1st draft

I've finished the first draft of the novel, at last! Still needs a lot of work but hopefully it'll get there. After a lot of failed attempts at trying to get an agent for other stuff, I now have one for the book, which is a bit hard to believe but quite exciting. I might even end up as a proper writer...
We have some lovely prints in the shop at the moment, by designers Sarah Jane Studios and Matilou, as well as new flower hats by Jamie Rae.

Peeping Toms

I went to see "Contains Violence" on Friday, which took place on the roof terrace of the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. You're given a pair of binoculars and headphones and made to peep and listen in on what's going on in the offices across the street. The idea's very clever and novel, and I went along as I like anything Hitchcocky and it also seemed a good way to indulge my creepy habit of looking out of the window and spying on passers by on a more sophisticated level.
I chose the seat at the end, because it was the only one that was leathery and padded and not a hard, wooden dining chair. It was comfortable but unfortunately sitting on the end meant there was no one nest to me to shield me from the wind, so after about half an hour I started fidgeting to keep myself warm.
The play's set up as thriller- you're told at the beginning that the woman in the spotty dress is a killer. We're then treated to a violent scene involving a man in black shorts being bashed by a turquoise computer monitor and having his back stapled, followed by some less amusing David Brent style humour from one of the other office employees. The scary bits did make me giggle at first (no not out of nervousness) but I thought I'd better not as I might be the only one and I couldn't tell because of the headphones.
Anyway, I got bored about halfway through but carried on paying attention in the hope that the mystery would be unravelled soon. Instead, it just seemed to repeat itself, and by the end, and though this was probably me failing to put it all together, I was none the wiser as to what had gone on.
I really like the concept, and the experience of being free to follow and zoom in on what interests you can give you a feeling of being closer to the action, but I think it did needed more of a coherent story and believable characters to work.

Ei8ht

Just got back from Bradford, visiting family, and have been trying, as usual, to get some work done. I've just been watching a very silly "horror" / unintentional comedy Indian film called "Ei8ht". Sort of like Sixth Sense- the hero sees dead people. We had a good laugh, not least at the nonsensical locations. It starts off on Brighton Pier, with a sighting of a ghost at the funfair. The main character then goes home to tell his brother and his wife that something terrible is about to happen at the fair. They go to report this at the local police station, which is in Southall. The police ignore him, and the psychic spends the next day studying numerology and other supernatural subjects at his usual haunt, the again local "Central Library, Reading." The ghosts don't leave him alone, however, and he's soon walking along Brighton Beach when he spots a mysterious figure in a red dress. He follows her into the nearest London underground station, Piccadilly. That's as far as I got.
And, as in most Indian films, all the English characters had strange European accents.

Random

I've been busy finishing off bits of work and making birthday cakes. I've finally got a new draft done of the spy play, and although I know it needs more work, I think I'm going to leave it alone for a while.
I went to see debbie tucker green's play Random last week, and thought the writing was brilliant- funny, poetic, and moving. It's about an ordinary day in the life of an ordinary family- until something shocking and unexpected happens. Nadine Marshall was great, taking on the parts of all four characters, although there were a few moments when I couldn't quite hear what was she was saying- but that was probable me just being deaf.

The Point of Rescue

I mentioned a while back that one of the best thrillers I've read recently is "Hurting Distance" by Sophie Hannah. I've just finished reading her new book, "The Point of Rescue," which I think is even better. As in her first two crime novels, this one begins with a woman in a strange, confusing, almost cryptic situation. Sally Thorning is watching the news when she sees a report about a man who's wife and daughter have been killed. His name's Mark Bretherick, but she knows Mark Bretherick, (she had a secret affair with him) and this guy is someone else...
Apart from being a great suspense story with an ending I didn't manage to work out, the novel also interestingly explores the theme of being a mother, and, quite unexpectedly, the dark and sinister side of it- the side that's not often portrayed in literature, and not really admitted to in real life. One of the characters has a diary in which she reveals all the terrible feelings she has towards her daughter. Of course she's a bit crazy and extreme, but I certainly could relate to the idea of motherhood as being an experience which can be highly pressurised
Anyway- a fantastic bit of news is that as part of the New Writing Award we've been given a mentor to work with, and yes, you guessed it, I've been fortunate enough to get Sophie. Very exciting...

Masque of the Red Death

I went to see Punchdrunk's The Masque of the Red Death on Tuesday, the show that everyone's been raving about. It's a walk about/promenade performance, in which you're given a mask, told to "say goodbye to your friends", and sent off to explore around the five floors of the darkened Battersea Town Hall, where each room is staged as a different scene from one of Edgar Allen Poe's scary short stories.
Amongst other things, I discovered a mind reading act, a woman with a bucket full of bloody body bits who then pushed me out of the room, grabbed an audience member, and locked the door, and a crypt where a woman was suffocated and buried, but then leapt out of her grave when an audience member prodded her.
Unless you're familiar with Poe's works, it is difficult to make any real sense of what you're seeing as a "whole" piece of drama, and I came away with a feeling of having experienced fragments of an imagination, but I think that was probably the point.
It was a funny, exhausting, and, at times, thrilling evening. The spookiest part was possibly finding yourself on a dark staircase with a stranger creeping up behind you....

Thrilling

Just finished reading "A Dark Adapted Eye" by Barbara Vine, a twisted sort of tale about two sisters with a secret. I really liked it. I loved the creepy, obsessive character of Vera, and the way that you're told at the beginning about the main, terrible event, but it's not until the end that you find all the other mysterious bits of the "puzzle". A great way, I think, for learning about structure, the thing I find most difficult in my writing.
I'm trying to finish a play by Wednesday, so I'd better get on with it.