Back to the blogging

i haven’t blogged all summer ! I have been too busy writing other stuff.
It’s hard to know how to use your time . There’s a play to finish ...a few poems on the boil and of course that fantasy novel that I have been trying to finish forever!

I have limited time so what’s the priority....or should I spent time and money on a course instead?
But there are so many courses. It seems everyone is an expect and everyone will take hundreds of pounds just to help you decide what to write and how to write it.

Then there are the competitions! For nearly all you have to pay. For two years I entered magazine comps and I guess spent nearly two hundred quid. I got one poem published and three short listed for no cash and to be fair when I read the winners I wasn’t convinced they were particularly good. But how do we know what is good?

When I produce a play which  I have written and directed I get good feedback, good reviews but I send off playscripts and get very little response....a few showcases of an odd scene is all I have ever achieved.
I sell scripts on amazon but only a few licences to perform. Those that have have been successful.

I go to open mics where poems go down well but sales on my poetry books are very small.
So what do I have to do? Write a sex novel? A crime novel? Like everyone else seems to be doing
I think I have written some good stuff but I haven’t written a great piece...yet. The play or novel that is going to crack it....so back to the laptop and try try again
Meanwhile, my “good” plays can be found at www.bevclarkplays.co.uk some of which are licenced to www.stagescripts.com and some available on Amazon just search Bev Clark ...btw not the books about dogs-  they’re not mine !
You can follow me on twitter and face book  and look out for my play Baggage at the Liverpool Irish festival this October
My poetry books are on Amazon too .

Writing a fantasy novel

In my fantasy novel Sürrǣlia – a trilogy of fable, fairy-tale, myth and legend, there are many characters I have been inspired to write by imagining who would play them in the mini-series!

I suppose if anyone is the visual inspiration for the character of Esméraldi it is Eleanor Tomlinson.

A beautiful red-headed, green-eyed Queen and matriarch. At the start of the book she is much older but her story is told in flashbacks and recollections.

“Esméraldi the Green has a pedigree like no other” said Lord Périon “Her mother was Lavinia De Lahǣ: half fairy, half elven and said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Her father was the noble and gallant Sir Florizel; Knight of Gorron and son to King Florizorre of Florenz and Queen Gelda Longhair of the Norrs. When Gideon the Peacemaker took Esméraldi as his queen she became the mother of a dynasty which would rule not only Panómoria but every corner of Sürrǣlia….” 

I realise fantasy novels are not for everyone and lots might say it’s all been done before from Camelot to Game of Thrones but it’s a world I have had inside my head for a very long time and I feel with all the planning of the structure, back stories, timelines and genealogy I have put into it, I need to get it all down if only for my own peace of mind. Writing a novel is a lot harder than writing a  play. Stop procrastinating Bev, get writing the next chapter – this epic won’t write itself!

I would be interested to hear how many people like reading this genre . This won't have as many battles as Lord of the Rings. No dwarves or monsters but there are Elves, Fairyfolk and different races. There is magic, treachery, love and honour as you would expect but it is also a metaphor for the modern world as it talks of refugees, people displaced and the mixing of races.

 

 

 

Sunny Days- Outdoor Theatre

Oh for Lazy days in the sunshine!

It seems even when I do get a day off I find myself sitting at the laptop when I would like to be taking advantage of the sunshine. Well, it may all be gone next week, Its usually the case as the outdoor productions begin so do the summer storms.

I love an outdoor production in the summer when you can eat drink and soak up the theatre! I haven't actually directed many outdoor events - the last was in 2012 - remember July when it rained nearly everyday? We were performing After the Dream - a modern sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream - in various outside venues across Wirral. The rain was so bad we ended up in conservatories, barns, community halls and last-minute indoor theatres, just to be able to complete the tour.
Nevertheless, it worked really well inside and the play was a great success. It was my first venture into playing around with Shakespeare. This funny, magical play was interwoven with Shakespearean lines amid the modern mayhem.

The full length play, details of which are on my new website www.bevclarkplays.co.uk  is now licenced to www.stagescripts.com and if you are already planning your next summer's production why not take a look- 4 male 4 female and one garden set. Photos of Hand in Hand Theatre's 2012 production for RSC Openstages, which was previewed at Contact Theatre Manchester can be seen at www.handinhandtheatre.com/gallery 

When the two couples are celebrating their 20th anniversary both are experiencing married life very differently and when three new Age travellers gate-crash their party a whole new magic starts to take place. The strangers have come to break a spell but with hilarious results.

Shakespeare meets Ayckbourn is how this 90 minutes of fun, music and magic was described. A great vehicle for the forty-somethings!