Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Detox

Just back from a week in the lovely Tyrone Guthrie Centre and although I got a lot of work done I also drank a lot of wine. It is really a very special place and there were lots of wonderful artistic lovely people there, but we were 15 women to one man at one stage!The poor fella - he only turned up to dinner once. I guess there's only so much female babble anyone can handle!

So I'm in the self-inflicted pits of detox - will I ever learn? Rhetorical question of course.

Ghost writing project going well but into panic time now because only 40k words actually down and the rest is on tapes and in notes and may not all be usable. Its due to publisher end of March and I will be glad to see the back of it.

I'm sticking to fiction in future - it's easier to make things up than to try to accurately portray someone's life from their own perspective etc, while still making it interesting for the reader, especially as you can't physically get inside the subject's brain. Does that make sense?

Mind you sticking to fiction will probably mean never being published. Made the longlist for Fish so in top 20% (used different name) but not the shortlsit about 8%. A shortlist of 140 seems a little excessive - I hope they're paying the judge well!!

It is a hellish market out there, particularly in fiction - of which short stories are definitely the poor relations -and I thank God for the day job, because my kids wouldn't eat otherwise. But it is the writing at night that keeps me sane.

Yes I am!!!

Monday, February 8, 2010

New Theatre, Old Theatre

Folks, if you can - beg borrow or steal a ticket to Lane Production's 'Haunted' by Edna O'Brien in the Gaiety for one week only - then it moves to Belfast's Opera House . Superb cast including the divine Brenda Blethyn who I have long, long, long admired and tonight got to hug and tell her she is the bee's knees, cat's whiskers etc of the acting confraternity. I came away on a high from the theatretonight and delighted, for in recent years I have begun to despair at new plays or poor productions of old ones . This one had it all - fabulous set - great use of CGI, superb acting by the trio of the cast a wonderful script and great direction. Clap clap clap to all involved. I think this is a play that will long be remembered - a classic it will be called and I feel extraordinarily privileged to have been at the opening night of it in Dublin. Take a bow all concerned.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

In today's vernacular.. OMG,OMG,OMG… I can now officially call myself a ‘writer’. A publishing company have agreed to publish the memoir I’m ghost writing. Not my own fiction or poetry (yet!) but a a sad, strong, funny and wonderful story about the life to date of an astonishing woman. In the course of the research I have had to do for this book and the people I have had to talk to I have learned many weird and wonderful things, seen worlds I never even knew existed, seen a thousand possibilities. I have laughed with this woman, cried with her – almost bloody strangled her when we both threw wobblies on the same day – then kissed and made up – always the nicest part of any row.

Please God and whoever the patron saint of writers is that I can do her story justice. I have never worked so hard at anything nor enjoyed anything as much.

I can’t believe it – here I am, 48 – thought I only had the menopause and death to look forward to and I have started a whole new life/career for myself. I have met wonderful people, creative geniuses, funny, funny people, inspiring people. I know times are tough and I know about all the horrible wars and starvation and natural disasters all over the planet. But I’m still here – you’re still here. The world is full of possibilities – if only we could declutter our lives, and take time to think – really, really think and then, my dears it is simply a matter of….Carpe Diem .