same time the Oceano show will still be playing. In fact, they close on the very same night.

Quite a coup, eh wot?

It would be even sweeter if I could just garner a few decent sales for the novel version of said play, SONG   

OF THE CANYON KID, a western comedy romance. This sucker has FLATLINED.It’s a goddamn shame. I think it’s a good piece of work and I haven’t been able to even give it away. (That’s not true. There is a giveaway for a free copy on Goodreads. See below.) It even got a good review all by itself.

CANYON KID BOOK REVIEW 

See?

There’s that yin and yang again.

So there’s been a lot of yin this year, but far too much yang. I’m grateful any yin I can have or can get, but to provide balance and that I don’t go sliding into a big steaming pile of yang…

MORE YIN PLEASE!
That goes for the rest of y'all too. Be good to each other. And for corn's sakes, be good to yourself too.

SONG OF THE CANYON KID is now playing through September 20 at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, CA 

SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE opens August 29 at the Footlight Theatre Company in Jamestown, CA

SONG OF THE CANYON KID, the book, is now on sale at Amazon

A Canyon Kid Summer

Big doin's in the world of The Canyon Kid!

On June 19, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano, CA presents SONG OF THE CANYON KID (aka SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE) written by yours truly. This is the first production of this western comedy melodrama since its 1987 world premiere at the legendary Pollardville Palace Showboat Theater in Stockton, which I also directed. This particular show will run all summer long until September 20.


THE GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA and VAUDEVILLE

That's just Southern California. Northern California steps up to the plate later in the season.


On August 29, the Footlight Theatre Company stages its own production of the same play under its original title in conjunction the Hurst Ranch in Jamestown, CA. It involves a train ride, BBQ, live band and sounds

like quite the event. This prod closes the same night as the other-September 20.

FOOTLIGHT THEATRE CO. ON FACEBOOK                                      
So what the fun is it-SONG OF THE CANYON KID or LONE PRAIRIE? Well, when I was working on the novelization, I always meant to change the title for the book. When Great American contacted me, they asked to change it to TALES OF...but I balked and suggested the other. They went ahead and added it to their 2014 line-up, though they added an S to their promotional brochure calling it SONGS. Sigh. After the summer shows, the play title will be SONG OF THE CANYON KID. Stay tuned. Or not.

But the BOOK is now and always will be SONG OF THE CANYON KID..Yeah,  a real, honest to God BOOK that you hold in your hands, flip the pages, throw at your loved ones and what not. This fine tome is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions.

SONG OF THE CANYON KID ON AMAZON

So all in all, it is indeed the summer of the Canyon Kid. It's been a long time coming, but from the dude who created these characters many moons ago in a wondrous land called Pollardville, I believe that the time for the straight-shootin', guitar strummin' cowboy has finally come.

Yippie-ky-ay indeed.

Croak and Dagger: A Frog Blog

Where the hell have I been ?

As of late, my on-line presence has diminished to a few paltry, however pithy posting on Facebook while this blog has dried up quicker than a California water bed (a reference both timely and outdated).

The truth of the matter is I've been spending some quality time with my new frog friend. No, I didn't get a new pet and I'm not having an acid flashback. I don't think. Wait. No. I'm fine.
A few postings back I announced that my play SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE ( re-named SONG OF THE CANYON KID to coincide with the new book) is being produced this summer at The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, California.One of the sweetest things about this is that they contacted me. I didn't solicit them.

After receiving that swell news, I took the bulls by the bouillon and sent out this script along with LA RUE'S RETURN (which I co-wrote with Ed Thorpe) to some other theaters specializing in melodrama across the country. Even though most of them picked their 2014 seasons already, I jumped the gun and submitted them for 2015. Currently these two works o' mine (and Ed's of course) are being considered at theater companies in Colorado, California, Texas and even here in Oregon for next year. I guess my query skills have improved since I got a lot of bites when I cast my line in these waters.

One establishment I contacted was actually named Mel O'Drama Theater located in Nashville and son of a gun if I didn't get a bite. Melanie Roady, the owner/operator/namesake of M O'D had particular interest in LA RUE, but after reading it decided it didn't fit her particular format. You see, her group specializes in interactive murder mysteries, something I would have known if I had only read the website instead of taking the name at face value. What do you want from me? If I go to Barney's Beanery, I expect to see beans on the menu, not cupcakes.

However, Mel had a proposition for me. Would I like to try my hand at one of her shows based on her outline? Oh and by the way, the main character is a frog who solves the crime.

"Why sure," I agreed. "Wait a hippity-hoppity second here...a frog? A frog frog? Is this a Muppet murder mystery? Oh, a frog man. Like a scuba diver. Nooo...a man with frog-like characteristics. Okayyyyy...."

