The official blog of Denise M. Baran-Unland, author. Discover her books for all ages at bryonyseries.com.
Eight members of WriteOn Joliet present “Page to Stage,” original radio theater-style performance at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at ROXY Lockport.
During an in-person rehearsal on August 1, Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, showed he was ready to perform by "hamming up" a piece by WriteOn Joliet member and poet Holly Coop.
Good morning!
Here's another reminder that eight members of WriteOn Joliet will present “Shades of Noir." an original radio theater production, at 2 and 7 p.m. April 18 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Except this time, you're getting a personal invitation from Holly Coop, one of the cast members and authors.
That's because cast T-shirt sponsors are Coops Bowsmith and Holly Coop Books.
And Holly Coop herself is showing off one of those shirts as a personal invitation for YOU (and your family and friends) to come out and enjoy our show - and patronize our wonderful vendors before or after the show or during intermission.
Now, if you haven't met Holly, you should.
This author interview with Holly Coop from 2017 is the top-performing post on the BryonySeries blog.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Not anything BryonySeries.
Not even anything about Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara.
So please read Holly's interview so you don't miss out.
Back to show information.
Admission is $5.
The other authors and performers on April 18 are Denise M. Baran-Unland, Mauverneen Blevins, Ed Calkins, Steve Cordin, Cean Magosky, Jenny Russ, and Duanne Walton.
Director is Jake Thomas.
Production assistant is Rebekah Baran.
Cast supplies provided by Edward and Nancy Calkins.
And Rock City Bar & Grill in Rockdale offered just this morning to provide a generous discount on piza and their awesome beef rolls for the cast and crew dinner in the green room between performances.
(Keep scrolling).
Holly, of course, will be available at her table to greet attendees after each performance.
Hope to see you there!
(And still one more post to go, on Saturday, with a game!)
Good morning!
In these few weeks leading up to showtime, I'll be introducing you to each of the 2026 WriteOn Joliet Radio-Players and flooding this blog with show details.
Eight members of WriteOn Joliet will present “Shades of Noir." an original radio theater production, at 2 and 7 p.m. April 18 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Admission is $5.
One of the author/performers is Holly Coop, for whom touching hearts with words has become a life purpose.
Holly writes and publishes inspirational poetry, motivational quotes, and spiritual insights. As the author of five poetry collections, Holly hopes her words will stir hearts and inspire others in their purpose.
She also enjoys sketching, creating photo notecards and art, and featuring her poetry. at hollycoopcards.Etsy.com.
At hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com, Holly shares reflections, nuggets of wisdom, and anything that comes to mind.
Holly resides in Joliet, Illinois with her husband, children, and furry friends.
Her poetry collections are available for purchase at: HollyCoopBooks.com and The Book Market Sales and Trading Center in Crest Hill.
Holly's books are also available in the local author collection at the Joliet Public Library.
The other authors and performers on April 18 are Denise M. Baran-Unland, Mauverneen Blevins, Ed Calkins, Steve Cordin, Cean Magosky, Jenny Russ, and Duanne Walton.
Director is Jake Thomas.
Production assistant is Rebekah Baran.
Cast T-shirt sponsors are Coops Bowsmith and Holly Coop Books.
Cast supplies provided by Edward and Nancy Calkins.
Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. Concessions and drinks available for purchase. WriteOn Joliet books and anthologies will be available for purchase one hour before the show, during intermission and immediately after the show’s conclusion.
In addition, the first ten attendees at each performance will receive a FREE 2025 WriteOn Joliet anthology, courtesy of the BryonySeries creative group B.L.O.C.K.S.
The first thirteen attendees at the BryonySeries before the 2 p.m.performance and the first twelve attendees at the BryonySeries table before the 7 p.m. performance will receive a FREE booklet called "Angel or Demon" (source material for one of the show's pieces), courtesy of The Raven's House, who will be selling select noir pieces at the BryonySeries table.
The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre is at 201 West Jefferson Street, downtown Joliet, 60432.
For tickets and more information, visit eventbrite.com
"The Beast of Venice Pier" is a piece written by WriteOn Joliet charter member Duanne Walton for WriteOn Joliet's first radio theater-style performance at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park and Theatre in Joliet in 2023.
The piece is an alternate piece based off "The Foghorn" by Ray Bradbury, which Duanne explains on his YouTube channel.
