Blog | Shearwater Productions

an array of books that are murder mysteries by different authors

What do I love about mysteries? What’s NOT to love?!?

April 22, 2025

I have often wondered why I’m so drawn to mysteries. Luckily, I am in excellent company. Tufts University says Agatha Christie has only been outsold by William Shakespeare and the Bible. And it’s not just novels we enjoy; we’re drawn to paintings and images where something isn’t what it seems (tell me you’ve never spent time gazing at an M. C. Escher!), and, of course, mystery shows and films! Many enjoy taking it a step further and getting to be part of a mystery! So what is it, specifically, that draws us? Why humans love mysteries Really, there are three

Holly is sitting on stage flanked by two other women, animatedly talking with each other.

Prepping your presentation to keep your audience engaged

March 12, 2025

Recently, we talked about the way that I approach a presentation, both in person and over video. I wanted to dive deeper into a method for setting up any talk, whether it’s a stakeholder meeting, a cast brainstorm, or a keynote speech. You’ve heard it before, but incorporating stories and examples will make you stand out and, most importantly, allow the audience to remember you. But what does that look like in action? Prep your presentation OK, we made it through the brainstorming phase (during Part One) where we remind ourselves why we’re getting up there in the first place.

Holly delivers storytime presentation during lockdown in 2020

The 4 questions you need to answer to create an effective presentation (and how to adapt that for online)

February 26, 2025

On Friday, March 13, 2020, everything closed in upstate New York. I was doing a project in an elementary school, and it was performance day. We had just finished our dress rehearsal and were about to perform for the rest of the school, when everything was cancelled and we were told to stay in our classrooms. No one knew why, no one knew what was going on. The kids were frustrated, but also frightened. So we communicated via email with the other classrooms, and used the camera on a laptop to film their in-classroom performance and send it to the

The Mysterious CHIRP has launched on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform

Incoming! The Mysterious CHIRP Podcast

January 15, 2025

Update: The Mysterious CHIRP has launched and begun her adventure through space. Listen to episodes on the 4th of each month and follow our Instagram account for updates. Check out everywhere you can find the CHIRP. — I love all things space-related. I wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, and my love of space sciences continues to this day. While other little kids made scrapbooks with horses and favorite sports teams, mine was full of images from Voyager I and Voyager II. As an adult, I followed the exploits of the Mars Rovers and have attended the World

A christmas play with mummers in costume

“In Comes I…” Twelfth Night and Mummers

January 5, 2025

“In comes I, Old Father Christmas. Am I welcome, or am I welcome not?” So begins many a mummers’ play as they erupt into the room in celebration of Twelfth Night! Twelfth Night, when children and fools are kings, and bosses and adults are fools and children, when the forces of Light and Dark meet in a climactic moment, is the night of the Three Kings. It’s also the event for which Shakespeare wrote a wonderful play…..and which, in many parts of North America and the British Isles, includes MUMMERS. What the heck are Mummers? Mumming arises out of the

Holly performs in a radio play version of A Christmas Carol

Why I love A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

December 16, 2024

“Marley was dead to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon Exchange, for anything he put his mind to. Old Marley was dead as a doornail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail.” And so begins one of the most wondrous, funny, moving, reflective, thoughtful bits of story about Christmas. Go ahead, read that again, out loud

Why You Should Make Masks this Halloween

October 29, 2024

It’s spooky season! The time for wearing masks and becoming — in some delighted, fun way — someone (or someTHING) other than who we are in our everyday lives. If you have the time and energy (and even if it’s not Halloween), mask-MAKING also takes us out of our everyday selves! If I am working with a group to help them with their mask-making, the group members have been surprised by the newness of it, then cautious and worried about getting it right as they begin, then delighted and enthusiastic as the masks come into being in their hands. Too

Holly Adams on a panel discussion at Bouchercon

The 3 mysteries in my life

September 12, 2024

I have always loved mysteries. I voraciously read mysteries, I enjoy television shows with a mystery or someone who solves them (have you seen Lydia Poet?), and I love narrating them. The biggest mystery in my life: Why does my husband love living with a goofball? JK! August was filled with mystery and adventure that has spilled into a lovely September. Yup, I am elbow deep into three mystery experiences! The Mysterious CHIRP I love adventuring into the world of the Mysterious CHIRP Podcast, a science fiction mystery series I’ve created that unfolds over the course of 6 episodes. At

Holly stands in front of the Glimmerglass building

The delicious math of comedy

July 26, 2024

I’m currently working on a show for the Glimmerglass Opera Festival that proves comedy is math! Plus, how to think of a comedic scene to find the funny moments.

Holly performs on the Ithaca Commons during a theatre festival

Spring is here and so are the theatre festivals

May 1, 2024

With spring comes the theatre festivals which happen across the globe (and have a history in just about every culture). Here are some great ones to check out.