Erm...Happy New year...

Well Hello there 2012! 2011 sort of just faded out in terms of this blog didn't it? Whoops. Dropped the ball.

So what's been happening? Well Mickey STILL hasn't replied to my letters. Which is either down to extreme rudeness (how can you share a flat for nine months and then never speak again...oh wait, old flatmates spring to mind) or he found some poison that succeeded in actually killing him instead of making him rave like a lunatic in the cupboard. Worrying. Other than that I have been mostly sat on the sofa, drinking or working. Sometimes all three at once.

In terms of the blog I am feeling a little lost because I am not working (as an Actress), I personally don't like reading pointless blogs about peoples lives and have no idea where I should focus the blog when not actually rehearsing. The obvious thing would be to focus on writing club, which is a two man club where we get drunk, write future Booker award winning short stories and congratulate ourselves on being brilliant. Which of course, we are. So let's do that.

So far we've had two meetings. The first, neither of us could be bothered to write anything original so we just gave each other stuff we'd written before and then set the next challenge. Based on the fact that Simon (fellow club member - he can be found at http://www.donsimonridesagain.blogspot.com/) wanted to find a way to stop writing from his own perspective, we discussed a range of alternative points of view and settled on 'Writing in any format we liked from the point of view of a tree'. It could be a short story, poem, script etc. Writing club was off.

It's actually bloody useful to have a starting point for writing. Ideas were quick to follow. At first I thought I would write about a local tree and incorporate the history in my area that interested me most. And then I met a photographer for my acting headshots, who happened to have a little obsession with World War 1. Alongside showing me his collection of shrapnel...I know what you're thinking but it was very interesting and he didn't look the way you're picturing him to look, he was in fact very attractive and funny...I digress...he told me about The Last Tree of Delville Wood from the Battle of the Somme in 1918. It was irresistable and off I went researching and scribbling. I did a first draft AND a second. Smugness. In between draft one and two the short story took on a poetic form, which took even me by surprise. I am never short of amazed by where the pen can take me once I start writing...I am still reeling from cutting off the arm of the heroine of my Novel, with an axe (See an old post...not sure which...Note to self: Must get better at linking posts). I DIGRESS, AGAIN. Using Capitals is ALWAYS satisfying. In my head I actually SHOUT the word at you. Erm...where was I? Who knows? Who cares? Was anyone paying attention? God knows I wasn't, well he would if he was real but he's not, so he knows nothing. Anyway, the short of it is, I wrote a little poetic short story about a tree during World Wars 1 and 2. I want to post it but it desperately needs a third draft. Parts of it work well and the rhythm sometimes flows and helps me convey my point but in other parts it jolts. Badly. But by writing this entry I am forcing a deadline to get draft 3 done because that should be my next Blog post, by rights. The deadline. The best friend of any creative type, we procrastinate if left without one. This is why I find it hard to push acting stuff, I haven't set a goal yet and therefore a deadline.

Simon, on the other hand, wrote an hilarious monologue from the tree outside his flat that he had recently had culled because it was blocking his drains and causing a flood. I shall persuade him to take up the old blog I directed you to and get him to post it. Turns out Simon writes character extremely well and I write description. If we could just get the others talent alongside our own we will be swapping bookers every other year. No really. Just like the Oscar, the Booker is a given. Obviously.

The third meeting club was due to happen over Christmas and so we decided to extend it to our lucky friends back in our home town (Simon and I live in London but come from Hertfordshire). It being the festive season, a festive theme was required. And so we set the task. It's been twelve months, 364 days to be precise, the reindeers have been apart. It's Christmas eve and they are back together for the annual journey. What have they been doing? Well, the answer is I don't know because despite organising and successfully roping in recruits on Christmas Eve, I haven't written mine and kept cancelling. Simon, rather smugly has written his. As has new 'guest' recruit, Declan. In two weeks the others will follow. Feel free to join in via email. We will read them out in the pub over a pint and I hope publish them all to this blog. There are nine Reindeer in total and I have nine recruits so you can chose any you like and we will get an alternative version of that reindeers year. For guest members the reindeer assigned you are as follows:

Blitzen - Hannah

Rudolf - Simon

Cupid - Andrew

Comet - Lorna (is supposed to be real member but due to doing NONE of the assignments I currently don't recognise her - Yes Jones, you heard me)

Donner - Siobhan

Prancer - Tracey

Vixen - Declan

Dancer - Ian

Dasher - Damian

So, blog readers, this shit just got interactive. Get writing. I think there's a link for emailing me, if not comment below and I will sort one.

Now, I'm off to write draft 3 of The Last Tree for your reading pleasure...although maybe you should get the rough cut? Oh I'm so confused and indecisive and procrastinating...and Booker award winning.