Multi-Tasking Madness

PROJECTS CURRENTLY BEING ACTIVELY WORKED ON:1

That’s Life – A gay love, mafia, murder mystery, ghost story that I wrote most of two years ago. I got sick of trying to fix certain problems and gave up. But, two months ago, I decided to finish. So now I’m editing it and carving it into manageable sized chunks. I’ve just finished Part 4 and think Part 5 will be the last. Maybe. I’d only roughly sketched out the end, so it might stretch to need a Part 6. We’ll see. It’s only supposed to be a Short Story, but looks like it will end up being over 4000 words long. I’d always wanted to write a murder mystery, starting just after the murder, narrated by the victim’s ghost. However, it developed into one of those “Unfinished Business” style ghost stories. But, as I wanted to have a twist, I made the victim, Bobby’s Unfinished Business with the dead, rather than the living. Although inspired by the style of old Noir detective stories, That’s Life is predominantly a black comedy. But the aspect I like best is the more serious side, i.e. the main thing driving events in the story is the repercussions of an apparent suicide years earlier. I’m trying to bring this aspect more to the fore in the process of editing. Hopefully, I’ll complete That’s Life in the next three weeks. 2


Teach Me (working title) – For a long time, some friends and I have been trying to form our own theatrical company (Coloured Mask Theatre Company). After failed attempts at using already existing plays, we decided, about three months ago, to write our own using an out-of-copyright inspiration (J. M. Barrie’s 1902 comedy, Quality Street). Teach Me is a modern musical, with a combination of comedy, romance and drama. It will probably end up having four Acts. So far, we’ve planned eight characters, plus chorus and sketched out quite a few scenes and musical numbers. Set in a suburban town of unspecified nationality, the story centres on the local high school. Following graduation, high school sweethearts, Phoebe and Vince, take separate paths and grow apart. Seven years later, they meet again. She realises she still loves him but he, disillusioned by life’s harshness, wants only the carefree relationship of their youth. She has grown up and settled down as a teacher at their old high school. She is not what he wants. Determined to win him back, she gets help from teachers and students to create a young, carefree alter-ego…and the confusion begins! This is a story about falling in and out of love. But it also asks the question “what makes us love someone in the first place?” CMTC has weekly discussions and, each time, Teach Me progresses a little further. It will probably progress faster come Summer, when we’re on university holidays. The main problem is that this different form of writing (play rather than novel) requires different skills. And I’m not sure I have them. Apart from dialogue and song-writer (neither of which I’m experienced at), I’m director, designer and, possibly, producer. But the theatre is what I live for. It is the only thing I really want to do with my life. And so, I will continue to try.3

Playing Rosa Linde (working title) – This is my first ever Graphic Novel. So it unfortunately suffers not only the effects of writer’s block but also of artist’s block. I make lots of notes and sketches and work on planning it all out as often as I can. As it’s my first Graphic Novel, I’m not sure how long I’ll need to take on it or what length it’ll be, although I’d estimate five chapters. Playing Rosa Linde is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's romantic comedy As You Like It. In case you can't guess, Rosa is the Rosalind character. If you don’t know Shakespeare’s play, she's the character who is a girl who pretends to be a boy who pretends to be a girl. And if that's not confusing enough, the character would have been originally played by a boy on stage. I'm using all of this in building up Rosa's character (but can’t say exactly how because that would spoil the surprise near the end). Instead of being set in palaces and forests, my version is set in various theatres around an unnamed city (which looks suspiciously like New York). Many of these theatres are putting on various Shakespearian productions. All characters work as cast or crew or are somehow connected to the theatre business. I’m going to include lots of references to Shakespeare's various writings, as well as other works of literature (books, movies, poems and plays). I’m taking my lead from Shakespeare’s lines "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players". The concept I want to explore is that everyone is an actor, constantly playing different versions of themselves to fit a given situation. And,, of course, stripping away these various disguises to reveal the truth. I also want to include some of my own responses to different performances of Shakespeare's original characters as I’ve seen them portrayed in various productions (e.g. directors always seem to make one particular girl a ditz but Shakespeare gives her some of the most intelligent lines in the play). On the whole, I’m quite nervous about this project. I’ve never done anything like it and underestimated how difficult and time-consuming it would be. I started it at the beginning of December 2008 as a filling-in-time Summer Holiday project, thinking three months would be plenty of time. Not so. Plus, I lack confidence about the artwork I’ve done for it. Learning to use a new digital art programme doesn’t help. But I have two great friends who’ve been encouraging me in this project so, come December, my slow-and-steady workpace is going to rocket…I hope!4


