Gallowglas Has Left the Ren Faire
This past Sunday at 3:45 PM, I performed my last Bard’s Cloak of Tales show at the Folsom Renaissance Faire. I was touched and honored by all the support from my fans over the years. To those who couldn’t make it, I felt you there in spirit, whether you knew it was the last show or not. I’ve spent the last two days considering the decision, and I still believe it was the right call. I’ve been performing at renaissance faires in one form or another for close to thirty years, off and on. I’ve been back, traveling regularly performing Bard’s Cloak of Tales for ten. In that time, I’ve earned a BA in creative writing, published books, won awards for some of my books, been an international bestseller on Amazon several times, I’ve spoken at comic cons and writing symposiums all over the country, and I recently earned my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. While I’m grateful for all the fans who have come and seen my shows and all the producers of events that have allowed me to perform for those fans, it’s time for me to make time in my life for bigger adventures.
This is not to say that I’ll never perform at a Renaissance Faire again. I just that over the last several years, I’ve noticed that I’ve reached a peak at ren faires that seems to have leveled off. with no more space for me to keep moving upward. On the other hand, I’ve noticed a steady increase in growth as I’m attending comic cons and writing conferences. So, unfortunately, part of this decision comes down to economics. Another aspect of performing at Ren Faire is that as I get older, the physical recovery from a faire is taking longer and longer. It’s taking me longer to recover from a two-day faire than it did for me to recover from the five-day whirlwind of San Diego Comic Con. This is affecting the speed at which I can get back to productivity in writing. Yesterday, I got less than a thousand words of fiction in, when in reality, to make this writing gig work, I need to be able to get more than that on a consistent basis. Also, usually at conventions, I’m able to get at least a little writing time in. Faire usually does not afford me that luxury. So, I suppose when it comes down to it, it all plays into economics. So, with all that being said, I still may perform at Renaissance Faires in the future, but it will be on an event by event basis, depending on my schedule of other events and what kind of agreement I can come to with each event.
This does NOT mean I’m giving up storytelling. Rather, I’m just changing the focus of where and when I tell stories. I have several conventions where I perform, and I will discuss the possibility with others. More than that, I plan on producing my own storytelling events. I’ve done them in the past, and I have found them extremely rewarding and (mostly) profitable. (Yeah, back to economics.) I also enjoy telling stories in venues where I don’t have to compete with all the distractions and interruptions of being at a life festival. I don’t have to worry about getting upstaged by sword fighters, parades wandering by in the middle of the show, airplanes flying overhead, having to rush through a show because the audience is stuck in the sun on a hot day, being scheduled against the joust, rain, the stage falling apart, and/or having another fair performer jumping up on my stage in the middle of a show and flipping me off. (Yeah, that’s happened.) On their own, these are all minor inconveniences, but they add up overtime, and start to wear, especially as the recovery time from these events grows longer and longer. However, as they say, “The show must go on.” Mine will just go on in a different format. If you’re interested in keeping tabs on when and where I’ll be doing storytelling, sign up for my email list and pay attention to my social media.
Having just read over the last several paragraphs, I realize that it may seem like I feel the last ten years were nothing but a downer, a series of one unfortunate experience after another. Not at all true. I’ve met some of my dearest friends through Renaissance Faires. The show has allowed me to reconnect with people who I had previously felt lost to me, including one who has truly helped me through some tough times over the last year. I have a writing career because Bard’s Cloak of Tales gave be a fan base and a way to reach more readers. I’ve been able to interact with my fans in ways that most artists never get. I have had the privilege of seeing the joy I’ve brought to thousands of people. Even this last weekend, I had at least a dozen people come up to me and tell me how much I’ve inspired them over the years. I’ve moved people to tears, including myself. In a few special moments, the bond between myself and the audience has been something magical. My final show was one such moment. Another was at the Valhalla Renaissance Faire where I was telling “The Dragon Bone Flute,” and in the final, bittersweet moments of the story, snow started falling from the sky. At the Central Coast Renaissance Faire in 2015, my telling of Jack of the Lantern seemed to have a bit of extra power from me, the audience gave a little more of themselves into our connection, and every other bit of the faire seemed to fade away, and for 45 minutes, the entirety of existence just me, about a hundred people, and a story. I’ll remember the time at Kearney Park Ren Faire, the entire two back rows of the show were wearing Galad’fana (Tears of Rage readers will understand.) At Tulare Renaissance Faire, a mother came up to me with tears in her eyes because her special needs son had never sat still and mesmerized for so long a time. These moments and more have become part of my personal story, so that, even though my journey is leading me away from Renaissance Faires, I will always carry a bit of Renaissance Faires and the people I met through faires with me.
Remember that we were born to tell stories. Stories can entertain, but they can also heal. Stories lead to understanding. In stories, we can talk about Truth in ways that we cannot in normal conversation. If my stories have ever touched your heart, brought a smile to your face, please keep the joy of our communal stories alive. Ask people to share their stories with you. Through sharing our stories we can learn to appreciate the other, the different, and the outcast. We can see ourselves in those we disagree with. And, we can climb our way out of the darkest of despair. This last year has proven the Truth of this. In some of my darkest moments, the sharing of stories has led me out of the darkness and into the light.
Thank you to everyone who has shared this journey with me so far. Remember, this is not an end, only the beginning of a new adventure. I hope some of you will keep following along.
May all of your stories have happy endings.
