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.

The Silver Stopper is real!

My copies of the anthology Harlem River Blues have arrived from Fish Publishing! There is my name and my story The Silver Stopper: in ink, in print, indelible, permanent, real!

All the copies are slightly damaged, but then they have travelled all the way from Ireland, and Fish have sent them to me free as a writer’s perk, which, considering the postage to New Zealand, was very generous of them.

It is bizarre seeing my writing in published form, rather than on a familiar sheet of printed A4 paper. I can suddenly be more objective about the story, and think: “Ooh yes, that’s a good bit”, and “My goodness, I have to stop using so many commas!”

I debated about keeping a copy at work: It’s there just in case anyone wants to borrow it. If there’s a fire at home, at least I’ll have a spare copy. But is it pretentious and vain to have the book on display in the office? It’s not really on display, just shelved on a bookcase — no-one will even notice it. That’s settled then: as long as I don’t draw attention to the book, having it at work is not pretentious and vain.

I’ve read the other stories in the anthology, and they are all wonderful, surprising and, of course, a fantastic read. I especially enjoyed the title story by Julia van Middlesworth, Schottishe by John Bolland, and White Crayons by Gordon Hopkins.

The Silver Stopper is published in Harlem River Blues, available through Fish Publishing at: http://fishpublishing.com/

The Silver Stopper published in Harlem River Blues

My short story about Colette, The Silver Stopper, is published and available for purchase! It’s in the wonderfully-named anthology “Harlem River Blues”. You can buy Harlem River Blues from Fish Publishing at www.fishpublishing.com — it’s a fantastic collection of award-winning stories, and a snip at only 15 euro!

I suggested to my Kiwi friends that they buy it online, since Fish are in Ireland and it’s a long way to go to pop into their bookshop — another one of my ever-subtle hints! Some people were disappointed not to be able to read the stories online, but that’s the point really — if you could read all the Harry Potters online, no one would buy the books. It would be a bit like working at your job for five years and then politely saying, “Oh no, it’s all right, you keep it,” when your boss offers to pay you for your five years’ work.

I haven’t received my gratis copies of the anthology yet, but Fish did get in touch with me to let me know that they’re on their way across the world. I’m so excited — I can’t wait to see a jiffy bag postmarked Co. Cork, Ireland, in the post-box. I go bounding to the post-box every morning as well as after work, like a slightly mad, enthusiastic puppy. It’s like expecting a parcel from Amazon, only much better. The anticipation is agonizing!

Alors, ça vient, le livre avec mon histoire, enfin, oui? J’ai tellement hâte de le voir, et le tenir, enfin, entre mes mains! On peut l’acheter chez Fish Publishing… c’est une collection formidable, bien sûr!

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!

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