PROJECTS I’VE STARTED BUT ARE CURRENTLY ON HIATUS:5

Breaking August – Although I’ve only written the first half of the first chapter of this novella, it will have eight chapters, which I have already planned out. I’ve decided to move away from the original focus, which was moving on from a broken heart. This will still play a key role but I’ve decided to increase the importance of the subplot about multiple identities to a major storyline. I’m not 100% sure how to write the difference in my main character from being John to Jayne, especially as he/she is this story’s first-person narrator. But I think that answer’ll only come as I write. Breaking August is a novella in Acts, about John/Jayne Patrick, an 18 year old, bisexual, Australian Drag Queen. A story of true friendship, not-so-true love, family, self-discovery, courage and coming out. My ideas for this story came from a wide range of sources, but I drew most inspiration from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Barrie’s Quality Street. Each Act is named after a song which has featured in a play/film that includes cross-dressing. Each song is carefully chosen to match the contents of its Act. Each Act will close with John/Jayne performing the relevant song as a part of his/her nightly cabaret act. I’ll try to post links to each song’s lyrics and YouTube clip as I go. This is the story I hope to work on after finishing That’s Life6

Glitter Girl – OK, another of my weird, cross-dressing, LGBT novellas. Not sure how long it’ll be yet. I’ve written most of the first two chapters and I don’t think it’ll have more than ten. Hopefully, this’ll be the project I work on after Breaking August. This story began life as a kind of homage to some of my favourite films/plays, particularly the Victor/Victoria series. Glitter Girl is based around a literary fraud (Australia’s had a few interesting ones). Charlie’s a young, unsuccessful poet who hates her drab, dead-end life. When she enters a novel writing contest for True Life stories, she decides to write herself the life she’s always wanted. As I’m sure you can guess, she gets through to the finalists! Faced with exposure and imprisonment for fraud, Charlie attempts to transform herself into her book’s main character in order to fool the judges. This story is told in third person and chapters alternate between following Charlie’s story and following that of the head judge, André. I hate writing in third person because I have more trouble getting into my characters minds. However, it’s the only way I could think of making the switching back and forth work and I really wanted to tell Andr&#;s side of the story. I’m sure you can guess what will happen when Charlie and André meet. Hardly original. But it’s meant to be a romantic comedy. So deal with it!7

Anderson Grey Investigations (series) – That’s Life was meant to be my serious attempts at writing old fashioned Detective Noir…and, of course, I failed miserably! So this is my second attempt. No kinky black humoured ghost stories this time! Third person, gritty, gumshoe mysteries only! I hope. Andie Grey is a studious 18 year old who is working as a P.I. to pay her way through university. Or is that her real reason? She always seems to be investigating, but has never had a single client. So what’s she actually up to? Answer: I don’t know! I haven’t worked it out yet. That’s why the first story, HELP WANTED!, has been on hiatus for over a year. Truthfully, I’m not even sure whether this’ll be a series of short stories, novellas or novels. Or if it’ll be a series at all. There’s a lot for me still to work out.
(1) HELP WANTED! – Grey has been advertising for an assistant for six months, with no results. Maybe because she only wants someone to boss around and clean her office. Or maybe because everyone’s just a little bit scared of her! Then along comes her modern day Doctor Watson. A freckled, bespectacled, sci-fi loving, computer geek named Albert Bridge. Except he wants to be a real P.I., not an office boy. So when someone has the audacity to commit a murder just down the corridor from Grey’s office, Albert takes full advantage of her indignation and convinces her to investigate. Will this new duo prove a formidable crime-fighting team? Or will they be too busy fighting each other? I’ve got the whole storyline worked out, even though I’ve only written down part of the first chapter. I took a break to work on some over-arching themes for this series. Hopefully, I’ll have enough ideas together to work on HELP WANTED! after Glitter Girl.8

