Skip to main content

The Singalong Society for Singletons - The Rocky Horror Show

Despite the best of intentions I've not managed to keep up my weekly musical blog posts.  I'm sorry!  Life's become rather busy lately - the day job has been hectic and I've also had deadlines for editing and proofreading the novella I wrote over the summer (more news on that very soon.  I had a sneaky peek at the cover art for it this week and am totally in love.  It's the perfect sibling for the cover of 'Singalong').  The first draft of next summer's novel is also due with my editor at the start of December so I've been fervently tapping away on my laptop to try and get it ready to send.

However, I'd have loved to have found time to write about Grease as it's one of my very favourite films and also Chicago, which my husband and I saw on Broadway during our honeymoon in 2005.  I wish I'd had chance to write about how West Side Story makes my heart hurt, and how when I watched South Pacific for the very first time during the research period I was reminded of how I'd sung along to the Captain Sensible version of 'Happy Talk' as a tot.

Me selling popcorn at Grease Open Air Cinema
But although I've been incredibly lax on the blogging front, there was no way I was going to let today pass without writing a few words.  Friday 28th October is a pivotal date in The Singalong Society for Singletons - the day the group venture away from Cardigan Close and head to Sheffield's Crucible Theatre to watch a low budget production of The Rocky Horror Show

And the bride danced the Time Warp (with my sister-in-law Jill)
Although I'd planned to base as much of the book as possible in Mon and Issy's living room (taking inspiration from TV shows such as The Royle Family and Friends which are based predominantly in one living space) it was refreshing to write about parts of my adopted city through the eyes of Mon and the gang.  It was an absolute pleasure sharing the beauty of the Winter Gardens and Tudor Square with my readers, and of course the world famous theatre, too.

Part of the attraction of Rocky Horror is the costumes and this is a week where the Singalong Society go to town in every sense.  I loved imagining them all dolled up, mixing with the children dressed in Hallowe'en attire at the temporary funfair in the town centre.  Liam in a corset and heels just worked and it was when I started writing this scene that I fell in love with him as a character.  It gave him a depth to go with his cheeky, cocky charm, and me as a writer the opportunity to think about what he might be hiding behind his confident façade.

The Rocky Horror chapter is the one readers most want to talk to me about, and I hope I managed to successfully capture the spirit of the show...even though I've never seen it live myself!

The Singalong Society for Singletons is out now in ebook format from all major retailers and available to preorder in paperback prior to release on December 15th. 

Amazon UK  Kobo

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Real Life Film Stars v Aaron Halliday...

As Aaron Halliday the leading man in One Night in Los Angeles is a Hollywood star, I thought it'd be fun to talk to fellow authors and book bloggers about their favourite actors and actresses.  One of the reasons I loved writing Aaron was because the perception of him generated by the media was quite different to the man Abbi gets to know.  Let's see what makes the following household names so popular...       One Night in Madrid and One Night in Pamplona author  JD Martins  admires Kate Winslet "because she's not only an amazing actor, but she's beautiful and unafraid of going places in her acting that others might not go and showing the raw emotions. It's a bit like those writers who are brave enough to write erotica, to expose the raw emotions of our stories that it takes us some years to build up the courage to write, for fear of what our friends and family might think. Kate does it in every film and has done it since her earliest film."

I Won't Act My Age - Should Age Influence Hobbies?

Following on from a fabulous weekend watching Take That in Hyde Park with my best friend (you can read a bit about that here) , I spent my Tuesday morning waiting outside a local radio station to meet Olly Murs on his 'You Don't Know Love' radio tour.  I had fun talking to others in the queue (there were maybe 60-80 of us there in all) and the time passed pretty quickly.  Luckily the rain held off and it was neither too hot or too cold - pretty much perfect weather for waiting outside.  Olly arrived just before midday and the staff at the station invited fans in to watch his live stream being filmed, so we all crammed into the foyer to hear him share how proud he is of his forthcoming album and that there will be a tour next year.  Meeting Olly, 12.07.2016 When the interview was over we were all ushered outside and politely reformed the queue to each have our moment with Olly.  It really was nothing more than a moment - his schedule for the radio tour is incredibly

My big news!

2021 is shaping up to be a busy year! I've just signed a contract with Bloodhound Books and although I can't share details just yet rest assured the books coming your way will have all the romance, friendship and community spirit that my previous novels are known for.  Bloodhound are making waves in the industry and have sold over 6 million books worldwide since 2014 - it's exciting to be a part of it. I can't wait to tell you more!