Duanne and I read "The Beast of Venice Pier" at WriteOn Joliet's open mic night last week at Critical Grind Board GAme Cafe in Shorewood.
We read this quite spontaneously and had not read it since our last performance in 2023.
What made it so much fun is that we quite naturally slipped into our roles as if we'd just performed it an hour ago. Each syllable, each inflection, was exactly the same.
Duanne, .Holly Coop, and Diana Estell, also read my piece from that same performance ("A Little Wine For Your Stomach"), which is an excerpt from the BryonySeries novel "The Phoenix," which they also executed flawlessly
Diana had previously said she'd love to perform that piece again. So they did, quite spontaneously, at the open mic - which led Duanne to want to read "The Beast of Venice Pier."
The point of all this (other than the fact I'm super proud of all of us) is the value of doing your homework (so to speak) before showing up.
I'm not just talking theatrics here. I'm talking about any project you tackle. All the hours and unseen work in the background will pay off during that short time in the foreground.
So be encouraged today that your hard work is not in vain.
You can watch the original performances starting at the 1:50 mark here: An Evening With WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You. Act 2 and also at 38:10.
Happy Thursday! :)
Good morning!
In the next couple of weeks leading up to showtime, I'm planning to introduce you to each of the 2025 WriteOn Joliet Radio-Players and flood this blog with show details.
Are you ready? Here goes!
Ten members of WriteOn Joliet will present “We Can Be Heroes," an original radio theater production, at 7 p.m. April 25 and 2:30 and 7 p.m. April 26 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Admission is $5.
One of the author/performers is Holly Coop, for whom touching hearts with words has become a life purpose.
Holly writes and publishes inspirational poetry, motivational quotes, and spiritual insights. As the author of five poetry collections, Holly hopes her words will stir hearts and inspire others in their purpose.
She also enjoys sketching, creating photo notecards and art, and featuring her poetry. at hollycoopcards.Etsy.com.
At hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com, Holly shares reflections, nuggets of wisdom, and anything that comes to mind.
Holly resides in Joliet, Illinois with her husband, children, and furry friends.
Her poetry collections are available for purchase at: HollyCoopBooks.com and The Book Market Sales and Trading Center in Crest Hill.
Holly's books are also available in the local author collection at the Joliet Public Library.
The other authors and performers on April 25 and April 26 are Denise M. Baran-Unland, Mauverneen Blevins, Ed Calkins, Steve Cordin, Diana Estell, Cean Magosky, Colleen H. Robbins, Jenny Russ, and Duanne Walton.
Director is Anne Magosky
Production assistant is Rebekah Baran.
Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. Concessions and drinks available for purchase. WriteOn Joliet books and anthologies will be available for purchase one hour before the show, during intermission and immediately after the show’s conclusion.
In addition, the first fifteen attendees at each performance will receive a FREE 2024 WriteOn Joliet anthology, courtesy of Saporta Law Offices in Joliet.
The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre is at 201 West Jefferson Street, downtown Joliet, 60432.
For tickets and more information, visit bicentennialpark.org or contact the office: 815-724-3761 or bipark@joliet.gov.
Today I am sharing a link to a wonderful poem that WriteOn Joliet member Holly Coop recently wrote about the experience of living in Joliet.
However, anyone who has lived anywhere will find the deeper meaning among the lines - and maybe, just maybe, will call to mind (or feel inspired to immortalize) the place and memories that lives in the heart.
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2024/05/26/home-is-where-your-heart-is/
Good morning!
As I promised yesterday, I'm planning to introduce you to each of the 2024 WriteOn Joliet Radio-Players and flood this blog with show details over the next couple of weeks.
Of course, this is for marketing purposes...because I want you to see our unique and diverse talents and make you curious how we are taking that to create one seamless show.
Nine members of WriteOn Joliet will present “Fragments of Time," an original radio theater production, at 7 p.m. April 19 and April 20 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Admission is $5.
One of the author/performers is Holly Coop, for whom touching hearts with words has become a life purpose.
Holly writes and publishes inspirational poetry, motivational quotes, and spiritual insights. As the author of five poetry collections, Holly hopes her words will stir hearts and inspire others in their purpose.
She also enjoys sketching, creating photo notecards and art, and featuring her poetry. at hollycoopcards.Etsy.com.
At hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com, Holly shares reflections, nuggets of wisdom, and anything that comes to mind.
