Thank you to all the enthusiasts of The Silver Stopper

Some sad news… the short film project for an adaptation of The Silver Stopper is on hold for the moment. I would still love to see my Colette story on the big screen one day, but it will have to be a little later than I had hoped!

I am very sorry to disappoint all the wonderful people who contacted me and generously offered their help, solely on the basis of their enthusiasm for the project, and for Colette.
If (perhaps I should say “when”) I do find funding to transfer my script onto the screen, I won’t hesitate to let you know!

I received fantastic feedback about the script, especially from Steven Gannaway, Ken Duncum and Alex Galvin. I also loved talking about the project with Toni Regan, Jenny Houtas, Sarah Allerby, Sophia Elisabeth and Jules Lovelock — your enthusiasm kept me going! Thank you.

Un grand merci à tous et à toutes — je ne vous oublie pas.

Finishing the script for the short film

The script for the short film adaptation of The Silver Stopper (the Colette story) is finished! Finishing a project I love leaves me a bit muddled — on one hand, there’s the exhilaration of success; on the other, there’s the blueness of it being all over. So, pulling myself together: finished! Bravos, self-applause, cheap champagne and a celebratory dinner at the appropriately Parisian Le Métropolitain. I reminisced with a diabolo, an old childhood favourite: lemonade mixed with a mint syrup so marvellously fresh that it’s like drinking a delicious toothpaste.

What a surreal feeling to have completed a project in only two or three months, which for me is such a short time, it’s positively supersonic — my Max and Lucia short story took perhaps six months to complete, and I’ve been writing the Nights in Paris novel for two years now. (But I can’t dwell on that thought, it’s too disheartening.) I’ve registered the script with the screenwriter’s guild, which felt awfully grown-up and professional. I’ve also given the script to a couple of friends who have worked in film and theatre; now I’m anxiously awaiting their comments. I haven’t experienced sending off your small, only child to a faraway boarding school, but I imagine that there are some similarities. Should I have kept her at home, all to myself? Will the teachers think she is as much of a genius as I do? Are the other children cleverer and more popular than she is? When she comes back, will she have been so influenced by other people that she’s unrecognisable? Will she turn into a brat?

Enough worrying: I’m old enough to know by now that criticism has to be considered carefully, but it doesn’t have to be acted on if it doesn’t feel right. At a university creative writing course, I took everyone’s criticisms to heart and rearranged my novel in progress until it was completely changed, only for the class to be horrified and say it had been much better before. “But it’s what you told me to do!” I wanted to yell. Arrgh. So now I know. If this child does turn into a brat, at least I can change her back.

J’ai fini, j’ai fini le scénario! Ca m’a pris seulement deux or trois mois pour l’écrire, c’est vraiment extraordinaire — ça fait déjà deux ans que j’écris mon roman… On a fété ça en dînant chez Le Métropolitain, et j’ai évoqué mon enfance avec un diabolo fraîchement pimenté de menthe, comme un boisson fait d’un dentifrice délicieux…

Film locations for The Silver Stopper

The first draft of the script for the short film about Colette is finished! It wrote itself really; it’s been amazingly quick and easy. I’m not too sure about the title of the short film, though: I like my title The Silver Stopper for the Colette short story, but I wonder if it’s not exciting enough for a film. It needs something more thrilling, something that says: Parisian love triangle circa 1905! In the classiest way possible, of course.

The director, Toni, and I went to see the Katherine Mansfield house in Thorndon, recreated as it would have been when Katherine was growing up there in the 1890s. It’s beautiful, and would be perfect as a film location. We haven’t yet asked them if we can film in the house — I will be surprised if they say yes, to be honest (I had to hand over my bag in case it scratched the wallpaper, so I can’t imagine they’ll want actors lounging around in corsets on the white, lacy bedcovers or sitting on the embroidered chairs), but it won’t hurt to ask.

The hunt for locations begins! We need a 1900s kitchen, two bedrooms, two salons, and a hallway with stairs. This last requirement will seem odd if you live in Europe, where most hallways have stairs. But the only stairs in our home, and in most people’s homes here, are for going up or down (steep hills) to the front door. Stairs are almost exotic! We also need a horse — you’d think the horse would be the most difficult character to find, but in the weird, wonderful and surprising place that is New Zealand, we already have a few potential horsey actors.

