Month: May 2009

I’m on a roll today. Added the edits to three of the Healing Manor scripts, updated the custom order to have 5 additional characters (as requested) and have already filled the three female roles in the murder mystery, and two male parts – which means just 3 men to go and it’s a wrap!

I may yet find time to start ammending the previous custom games to a regular 12 player version. – Then again – maybe not. I have to have something to do on Monday night and my adorable little son has managed to defrost the (full) freezer which means I have a LOT of cooking to do today to keep everything edible!!

After a two weeks of custom orders and frantic scrabbling to write games I declared today a day of rest. (Or at least, less frantic work than normal 🙂 )

Tomorrow it’s on with ammending Movie Mayhem which now needs to have 5 additional characters (customer request), and adding all the edits to the first half of Murder at the Manor, so I can send it to the three people I have so far cast into roles.

And after all that, it’s a few phone calls looking for those ellusive male actors which lurk in the dark recesses of Grimsby.

Oh blast! The ironing didn’t last the full length of Pride and Prejudice last night, which meant I had to resort to the accounts.

(Yes the film was as bad as that!)

After an evening with the paperwork I have decided that the accountant more than earns her money. Figures just aren’t my thing. I suspect I need a system (or an assistant!).

Maybe those unfinished games will be started sooner than I thought…

Well! How about that! I’ve written a multi-room game in under 2 weeks – impressed?

I’m sure my husband isn’t – poor neglected man.

However – on reviewing progress so far I’ve just realised I have three games in process – two of which were custom orders from last year that need reworking for resale, and the third is a new project. So which to start first?

Answer: The IRONING!!! – Yep – I may have written an entirely new cast based game in under two weeks – but in that time my house has turned into a dust heap and the ironing has piled up into a mountain.

But – that is good news as it happens, as I actually enjoy ironing (sad aren’t I?). And not only that, but I have (have) to watch pride and prejudice to get me in the right frame of mind for a period murder mystery currently underway (Midsummer Night’s Scream!), so I can kill two bird with one stone! How is that for multi-tasking?

What a day! Writing, casting, posing for a photo for the grimsby telegraph, and going to see Star Trek.

Where do I start… Well, as there are no spoilers here, I’ll skip the writing and move directly on with the casting report. (OK, I know I’ve already told you there are no goldish, but that’s as far as I’m prepared to say… after all, if I kept on giving things away, then who knows I might tell you there’s been a murder – Duh! There I go again… )

Anyway, onto casting…I think, as of this morning, I’ve cast all the female parts and one of the male parts too, but am still looking for three more.

The photo for the telegraph has me in the most ghastly brown dress you have ever seen, but it’s all in the aid of promoting the game, so I’m not going argue! (Besides, there was an even worse green one…)

As to Star Trek. Well, it isn’t often I come away from a film without many criticisms, so it must be good! It certainly ticked all my trekkie boxes, and that’s even with the brand new cast (some of which were….well, not quite what I imagined) – however, the actual lines were great, the action was good and the special effects were fantastic – and the plot was a good old time travel paradox, and I just love those. So do I reccomend it – heartily.

A busy week ahead of me, casting actors for the murder mystery evening at Healing Manor, and finishing up the actual plot itself. I hope to have it all “in the bag” by the end of the week, as I’m over half way there now.

Oddly there are no goldfish in the game…

– OH NO! I’ve given away a spoiler… and there was me saying there’d be no spoilers on the blog!! Forget I said anything.

Just resurfaced from the murder mystery writing to review the BBC blog, and found out I didn’t get short listed for the Alfred Bradley award. It seems I didn’t even get long-listed either.

Oh well… looks like it’s back to the drawing board, which is a shame as I thought “Tinnitus” was quite good.

Perhaps it was just too far from the norm to work for them. Or maybe it was total garbage. Who can tell?

If you wanted to read it and see for yourself whether you agree with the judges then go right ahead. You’ll find my unsuccessful radio play here: TINNITUS

Like I said before… no spoilers on the blog (sorry). But what I can tell you is that the murder mystery for Healing Manor is coming together really well. I’ve got more murder weapons than even I know what to do with and including the manor’s history in the plot has really given me some great angles. Writing an indoor/outdoor mystery has made for some really interesting twists in the plot and given me a bit of scope I wouldn’t normally have. It’s turning into a real Midsommer Murder’s style case! It’s just a shame John Nettles won’t be there to wrap everything up at the end of the night!

Mayhem at the Movies is now with the editor, so it’s on with Murder at the Manor, the first large group murder mystery for Healing Manor, a fabulous hotel in Healing Village on the edge of Grimsby.

I was at a meeting with the owner just last week, and this week we have a date for their first mystery night: 16th June.

Keen to push the hotel and murder mystery to the limits, the murder mystery will be an indoor and outdoor affair, making the most use of the fabulous grounds and tying in the history of the manor for what promises to be a great evening’s entertainment for over 200 guests.

Obviously I won’t be giving away any of the plot on my blog – sorry, no spoilers – so you’ll just have to come along to pit your skills against my characters instead!

I’ve already seen the proposed menu and it is going to be a totally amazing night with a drinks package included in the deal for those who want to keep their glasses topped up. I’ll tell you this: Healing Manor really knows how to host a party! I just wish I could come as a guest!

Oh my, why is it everything is quiet, and then there seems to be a run of serial killers around?

At the moment I can barely keep up with requests. (Not that I’m complaining!)

Needless to say, Deep Rising has taken a back seat for a while, while I crack on with yet another new case to tax the murder mystery fans of Grimsby!