Metropolitan Soap Opera (working title) – This will be a series of short stories. It’s inspired by my many trips to the cinema to see broadcasts of performances by New York’s Metropolitan Opera. These broadcasts include behind the scenes footage and interviews. Each short story, though briefly referencing the previous one, will stand on its own. Each will take place in the Metropolitan Opera during a performance. I’ll describe some of what happens on stage, trying to be as accurate to real life as I can, but most of each story will follow an individual’s personal experiences on the night. They may be cast, crew, audience, etc. These stories are basically an exercise in Over The Top-ness, featuring all the overblown emotions and passions from operas, e.g. love, hate, joy, sorrow, jealousy, revenge, etc. Hence the title’s soap opera reference. I’ve written the first and plan to edit it and start writing the next in December.9

Some Like Hannah – 10

Your Own Thing (21st Century reworking) – 11

Shakespeare Modern (series) –
(1) Dancing On Sand – 12


PROJECTS THAT CURRENTLY ONLY EXIST INSIDE MY DEMENTED BRAIN:13

Shakespeare Modern (series) –
(2) Hotel Frida (working title) –
(3) And Welcome to the Madelaine –
(?) Radio Play (working title) –
(?) Sweet Comic Valentine –
(?) Three Lovers (working title) – 14

Last Chance (a Doctor Who fan fiction with Torchwood crossover) – 15

EBONY – 16

Stick to the Script (working title) – 17

Blind Dating (working title) – 18

Travis & Christine (working title) – 19

Mysterious History (series) – This will be a series of fictitious accounts of the true stories behind certain historical enigmas. Each story is completely independent from the others. So it won’t matter what order I write them in. It’ll just be as ideas come to me. Each story will be set up in a similar way. It will switch between modern sequences and historical ones. The modern part will follow a character such as an archaeologist, historian, etc as they uncover fresh clues to an historical puzzle. The story’s historical sections will be told by the character who left the clue.
(?) The Artist’s Apprentice – This will follow the creation and rediscovery of an art journal belonging to a woman in Renaissance Italy. It charts the course of her life, from single mother and prostitute to artist’s model and, eventually, artist’s apprentice. Her teacher, a talented but mysterious man, is obsessed with his work. Particularly with his current project, a portrait he calls La Gioconda. We know it as Mona Lisa.
(?) Great and Terrible (working title) – The death of Alexander The Great is still a mystery. Was it accident? Illness? Suicide? Murder? What if, just before his death, Alexander confided a secret to one he knew would keep it? Or not be believed if she told. What if this harem girl wrote down the secret and sealed it in a box which she threw into the sea? Centuries later, archaeologists may find it. This story is of the truths released when they open Pandora’s box.
(?) The Dust Enclosed (working title) – For years, people have debated whether Shakespeare’s plays where actually written by William Shakespeare or whether he was a front for someone else. I believe he did write them, but this story explores the alternative. In an era when being different could mean execution, what’s a seamstress with dreams above her station supposed to do? And what of an actor, grown too old to tread the boards, but unable to earn a living by other means? And what clue to this strange friendship lies awaiting a 21st century grave-robber beneath the mysterious inscription:
Good friend for Jesus sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.20

The Infamous Ms McPhee (working title) – This novella is a spin-off from my Metropolitan Soap Opera series. I created the main character, Hannah McPhee, years ago. She was a successful child actress who, now an adult, has gone off the rails. There’s lots of flashbacks, looking at where things went wrong. Hannah’s Metropolitan Soap Opera entry is an extended version of one of these flashbacks. She’s now a depressive, alcoholic drug addict, who earns a living as a sharp-tongued Critic. Told from Hannah’s POV, this is going to be fairly sad but the story will include a turning point where her life begins improving. The upbeat aspects of this tale come from the family and friends who stand by her and give support. I haven’t started writing this project yet because I’m still getting my own depression under control and am not yet ready to deal with Hannah’s.21