Francois is a character created in a series of paintings by artist Jann Harrison who also resides in Nashville. Jann has conceived a whole mythology that go along with each piece she's painted. So Francois is a suave, debonair bon vivant who is, to use her words, "a man in transition".
 http://www.jannharrison.com/

I agreed to pen a script but I was under a very tight deadline and the challenge itself proving rather daunting. Murder mysteries are not my first love and red herrings do not sit well in my tummy tum tum. Then to transform this man-frog, frog-man, lily pad lover to the stage and make him palatable as a main character was just icing on the fish cake.

What prompted me to continue was that the story was set in New Orleans, the same setting for LA RUE.which is what interested the producer in the first place. I'm crazy in love with the culture an lore of  N'Awlins and had the good fortune of just finishing up the finale episodes of TREME and the current season of AMERICAN HORROR STORY (which unfortunately ended very weakly). So I added Mardi Gras to the storyline as well as a touch of voodoo here and some Cajun spice there.
After two and a half weeks of banging my head against the wall trying to figure out the intricacies of who killed who and with what and how , I turned in a script with two possible endings (different killers for different nights). Challenge accepted, challenge met. Now it's time for some fine tuning.

What I didn't realize is that the show has already been pre-booked. Mel Roady got shows lined up for this froggy lil' epic beginning APRIL 12! And there's my name, prominently in the credits.

Such is the power of networking. I scored another gig. 2014 will see two separate productions on either side of the United States written by (ahem) Scott Cherney.

And I'm hungry for more

UPDATE: THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS has been re-named DEAD TUESDAY,  thanks to Jerri Wiseman of the StageCoach Theatre Company

DEAD TUESDAY is available at SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE or to read a free excerpt go to my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performance rights are available. For info, write to me : writtenbysc@gmail.com

Tell 'em Francois sent ya.

2013: It Was What It Was

Another hoary year-end wrap-up? Yes,please!          

                                                              
After all, nobody's hoarier than I am. Or is that whore-ier?

2013 will be known as the year we got our collective panties in such a wad that they may never unravel  Pontificate all you want about social media giving everyone a voice, however anonymous, but we're all speaking at the same time and nobody is listening to each other unless they are in agreement. The loudest of the bunch are usually the most ignorant and that's what becomes the meme. (2013 is also the year I first used the word meme in a sentence) It's all so deafening.

Then Nelson Mandela dies, a man who faced adversity and struggle like no man in modern times, then was able to rise above it all by his shear humanity.His passing should have given us pause to reflect on his example of how a life should be lived.
We paused all right, just long enough to collect our thoughts on the Duck Dynasty debacle.
Heaviest of all possible sighs..............................................................................................
See? I'm as guilty as the rest. I couldn't wait to lambaste the moronic opinions of others. Stop the vicious cycle, I want to get off!

Enough of this hoo-hah. Let's talk about the good and the hell with the bad and the ugly for the time being, otay? Otay!
This is an incomplete list, but these selection definitely deserve your attention.

Favorite Album of the Year
I honestly did not listen to very much music this year. Nothing really grabbed me, so I have to take a step back to 2009 for Grant-Lee Phillips' LITTLE MOON, which counts because I hadn't heard it until now. In full disclosure, yes, I know Mr. Phillips, even though I've never called him Mr. Phillips. Even if I wasn't a friend, I'd still be his fan. But never have I experienced the unbridled optimism that emanates from this collection of tunes. The unconditional love Grant expresses to his new born daughter in "Violet" as well as the pure joy of being alive in "Good Morning Happiness" warmed the cockles of this aging cynic's heart.

Switching gears abruptly...
Favorite Horror Film
Not a genre I follow as I once did, decent horror films are few and far between for my tastes these days. I'm not usually up for treasure hunts. However, a couple of titles caught my attention. The name Guillermo del

Toro's name attached to MAMA piqued my interest enough for a late night viewing that paid off in spades. Andres Muschietti's film delivered some damn creepy goods to my psyche. On the other hand, DREAM HOME, was definitely the NASTIEST damn picture I saw this year. When I say nasty, I'm talking brutal, over the top, crossing the line way too far violence as I've never seen before and hopefully never will again. However, Ho-Cheung Pang's film is also the best indictment of the housing crisis I've seen. A political conscious splatter movie...be warned. This shit is brutal

