This is intended to be a progress tracker, plus a look back if my memory
allows.
January 2010
After a 6 month hiatus, due to the new job, story #14 emerged. Written
part in Dubai, part in Berkshire, it speaks to the follies of greed and selfishness. With come-uppance the only outcome.
A plan is put together that imagines the arrival of stories 15 - 20 over the next few months, plus approaches
to an artist and agents. Also high-level plans for other unrelated tales.
Some brief notes around the process.
Some stories start with just a title, others with a broad concept or a specific incident. All have at least 3 separate
sections (stories within the story) but all must hang together. Detailed planning is essential, with interesting phrases
gathered along the way. Writing each story (3,000 -4,000 words) takes a few days. Then each is put to one side for a few months,
to be reviewed and adjusted as necessary. And where appropriate stories must be linked with each other.
February
Story #15 is completed. I'm following the plan! After a few weeks of prep, some
on board an Iberia flight from Madrid to Bogota, half is written in the cafe of a leisure centre in Maidenhead. The latest
tale speaks of creativity, misconceived ideas, dark revenge and triumphant resourcefulness.
I'm reminded how
the first lines of the first story (about the 10th actually written) suddenly appeared to me in the BA departures lounge at
Washington Dulles airport. Amazing what a glass of good red wine can do! Also the tears of laughter in the Zurich
hotel bedroom as the 'Party' story emerged. But enough reminiscing - now to crack #16.....
March
Story #16 is finished, actually by late February. Written entirely in the UK, with much of the planning done last November.
It's one that I particularly enjoyed writing, showing that a central character has a rarely seen gentler and perhaps
romantic side. Of course it won't last! If there's any message then I guess it is that the simple things are often
the most important.
Story #17 beckons. This should be a good one and is the first in a type of triptych. I'll
get down to it after completing my latest travels.
Thinking back, the initial prep work for the 'Doctor'
story swims into view. The frantic scribbling using a crayon and piece of drawing paper (thanks Ed) in the taxi from Alicante
airport to La Manga. Quite a journey.
April
March was a good month,
despite a heavy travel schedule. Story#17 was finished, part written on a Lufthansa flight from Moscow to Munich. I must remember
to limit my writing in public as my frequent and apparently unexplained outbursts of laughter must have confused my fellow
travellers. The ending to the story, in a way, takes us back to the very beginning. But there are still many more adventures
in the Dynamic Trio yet! I also reviewed several of the stories from 2008/9 and retrofitted them, based on my current writing
style.
For April I will be revisiting a number of the other
older stories and I will also (at least) start planning story #18. Last summer a lovely person I hadn’t spoken
to for many years very kindly gave me some contacts for illustrators. I will write a brief and approach one of them to see
if she can produce some trial designs. And I’ll also be doing the day job!
This
month’s trip down memory lane takes us back to the period 1982-1985 and the original Dynamic Uno stories. As noted elsewhere
on this site the other members of the final Trio arrived much later. The Dynamic Uno stories were shot through with wide veins
of dark humour and were definitely not for children. There were 9 tales in all, dealing with subjects as diverse as higher
education, alopecia, penury, love, extortion, and the threat of a new ice age. Quite a bizarre collection, but who knows –
some elements could find their way into the new series of stories!
May
During April I re-worked more
of the older stories. Some straightforward, others more challenging. A few left (the doctor, the girlfriend, the sister, the
chef) and I will cover these this month and next. The planning for story #18 was also completed and I will write it this month.
I encountered a dead end with the illustrator I tried. But no matter. One thing I’ve learnt after many years
in business is always to have a plan ‘B’. The trial illustrations would have been useful but can be sourced at
any time.
Now time to do some research into agents and to draw up a short list. Not too many, not too few. Just
the right number. This reminds me of a fairy tale by Southey.......
No blast from the past this month, rather
a brief account of a difficult trip home from Spain, thanks to the cloud of volcanic dust. It necessitated a very long (15+
hours) and expensive (the planned 1924 SA will need to be put on hold) limo ride from La Manga to Paris and a trip on the
Eurostar to St Pancras. One of the many highlights of the limo journey were the numerous rusty iron sculptures on the side
of the Spanish highway, another the raw, jagged Denver Manifesto on the approach to Zaragoza. And Paris in warm Spring sunshine
is always a joy, although beware incurring the wrath of the monument staff if you make the mistake of accepting a cell phone
call on the viewing platform at the top of the Arc de Triomphe.
June
May was
a month of two halves. The first part saw the remaining older stories re-worked and I'm pleased with all of them. But
then my attention turned to the day job (although no travel in the month - something of a record!). Also to CFCs glorious
double. I definitely remember travelling to Wembley. But everything after the presentation of the cup is a blur and how
I got home is a complete mystery. But my semi retirement from writing means that I now need to complete two stories this month.
So I'd better stop writing this update and get on with it!
This month's trip in the time machine
takes me back to an October evening in the Grand Floridian Hotel in Disneyworld. The balcony band struck up a strangely familiar
tune. But what was it? It couldn't be, could it? It was! The Jitterbug Waltz! One of Thomas Wright's finest and the
first and probably last time I will ever hear it performed live. For those of you who have not heard it before (you can find
it on You Tube, make sure it is Fats' version) don't quit early but let it build into all its swirling, swinging beauty. The
performance was such an unexpected and wonderful surprise. And a feeling I tried to capture at the end of the 'Black
Rock' story.
July
I’ve found a publisher who is willing to publish the Dynamic Trio tales. Great news and hopefully the
first book will be out next spring. My main problem remains time and I’m scratching my head about how I will be
able to do any marketing. We shall see.
A long time ago I read 'The Monkey's Paw'. It is a great short
story, with a very interesting idea. What stuck in my mind was the awful knocking on the door, and the choice faced by the
two occupants of the house. One wanted to open the door and the other didn't. This created a dramatic tension and I, as
the reader, was drawn in, weighing up the pros and cons of each option. I recently read one of 'The Midnight Library'
series, to gauge the scope, depth and types of ending of darker tales for children. This left me with a smile, and the
reverse side to the Dynamic Trio tales can commence. What's in the box? You don't want to know! What's left
behind when the tide goes out? Your worst nightmare......
