For no apparent reason, I woke up three hours earlier than my alarm this morning. Even more perplexing, I actually got up instead of rolling around in the sheets until I fell back asleep.

There are two exciting things happening over the next couple days. But I can’t really attribute the early rising to those. They actually hadn’t crossed my mind until I sat down to burn the fog off my mind with a blog post. Since I’m up, and my subconscious has thrust this pair of events to the surface, I suppose I shall yap about them.

This Friday kicks off the NW Ohio SCBWI annual conference. This will be my first in-person writing conference: seminars, critiques, pitching, advice, connections & encouragement. The timing is a bit odd. I’m in that writerly limbo space between querying one novel and writing the next.

I’m slowly developing the characters and expounding on the root ideas for Phreak Show. But this is a come-as-it-may process. I don’t rush it. I don’t force it. The characters clock in and out when they like. If they say something worth keeping, I scribble it down. The ideas drift by like clouds. If one shoots out a zap of lightning, I snap a picture of it. At this stage, I am like a court reporter–only transcribing what I hear and see. I don’t affect the proceedings in any way. I simply record them as they unfold.

So, entering this conference, I’m not in the thick of drafting or revision. Phreak Show is my work-in-progress [but only in the vaguest sense]. It will be interesting to see how attending a conference during this phase of the writing process will turn out. I’m suspecting it will kick the development of Phreak Show into overdrive.

The second event which is unfolding over the next couple of days has nothing at all to do with writing. It has to do with a TV show.

While at an antique show earlier this month, a talent scout approached my partner and I. She was searching for a pair of guys with knowledge of antiques & refurbishing skills to host a new show. Junk’d is a concept show pre-sold to CMT. Basically, it is a mashup of Extreme Home Makeover and American Pickers.

Here’s what has happened so far. The scout interviewed us with some questions regarding our experience, personalities and fit for the show. The Casting Director dug our video & followed up with a phone interview. We jumped that hurdle and moved on to a taped Skype interview. This video was edited down to two minutes and passed on to the executives. That’s the stage we’re at now. A decision is expected by Friday.

Things are set to pop quickly after that. Let’s pretend the execs select Micah and I to host the show. Here’s what would go down next. Flight to L.A. to finalize everything. Then, the pilot [of the show–not the plane…] would be filmed in Tennessee in early October. After that–more waiting to see how the pilot plays out. The whole thing could end there. If it’s a ‘go’, CMT could order a season consisting of 6-20 episodes.

This is one of those crazy-random opportunities which comes out of the blue. Obviously, there is nothing definite at this point. On Friday, I could get the whole, “You were great! But the execs decided to go in a different direction…” You know, like a form rejection to a query letter. That’s kind of how I’m mentally framing the whole possibility. It is equivalent to sending a query. The intern pushed it through the slush. The agent liked the writing sample and asked for a full. Now, agent has it and is running it by his colleagues to get their input–and final decision–on whether to offer rep as an agency or not.

Just as I’d love to land a lit agent, I’d also love to try my hand at hosting a TV Show. I mean, why the hell not?

In the meantime, I have some plotlines to shorthand and a conference to prepare for. Oh, and a fresh pot of coffee is in order. And it’s still an hour before my alarm is set to go off.  :: rubs sleepy eyes :: If you catch me napping later today, don’t tell anyone. I’m not used to being up before the sun. Wait…what time does filming start?

For those of you who are curious [and wise to the whole invisible ink thing], the payment for the TV show includes all travel & related expenses + $2,500 per co-host, per episode. Yeah, I believe I could handle that.