Stare Into Space » Writing

Short Story: Original Sin

Gerry Hayes — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:36:01 +0000

My short story, Original Sin has been published on Metazen and is currently available to read.

I’d like it if you could take a look.

You can read it here.

If you like short/flash stories, you should definitely subscribe to Metazen as there’s always lots of consistently good stuff there.

I’m off to find a corner in which to curl up.

British Short Screenplay Competition

Gerry Hayes — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:38:26 +0000

I’ve just heard that my short, WILL, has made it through to the next round of the BSSC.

Hurrah for me.

Last year, I made it this far but no farther. I think it’s a better effort this year so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Oh, and hurrah for me.

I Sat Through That? – M. Night Shyamalan

Gerry Hayes — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:48:45 +0000

I could have taken the lazy way out and written a column on each of three Shyamalan films for the next three weeks but, instead, I’ve done a triple-header. So, pop over for a. longer than usual, column of Shyamalan bashing – specifically, The Happening, Signs and The Village.

I Sat Through That? – M. Night Shyamalan.

Incidentally, it seems that my fingers believe there to be an extra ‘P’ in the word ‘triple’. Every time I type it, I always put in an extra P – it comes out as tripple and I have to backspace to correct it. I may have to write to the Merriam-Webster people.

I Sat Through That? – Unbreakable

Gerry Hayes — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:33:09 +0000

I am rather abashed that there is nothing between the post informing you of this week’s column and last week’s post informing you of the, then current, column. I was having a rainy holiday in the Galway area though so that’s my excuse. Not that I need to make excuses to the likes of you.

Anyway, I digress. This week, over at Flickering Myth, I take an in-depth look at M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable and deconstruct it carefully and at length. Obviously, by that, I mean I just whinge and bleat about it being a bit shit. Such is the way of things.

So, I Sat Through That? – Unbreakable.

I Sat Through That? – Planet Of The Apes

Gerry Hayes — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:02:57 +0000

New column available over on Flickering Myth. This week, Planet Of The Apes. Not the original, the one where Charlton Heston’s a dead, duplicitous, right-wing monkey with a gun as opposed to – oh, never mind.

I Sat Through That? – Planet Of The Apes

Column: I Sat Through That? – Castaway

Gerry Hayes — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:15:07 +0000

Yeah, yeah, it’s got Tom Hanks in it – doesn’t mean it can’t be bad. Look at The Da Vinci Code. Hanks is fine in a Hanksy sort of way – he’s fat, he’s thin, he’s beardy, he’s clean-shaven, he’s the man of a thousand faces and bellies. Castaway is still a bit pants though.

I Sat Through That? #5 – Castaway on Flickering Myth

I Sat Through That? – I, Robot

Gerry Hayes — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:05:46 +0000

I, Robot? No beer? That’s not a recipe for a good evening. Unless you like complaining, that is. Guilty.

In this week’s I Sat Through That? I consider I, Robot. You know the one. Yeah, the one with all the ads in it. It’s got that Will Smith in it. Yeah, him. The ‘welcome to earth’ guy. Sticky-out ears. That’s him. Hancock. Hmmm, maybe that’s one for another day.

You damn kids

Gerry Hayes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:51:16 +0000

Well, my CBBC thing has been pummelled and kicked into something resembling a script shape. It’s in the envelope and will be away in the morning.

Definitely an interesting experience writing for 8 to 12 year olds. So many things to consider. So many pitfalls. Plenty of other bloggy people have very kindly posted their notes from the CBBC Q&A session (and now the Writersroom people have posted the transcript) and I’ve desperately tried to subsume them all.

I’m concerned that I’ve failed pitifully at doing so.

See, the thing is, writing for kids is, in some ways, really easy and, in other, myriad ways, really, really, bastard-hard. My biggest concern is that the tone of my story is a bit too dark for the kiddies. Scaring the crap out of 8-year olds is probably not the best way forward. Still, I fondly remember when I was a kid, sitting, wearing a wide-eyed rictus as I watched some piss-poor rubber monster on Doctor Who. Perhaps scaring children is the way to go. Or perhaps Richard Littlejohn is right and the namby-pamby-politically-correct-health-and-safety-couldn’t-make-it-up-equal-opportunities-brigade have taken over the BBC and sanitised children’s TV in an attempt to molly-coddle our kids and probably help immigrants or something.

Lets hope not. If for no other reason, than the fact that a world where Richard Littlejohn is right about anything would be a very grim world indeed.

In which I, mostly, name vegetables.

Gerry Hayes — Thu, 07 May 2009 13:09:14 +0000

The character Beenfeeld, that I’m writing for Resonance FM’s Whale In The Room play, is like me in many ways. One of these, in an odd fortuity, is that he is now growing his own vegetables. We both have a fine, nascent crop of foodstuffs on the go.

I started this veg lark only in the last couple of years but it’s pretty cool. Secreted deep beneath the dark soil in my garden and, since this year, in my tiny greenhouse are spring onions, rocket, radishes, peas, and a few varieties each of carrots, beans, lettuce, tomatoes and chillies. On the Herby front, my sage, oregano, rosemary, thyme, coriander, parsley, mint and basil is coming along nicely. And, lastly, I’m only slightly fruity, possessing just strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I’m keeping my green fingers crossed for a bumper crop. Much depends on whether the sun actually shines this summer as it has failed to do for the last two.

Why am I telling you this? No idea. I know you’re not bothered. Truth is though, I quite like my little bit of the Good Life. Granted, my wife’s arse is bigger than Felicity Kendal’s but there’s still the vegetables.

Also, I’m reducing the quality of my posts in order to attain more quantity. It’s a strategy that’s certain to work.

Oh, and if you’re reading love, I was just kidding about the arse thing.

In which I receive good news…

Gerry Hayes — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:06:35 +0000

…About a slightly odd writing gig.

Resonance FM are putting together a new radio play called The Whale In The Room. Nothing odd about that, you say. Well, if I told you that the script for this play was to comprise entirely of the Twitter status updates from six different people, you might begin to see a different picture. Resonance, in their wisdom/insanity, are trying something very original and quite experimental here.

They called for potential writers for each character a couple of weeks ago (which got picked up by the BBC Writers’ Room site too) and I applied. The Resonance guys monitored each prospects Twitter feeds for a fortnight and, for reasons I can’t quite fathom, they decided that my procrastinatory ramblings were sufficient to write for one of the characters.

I say write. It’s a weird sort of writing. The gig is to write as a character for a fortnight and to tweet and react as that character might. Strange, but interesting.

If you’re on the Twitter, you can follow me as I tweet in character at twitter.com/beenfeeld (that’s me – Benson Fielder @beenfeeld).

To make the most of things, you really need to follow the other five characters too. So, join Twitter and also follow @cynpa, @tomxart, @fragharpy, @rhiannon97, and @Sidebird.

It’s all very new and I don’t know how it will end up. I’m interested to see though. Why not pop along and see?