The script is different from the story in that I’ve taken out all scenes of Parisian exteriors — it’s impossible to make Wellington look like Paris, so we’re not going to waste our time trying. There are three exterior scenes, but these are in gardens and woods, which can easily stand in for Paris. Never mind, descriptions of beautiful grey brick walls, pale blue shutters, and wrought iron balconies bursting with red geraniums, I haven’t abandoned you, I’m still keeping you in Nights in Paris!

J’ai fini le premier brouillon de mon scénario pour un film sur Colette! C’est épatant! Maintenant il faut trouver une ancienne maison pour filmer… pas façile en Nouvelle Zélande!

Researching corsets for Colette

I’m writing the film script for a short film and it’s going really well: the script is simply steaming ahead! The film will be based on my story about Colette, The Silver Stopper, which is adapted from my novel in progress, Nights in Paris. In only three weeks the script is already halfway there: we are on scene six already! It’s very exciting. Although the script is the foundation for a short film — without a script there is nothing — this is also the easy bit. Once the script is finished, then it’s time for the real, hard work to begin!

There is so much to research: dresses, hats, gloves, shoes, corsets, jewellery, furniture, and all the little odds and ends: combs, plates, glasses, ornaments: they seem trivial but are crucial to a film’s authenticity. It’s like reading a fantastic story and then — arrgh — you come across a blazingly obvious error, and it’s so horrible that it ruins your enjoyment and respect for the story. Accidentally doing something like that in our film would embarrass me forever, so it’s essential that all the details are perfect.

Luckily, I adore research, especially historical research. Well, who wouldn’t enjoy researching corsets? Under their black dresses, tightly fastened with hundreds of tiny buttons from neck to toe, those supposedly stiff, proper Victorians wore the most sumptuous, gorgeous undergarments. I have found the perfect corset for Colette to wear on her wedding night: the corset is a beige-pink colour with pink ribbons threaded through the white broderie anglaise lace at the bosom. The corset hooks up at the front and laces up at the back with white ribbons.

The corsets on www.antiquecorsetgallery.com are simply fabulous: this site has the most beautiful antique corsets from the 1600s to the 1900s. You can click on any corset to view a close-up from both the front and back view. It answered some questions I had, such as Colette’s corset should lace up at the front or at the back (lacing varied in different countries and periods). It seems that French corsets around 1900 were back-lacing. But I would love to hear from any corset experts!

Another site, www.1860-1960.com, has the most incredible vintage clothes for sale. It’s stunning to think that it’s possible to actually own a pair of those white, Victorian wedding boots, or that Edwardian glittering black lace dress. It’s so tempting to reach for the credit card — mind you, I probably wouldn’t fit in any of the dresses anyway — even the dresses for larger ladies have tiny, 22 inch waists! We’ll have to work out a budget, and hope that there is room to buy at least one genuine item for our costume department. The rest will have to be hired, but perhaps we can stretch to a small luxury item… a pair of gloves, maybe, or an embroidered handkerchief!

Le scénario pour le film de mon histoire de Colette avance super bien: on est déjà à la scène six! Je pensais que ça allait être difficile, mais en fait, être scénariste, ça me plaît bien!

A script for Colette

Something wonderful and completely new is happening with The Silver Stopper, my Colette short story based on my novel Nights in Paris. The Silver Stopper may be made into a short film — which makes me almost hysterical with joy! My writing is visual and descriptive, so I can see the whole film in my mind, which may be useful for Toni, the director… or annoying! We plan to start writing the script this weekend. I’ve had a look at a script writing program: writing a script is hugely different to a novel or story, but I am full of naïve, idealistic energy at the moment, so I’m not (yet) daunted.

There are already some difficulties we’ll have to contend with, such as: how much of a historical film should we make it? It’s set circa 1907, and Wellington has some historical homes, but not many. Also, how erotic to make it? There’s nothing worse than bad erotica, whether you’re reading or watching it. We could have corsets, shifts and lots of ruffles and ribbons: vintage clothing can be more suggestive and erotic than plain, unadorned nudity. And what about the accents? Do we make our Kiwi actors speak their lines in fake French accents? Aïe aïe aïe, I have a feeling that this could turn très mal, so we need to be careful! Still, it’s a very exciting time, the world is filled with possibilties…

J’ai la possibilité de faire un film de mon histoire de Colette! Je vois déjà le film tout fini dans ma tête — bien sur, c’est un film sensuel, voluptueux et très beau.