Lady Rogue (working title) – I got the idea for this last month when watching a book review programme. They were discussing a certain category of character, who can be described by the words Cad, Bounder, Rogue and Scoundrel. However, almost without fail, the words Dashing, Charming and Charismatic are equally applicable. Too bad these characters are always male! And, of course, there’s always another character who knows what a bastard the Rogue is but still believes his/her love can reform him. I’m hardly spoiling the end if I tell you…IT NEVER BLOODY HAPPENS! Anyway, I prefer a non-reformed Rogue. They get so bloody boring when they do turn all goody-goody! What I want to know is why no-one ever writes this bastard who breaks hearts and bounces cheques as a woman? So I’ve decided I’ll do it (hence the rather obvious and stupid title…which might change. Or might not. I’m growing attached to it). Kathryn is intelligent, talented, funny, beautiful and can do whatever she puts her mind to. Which is usually seducing rich men, conning them out of lots of money, then buggering off, taking their money and leaving them with a broken heart. Then, she meets a man who sees her for what she is and believes himself to be her match. I considered leaving the reformer as a women but decided a complete gender swap was more interesting. So, instead of Good Girl/Bad Boy, my story is Good Boy/Bad Girl. I do like Bad Girls! There’ll be lots of humour and probably action. It’ll be written in first-person from Kathryn’s POV. But I’m considering doing some from the man’s POV. Not sure if this’ll be script or manuscript. My ideas for this are still a bit up in the air. I think I’ll let them stew for a while before I set them down on paper. 22

Helénē (working title) – This is an idea for a film. A retelling of the story of Helen of Troy (which I’ve always been a bit obsessed by), this idea started out as part of my Mysterious History series. But it’s more legend than history. And I couldn’t ignore the story’s cinematic potential and just leave it as a novel. The concept I have is to make this a sort of character study of Helen, as I feel she usually gets short shrift. I want to do this by exploring the legend’s darker elements. E.g. Helen was raped as a young girl, leading to her life-long hatred of men. She was a warrior princess of Sparta who was forced into becoming an old man’s trophy wife. It seems she engineered her own abduction, only falling in love with Paris well into events. Etc. This will require me to do a lot of research, which will take ages. Plus, I don’t know how to write for film but hope to study screenplay writing in the next few years. So, sadly, this project can’t advance far until I master that skill. 23

Life On Mars (Australian television series adaptation) – On January 9, 2006, the BBC began airing a new drama series. It was called Life On Mars after the 1971 David Bowie song Life on Mars? , which also featured as the theme song of the show. Finishing after two seasons, this widely acclaimed original series not only spawned a spin-off (Ashes To Ashes) but also remakes in several other countries, including the U.S.A. Being a fan, I would like to write a version set in my home-country, Australia. As a twist, I’d like to make the main character Sam Tyler into Samantha Tyler. A large part of this time-travel series takes place in the 1970s and I think changing Sam’s gender would open up the chance of exploring a different side to this era of Women’s Lib. Also, I believe a female character would react differently to the family secrets which are a recurring theme at this story’s heart. Scene ideas are always popping into my head, but it’s definitely a long term project.24

The Twyborn Affair (television mini-series adaptation) – It took me over a year to finish reading this three-part novel by Patrick White. It is beautiful, intense, sad, witty and requires undivided attention. I would love to turn this novel into a screenplay. But, how to do so without losing any of the story’s complexity? A television mini-series adaptation is the only form I can think of. Three episodes, each between one-and-a-quarter and one-and-a-half hours long and each dealing with one of the novel’s three separate parts. This is definitely a long term project. Very long term. First, I have to learn about writing screenplays.