She also blogs for the Romeoville Art Society at romeovilleartsociety.org/blog.
Holly resides in Joliet, Illinois with her husband, children, and furry friends.
Her poetry collections are available for purchase at: HollyCoopBooks.com and The Book Market Sales and Trading Center in Crest Hill.
Holly's books are also available in the local author collection at the Joliet Public Library.
The other authors and performers on April 19 and April 20 are Denise M. Baran-Unland, Mauverneen Blevins, Edward Calkins, Steve Cordin, Diana Estell, Cean Magosky, Jenny Russ, and Duanne Walton.
Director is Rachel Veres. Holly also coordinated all of the sound effects for "Fragments of Time."
Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. Concessions and drinks available for purchase. WriteOn Joliet books and anthologies will be available for purchase one hour before the show, during intermission and immediately after the show’s conclusion.
The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre is at 201 West Jefferson Street, downtown Joliet, 60432.
For tickets and more information, visit bicentennialpark.org or contact the office: 815-724-3761 or bipark@joliet.gov.
For more information, visit writeonjoliet.com.
I met Holly Coop when she joined WriteOn Joliet, at least eight years ago, maybe more.
Holly writes inspirational poetry from her heart. Topics include love, encouragement, grief, forgiveness, and so forth.
What makes Holly's poems so relatable is that she expresses emotions in a personal, but universal, way, so just about any reader will resonate with them.
She was very surprised when I offered to buy nine copies of one poem and one couple of a second.
I wanted to give my nine children a copy of the first for Christmas with a gift card for a frame, for that poem perfectly summed up the year 2023 was for us. "Oh, wow!" best sums up the comments from my kids as they read it.
The second poem, which dealt with self-esteem and inner beauty, was to be a birthday present for Rebekah.
Holly insisted on matting and framing the poem for Rebekah herself. So I never saw the finished product until Rebekah opened it on January 7, her birthday and our family Christmas.
If you scroll past this first photo, you'll see the Christmas poem in a frame. My son found the perfect one in a thrift store a few days later and was eager to show it off.
For more information about Holly Coop, visit hollycoopbooks.com.
Happy Thursday!
People bemoan the decline in reading and blame technological entertainment in its many forms for that decline..
This post isn't meant to offer an opinion on that statement, other than to marvel at all the opportunities we have for entertainment.
Think about it.
We have literature, movies, live theater, podcasts video games, music - the list can go on. We really have no reason to ever be bored.
Speaking of music (and life would suck without music) we often forget that the human voice is an instrument...of sorts.
You see, knowing how to "play" the voice can make the difference between a so-so author reading and one that leaves folks scarcely breathing in awe.
Just like many of us are not taught to play piano or trombone, many of us never learn to play our voice.
(And yet, I used to tell the kids back in our home-school days that reading aloud, when we all used to real aloud together, is good, cheap drama_.
Again, think about it.
Words are made from combinations of twenty-six letters.
Music is made from combinations of an twelve-note scale (or less, depending on the scale).
Radio theater is made with good voice modulation, such as:
Emphases.
Pauses.
High pitch
Low pitch.
Slow pace.
Fast pace.
Knowing how and when and where and why to apply any and some of these in a piece requires coaching, discerning, and practicing.
Lots of practicing.
Like the type of practicing WriteOn Joliet member Holly Coop (center) has done with my niece Rachel, who is serving as a creative consultant for An Evening With WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You, which eight members of WriteOn will perform on April 22 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Up until the pandemic, WriteOn Joliet hosted an open mic event a couple times of year at the Book and Bean Cafe in Joliet, located inside the Black Road branch of the Joliet Public Library.
Basically, participating members stood in front of a microphone in the cafe and read an original piece that was from three to five minutes long.
We are still reading our pieces on April 22.
But in most cases, we are not reading our own pieces.
And in some cases, several people are reading different parts in pieces they did not write.
One of the pieces Holly is reading is a poem written by Maureen Blevins (who is standing beside Holly in the below photo).
I knew this poem was right for Holly's voice.
But when she read it aloud for the first time at The Book Market in Crest Hill, where we've been rehearsing after hours, I almost fell out of my chair at Holly's delivery of Maureen's lines.
Holly had learned to "play voice."
