Progress!



Early this morning I received an e-mail from Fantastic Books Publishing to say that a little story of mine was to be published in their forthcoming “Fantabble” anthology. This is the outcome of a competition they launched more than a year ago, inviting people to submit horror stories exactly 666 words long excluding title. Horror stories are rather outside my comfort zone as a writer but I had a go, so it’s gratifying to have my little piece accepted for inclusion among the works of authors with far more expertise in the genre! I proof-read their house-style-adapted version of my tale, added a min-bio and photo, and sent it back with an appropriate note of thanks.

Yep. Progress.

After our play-writing session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (I’m still being tutored in the art of writing for the stage) I met the actors who are going to put on my little one-act drama at the Partington Theatre’s One Act Play Festival during the first week of July. It was a gratifying meeting over a fairly leisurely lunch. Both the ladies are enthusiastic about the script, each knew which part she wanted to play, and they’ve arranged to meet again without me so they can rehearse. (Authors are a nuisance at rehearsals.) The play concerns intellectual property theft and its possible effects on the victim and the perpetrators, so it contains a bit of scientific/technical vocabulary – just enough to persuade the audience of the extreme cleverness of one of the characters but not, I hope, enough to make them all fall asleep or accord me a walking ovation. So the actors questioned me at length about the terminology and its meanings, about what was real science and what was fiction, and they can now pronounce the words and have the gist of the back-story… to the extent that the lady playing the victim of the theft said “Now I’m really angry!”

Gratifying once again. More progress.

Meanwhile, the booklet about our local First World War conscientious objectors that I’ve been compiling received an unexpected boost when, an hour and a half ago at the time of writing, I met the surviving son of one of said objectors! He’s ninety years old but has all his marbles, and he was more than happy to talk to me. As a result I can now add significantly to that part of the booklet, and in return I’ve given him information about his late father that he’d never known. It’s remarkable what one can excavate from official records and contemporaneous newspaper reports, but you can’t beat personal reminiscences as sources of information. So I’m now about to make the additions to the booklet!

Nothing like personal connections of that kind to ensure progress when biographical and historical research is involved.

 

1 Comment

  • That is FANTASTIC!!!! Progress is very gratifying.

    I hope the actors do your play justice.

    Cheers

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