My ploy to get attention via Twitter for Bowie Day (a short story inspired by A Christmas Carol)
worked a treat with Bowie fans retweeting my posts and attracting attention to
the link. Even if none of the people who retweeted actually buy a copy for
themselves they have done a brilliant job for me by granting me an audience
when the music press didn’t bother. I didn’t even have the pleasure of a Newsnight style grilling from those talented presenters on
Notts TV, although they don’t seem to have someone employed to answer emails so
it doesn’t surprise me. A quick check this morning told me that sales have been
satisfactory for a midweek release, with another advertising blitz on Saturday
I am hoping for a good ‘opening weekend’ as they say in the film business. Not
that any of the money goes into my pocket of course because I will use all the
money in my PayPal account to make short films, podcasts, documentaries and
other free entertainment that will be available online. Whether you can afford
a pound or a thousand pounds it all goes to good use and is greatly
appreciated. I make no personal gain remember, I have several things in the
pipeline that need financial support to get them off the ground.
I feel as if I have written as much as I can
of the secret radio comedy pilot that I am ghost-writing, as I don’t want to
take over and take anything away from my co-writers. We are very close to being
able to do our first table read which will hopefully be followed by a recording
session very soon.
The next thing I want to get off the ground is
going to present me with a bit of a problem. I have a short film in mind for
Record Store Day (an event that I have spoken against on several occasions) and
I need someone to portray the character of ‘hipster dickhead’. It’s a fairly
clear picture that I have in mind; rolled up trousers and slip on plimsolls,
tight sleeveless shirt buttoned up to the neck, sleeve tattoos, big beard and
short hair. The problem is that hipster dickheads don’t seem aware of the fact
that they are hipster dickheads, so you can’t approach someone in Hockley and
ask if he wants to be in a short film in case they take offence. One location,
a hardware shop, has agreed to let me film in there for a piece of footage that
will be about a minute in length, and I also need a fruit shop to film in. I
obviously need a record shop too, but there are plenty of them around and one
of them is bound to allow me to film inside. Then again, maybe not.
This leaves me with a handful of other
projects that I am keen to get off the ground, mainly short films this year
which will lead to my already written to-do list for 2016. Who says I can’t
plan ahead?
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Details on my audio books and other work for sale and how your donations
can help me to create free entertainment can be found on my Shop & Donations page.
This week’s edition of The Sunday Alternative
is here.
