Marty Panzer: An Interview with a Master Lyricist

Written by Virginia Emrick for The Muse’s Muse

Those who can, do…and if we’re very lucky, they also teach.

In a throw-away world, finding something that’s built to last takes effort. Learning to build such a thing takes skill, perseverance, and a bit of guidance.

Since 1994, master lyricist Marty Panzer has provided songwriting guidance to all levels of writers, encouraging them to write lyrics that succeed and endure. Something Marty knows a lot about.

Continue reading “Marty Panzer: An Interview with a Master Lyricist”

Event Ticket Discounts

Sports lover? Theatre goer? Comedy fan? If you like to get out and enjoy live entertainment (and who doesn’t?), there’s a great service for buying tickets without breaking the bank. Check out Goldstar. Their site offers half-price tickets to events in the California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington DC, New York and Boston areas, with more areas on the way. Events include theatre, comedy, sports, live music and spas. Sign up is free.

What are you waiting for? Go to the Goldstar website now.

November ’07 Update

Life has been flying past faster than I can keep track of the date. That’s a good thing, so I’ve been told.

So, what’s happening in my life? Well, aside from my freelance work as a web content editor, I’ve been busy working on various children’s projects and just completed a new picture book called There’s a Monster in My Closet!

Monster is a cute story about a child describing the monster that took up residence in his closet. The story is being set to music and will be released in 2008 with a companion CD of the song and a narrated track for read-along. You can download the story on Story Link for a mere $0.99. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

There’s a lot of great stuff coming down the pipeline in 2008; so, stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Regards,
Virginia

Keep It Real – Make It Personal

As a writer, I tend to have other writers as friends and we often share our work, usually still in draft form, with each other for feedback. This provides a unique view into the writing process that helps us grow as writers. In every piece a friend gives me to read, I can pretty much always find that friend buried somewhere the words in some way, big or small. It gives me the chance to crawl inside my friends’ minds and see how they approach their stories and what little bits of themselves they use to flavor the details. Continue reading “Keep It Real – Make It Personal”

Master Class from a Master Lyricist

If you’re planning to be in the LA area this winter and are ready to take your lyric-writing to the next level, hurry over to the UCLA Extension website and register for Marty Panzer’s Master Class: Writing Lyrics that Succeed and Endure. The upcoming winter 2008 class features the Sixth Annual Concord Records Scholarship, where six students will receive additional classes and a private, one-on-one mentor session with Marty. Continue reading “Master Class from a Master Lyricist”

Open Call for Musical Theatre Lovers: Attention Book Writers, Composers, and Lyricists

Do you want to hone your musical theatre writing skills while getting feedback from professionals and your colleagues? Do you want to learn the ins and outs of writing for musical theatre? Then, you owe it to yourself to check out the Academy for New Musical Theatre (ANMT). Continue reading “Open Call for Musical Theatre Lovers: Attention Book Writers, Composers, and Lyricists”