The Masque of the Mischievous

In case you’ve been wondering what I’m up to and why I haven’t been posting even though I finished my PhD a year ago, here’s an update! Last spring, Corey Olsen (The Tolkien Professor, President of Signum University) tasked me with starting up the publishing arm of the university. Along with the most remarkable team of colleagues, I launched the Signum University Press in June and have been working like a madwoman since. It’s a glorious, magnificent, insane, innovative endeavor. It’s my dream job, because it requires all of my skills and abilities and more: writing, editing, teaching, research, networking, managing people, managing projects, communicating with the public, and, oh, figuring out hose this whole publishing industry works! I couldn’t do it without my awesome Press Gang: James, Sarah, Christopher, Giovanna, Nick, and especially my multi-talented Managing Editor, the writer and marketing magician Kira Tregoning.

Please do check out the Press: We have several books that we’re just about to start making available by serial release; a few authors who are asking for patronage; and an exciting catalog of upcoming works. These include books by Mike Drout, Verlyn Flieger, Jeff LaSala, Corey Olsen, myself, and more.

We’d be very grateful if you’d follow the Press on social media, patronize some of our writers, buy our books, and spread the word!

Anyway, now on to the Williamsian connection and the real point of this post. On Saturday, Nov 19th, during the Signum University annual fundraiser, I gave a SUPdate, then the Press Gang performed an adaptation of The Masque of the Manuscript. We had a ton of fun rewriting the play to fit our personalities, then performed it with great gusto and glee (if not much theatrical polish). The play starts around 42 minutes in the video below (FORTY-TWO); please watch if you like, and I hope it makes you laugh!