Writers wield a bit of magic when they can make readers think, or when they can persuade readers toward one side of a premise, or cause them to fall in love with characters, or to travel to faraway lands, or to allow the musical lines in a poem stir their emotions.
Amazing.
All this magic is accomplished with just the careful arrangement of twenty-six letters on a page.
Those reading aloud do the same.
Except they take the page and wield the above magic through the controlled inflections of their voice.
Again, amazing...
Eight members of WriteOn Joliet will present “An Evening With WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You” on April 22 at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet.
Admission is $5.
One of the author/performers is Holly Coop, for whom touching hearts with words has become a life purpose.
Holly writes and publishes inspirational poetry, motivational quotes, and spiritual insights. As the author of five poetry collections, Holly hopes her words will stir hearts and inspire others in their purpose.
She also enjoys sketching, creating photo notecards and art, and featuring her poetry. at hollycoopcards.Etsy.com.
At hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com, Holly shares reflections, nuggets of wisdom, and anything that comes to mind.
She also blogs for the Romeoville Art Society at romeovilleartsociety.org/blog.
Holly resides in Joliet, Illinois with her husband, children, and furry friends.
Her poetry collections are available for purchase at: HollyCoopBooks.com, hollycoop.etsy.com, and The Book Market Sales and Trading Center in Crest Hill.
Holly's books are also available in the local author collection at the Joliet Public Library.
The other authors and performers on April 22 are Denise M. Baran-Unland, Maureen Blevins, Edward Calkins, Holly Coop, Steve Cordin, Diana Estell, Cean Magosky and Duanne Walton.
Lobby doors open at 6 p.m. Concessions and drinks available for purchase. WriteOn Joliet books and anthologies will be available for purchase one hour before the show, during intermission and immediately after the show’s conclusion.
The Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre is at 201 West Jefferson Street, downtown Joliet, 60432.
For tickets and more information, visit bicentennialpark.org or contact the office: 815-724-3761 or bipark@joliet.gov.
For more information, visit writeonjoliet.com.
Four of my writerly comrades blog on a regular basis - so I check out their blogs on a regular basis.
The styles are very different, ranging from inspirational to slice of life.
The authors' names are Mauverneen (Maureen Blevins), Holly Coop, Ken McGee, and Sue Merrell.
Here are a few snippets from some blogs that I've read and enjoyed. Please check them out.
"I had the privilege of having grandparents who lived on The Farm. Not just a farm, but The Farm. I’ll tell you why."
https://kennethleemcgee.com/the-farm-2/
"The shortest month of the year. That means just a little bit less winter."
https://maureenblevins.blogspot.com/2021/02/positively-february.html
"Dang Those Miserable Masks" by Sue Merrell
https://www.suemerrellbooks.com/2020/09/16/dang-those-miserable-masks/
Since our normal has now become – well, what it has become, with this COVID, I want anything but normalcy in twenty twenty-one.
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/normalcy/
The principles of those terms may become a necessity, for surviving our current reality.
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/nowadays/
There is no dimension
Nowhere in time or space
That we can ever be hidden
From the light of Your saving grace
So thank you for the sunshine, even when our skies are gray
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/worship-and-praise/
A new year wakes as we embark on a new age
Embrace a new concept to live a new way
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/11/moon-wink/
"Practice Trolley Riding"
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/practice-trolley-riding/
By taking just a couple minutes more, you can care for yourself just a bit more
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/snack-break/
"It's white, and it's wondrous, and, except for the crunching of my boots on the snow, it's silent."
http://maureenblevins.blogspot.com/2021/01/positively-frosted.html
"Notions, Yearnings and Choices"
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/notions-yearnings-and-choices/
"Labels"
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/20/labels/
If you think going fast down a mountain in a car is terrifying, try it on a racing bike with skinny tires at speeds approaching sixty miles an hour with the wind blasting your face and bugs splattering your sunglasses.
https://kennethleemcgee.com/adventures-in-cycling-part-1/
"Road Blocks"
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/road-blocks/
"Let Go Your Ego"
https://hollycoopauthor.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/let-go-your-ego/
"The Junior Class Carnival (and Other Important High School Activities)"
https://kennethleemcgee.com/the-junior-class-carnival-and-other-important-high-school-activities/
Pictured are Kenneth Lee McGee (left) Mauverneen (Maureen) Blevins (top), Sue Merrell, (bottom), and Holly Coop.