Best Male Performance
Damn you, Matthew McConaughey. Now that you've finally decided to act instead of pose, I'm forced to spell your name correctly. Dick. And he's superb in Jeff Nichol's MUD.
Best Female Performance
Hands down-Tatiana Maslany in ORPHAN BLACK. Seeking this show out, first airing on BBC America, is well worth your time.
Favorite Film
I'll be damned. I don't have one this year. My favorite is last year's DJANGO UNCHAINED, so that's going to have to do it unless I see something in the next few days. As it stands, Tarantino gave me the best time I had at the movies all year.
Favorite Books
Three titles: & SONS by David Gilbert, a sweeping saga of a famous author's children that make Jonathan Frazen's work pale in comparison, is my number one, followed by Michael Chabon's super-duper ode to the East Bay TELEGRAPH AVENUE and Michael Daly's TOPSY, a fascinating and cruel tale of circus elephants that PETA probably has in their permanent collection. Of course, my guiltiest pleasure of the year had to be Alan Goldsher's PAUL IS UNDEAD: THE BRITISH ZOMBIE INVASION. Sounds incredibly insipid, but it works. I'll be damned if Goldsher doesn't get it right. Well done.

On a personal front, 2013 saw the publication of my new book, SONG OF THE CANYON KID as well as the announcement of a new production of the play from which it's based set for summer 2014. Those came in just under the wire. So, hooray for me.

I lost a couple of friends at almost the same time. Ray Rustigian, a crony from my Pollardville days and Doug Hansen, a fair and decent human being that I had the privilege to know in the past couple of years. I mention him because he deserves to honored in some manner just for being a good guy. Isn't that enough?
Biggest highlight of 2013 was the trip to Colorado this past summer, spending time with my daughter and son-in-law and most of all, my too-gorgeous-for-mere-words granddaughter who owns my heart and it's hers to keep. Combine this with the rest of my incredible family that makes me, like Goerge Bailey, the richest man in town.

So see? 2013 was what it was. It was frustrating. It was rewarding. It was aggravating. It was inspiring. It was annoying. It was the year I fell in love again.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night.
Bring on the Proseco.

Dedications

Writing a book dedication is like a final punctuation, a kiss goodbye to send your tome on its merry way. But more importantly, it's a big piece of your heart that you've given to certain individuals that is forever embedded in your work.

My first book, IN THE DARK, was dedicated to my wife.
To Laurie, my honey
Wanna see a movie?
She was my constant movie companion and one of the few people on this earth I can stand to sit next to in a cinema. Laurie's not gone by any stretch of the imagination. She just stopped going to movies.

The recipients of of book numero dos, RED ASPHALT, were Don Geronimo and Mike O'Meara.
To Don and Mike
Radio Gods
Thanks for the laughs when I needed them the most.
Um, what? Yes, I chose to salute a couple of guys on the radio. RED ASPHALT was a personal book about a guy who flips out while driving for a living, a job near and dear to my butt cheeks. Back in the 90s, my psyche had going through some rough terrain while on the road every stinking day. Fortunately, I had these two jamokes to listen to and laugh my way toward sanity, then writing a book to vent my frustrations at the world.. For that, they got a much deserved thank you.

In the introduction of NOW THAT'S FUNNY, my collection of comedy sketches, I was all over the map.

I hereby dedicate this collection to Rob Petrie, King Kong, Pollardville itself, that motley crew of talented performers and excellent people known as the Palace Showboat Players and to the patron saint of comedy itself, the chicken.

What a load. The chicken didn't even call.

PLEASE HOLD THUMBS, all about my adventures in South Africa, turned out to be a story about family, therefore transforming it into something more than "What I Did on My Summer Vacation".

To my family

Past, present and future

So now we're up to date with my latest, SONG OF THE CANYON KID. I've dedicated this book to my friend, Goldie Pollard.  

I had been a cowboy in the Pollardville Ghost Town as an actor, sorta stuntman and writer and director. During that time, my friend Edward Thorpe and I wrote a melodrama for the Palace Showboat Theater called LARUE'S RETURN. I had yet to appear on that particular stage myself. When I finally did, I had helped Bob Gossett write new material for my first show DOWNFALL OF THE UPRISING. Since I was pretty hungry to add even more material to the show's vaudeville section, Goldie, as one of the producers, helped to champion my cause. The next show she co-directed with Bill Humphreys, GOODBYE TV, HELLO BURLESQUE, the two of them both asked me to write some sketches. I had written the next melodrama solo, LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, and Goldie gave me the highest honor possible. Not only would I have my name on the melodrama, but I would write and direct the olios section as well. Don't think this didn't go to my head. I was Orson fucking Welles, baby!
 
The problem was...I was in so far over my head I didn't realize I was drowning until it was too late. I was too young, too ill-prepared and too arrogant to ask for help. The show was virtually taken away from me and deservedly so.

A couple of years passed and I returned to the Palace Showboat stage, thanks to both D.W. Landingham and Ray Rustigian. I was ready to give it another shot and Goldie gave it to me. I wrote and directed three vaudeville shows in a row, a revival of LA RUE'S RETURN and a brand spanking new melodrama called SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE.

If it wasn't for Goldie's initial encouragement and her ability to grant me a second chance, I don't know what direction my life would have taken. I loved this woman. We lost contact after I left the Stockton area in 1999, but I am so grateful that we were able to have one last reunion at the Palace Showboat when that place closed once and for all. At that event, she addressed the crowd to say:

You all came here as actors, dancers, singers, dressers, writers and you ended up as entertainers. And you know what you are today? You are all my stars and I love you all.

No one shone brighter than she did. She was our beacon, our guiding light. For this, I have dedicated SONG OF THE CANYON KID to her.

To Goldie Pollard

For giving me my first chance, then believing in me enough to give me a second

This book is all about second chances and this is my last to say once more to my friend,

I love you, Doris June. And thank you from the bottom of my heart now and forever, 

The Year of the Canyon Kid

For far too long, I've gone without publishing any new material-save this venue-and it's high time that I did. My last works were the South Africa true travel tale PLEASE HOLD THUMBS and some extra added attractions for the Special Edition of IN THE DARK. But since then?

Zippity-doo-dah, zippity-ay
My-oh-my, I've had nothing to say

It wasn't like I didn't try, fer garsh sakes. I attempted to kick-start a decades-old project with varying degrees of success, but I came to a screeching halt. I wasn't necessarily blocked as I was out-and-out constipated. I need a creative laxative. STAT!

I felt the need to mine the past for future gold. Thus, I dug into the manuscript vault (actually a Rubbermaid container) and snatched up some of my old work, namely, some old play scripts. The thought of a novelization had somehow entered my thought patterns.

Believe you me, I fully realize the stigma of this sort of cannibalization, but as long as I have my foot in my mouth anyway, I might as well make a meal out of it. Besides, it might help my inspirational digestion. I am, after all, full of natural fiber.

The Canyon Kid (Greg Pollard) serenades Darla Darling (Leslie Fielding)

After an aborted attempt at my Lone Ranger knock-off LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, I nearly gave up the entire notion and try a different tact. Instead, I latched onto a better script, my melodramatic magnum opus SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE.

I began by merely transposing dialogue and stage direction into prose. I tried to keep it as basic as possible, inspired by a glut of Elmore Leonard novels I had been digesting as of late. It actually began to take on a a life of its own which, off course, was the point of this exercise. Fleshing out the characters and situations began to flow like Ol' Man River. Tagging on a sweet lil' epilogue put on a smile on my face and I realized that relief was in sight.

The whole experience rejuvenated me. By returning to my roots, my right brain's pilot light has reignited. It has reminded how much I enjoy writing comedy. Whether the end result is funny or not  will have to depend on the individual reader since we're talking subjectivity here. (Or at least I'm talking about it. I can't hear you from here.) I can declare in all honesty that this whole experience has given me more joy since I wrote the original script back in the 1980s. Since this is a totally DIY project from beginning until end, I've been taking my sweet time editing and rewriting numerous versions. Each time through I find myself cracking myself up at the new material and even at some of the old. I just kill me sometimes. For someone with deeply embedded  insecurities, it's another mental wellness antidote that I apparently needed.

Where this leaves anybody else is,well, anybody's guess. It's not really my concern. I am pleased with the end result. All I can hope for is that readers will feel the same or get enough laughs to justify their time and, of course, money.

So allow me to introduce to you, the world, the first "new" Scott Cherney book of the 2010s:

THE SONG OF THE CANYON KID
A Western Comedy Romance
NOW ON SALE IN PAPERBACK
and on
AMAZON KINDLE
The story? I'm glad you asked.

When a guitar-strumming, straight-shooting singing cowboy known as The Canyon Kid returns to Dirt Clod, Missouri, he finds his town in ruins and under the tyrannical thumb of a crooked "hanging judge". To make matters worse, The Kid also learns that his childhood sweetheart is set to marry a known outlaw who is now the town sheriff. How is The Canyon Kid going to save the day, let alone croon a few tunes, with a noose around his neck?

Guess you'll have to find out for yourselves.

CHECK OUT A FREE EXCERPT AT
MY WEBSITE

To coincide with said book, the source play, SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE is set to be the Summer 2014 attraction at the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano, California. It too is renamed SONG OF THE CANYON KID, even though their brochure calls it SONGS (their error). It don't make me no never mind. This announcement came right out of the blue and I am completely over the moon they wanted my show. What beautiful timing. It is also the first time my play will be produced since its debut in 1987 at the Palace Showboat Dinner Theater at Pollardville, a version I also directed. (Yes, I am a proud hyphenate)

So even though the book debuts here in December, I hereby declare 2014 The Year of the Canyon Kid.

Happy trails to me.

At last.