Updates

Film, News

The Cost of the Crown Wins Award at Debut

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The Cost of the Crown had its premiere at Leavesden Short Film Festival late last month, and it won an award.

The film, which was directed and co-written by Moe Acharki, was shown to an audience of Warner Bros. Studios staff and came away with an award for best cinematography. And it really is a beautiful film!

It’s a fantastic start for the film. We now obviously hope will go and get a few more screenings in the near future.

The Cost of the Crown is an historical drama, following a king as a mob of his angry followers try to knock down his door. It takes place over just a few minutes.

Here’s the synopsis:

With his kingdom in tatters and his subjects baying for his blood, the king hides in his throne room praying for a last-minute reprieve. But with the mob at the door, who can he trust?

We made the film at Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria, and shot it at more or less the same time as The Haunted House Hotel. It’s exciting to finally have both films out in the wild.

News, Short Stories

Mat Growcott Shortlisted for the Dinesh Allirajah Prize

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I’m extremely proud to announce that I’ve been shortlisted for this year’s Dinesh Allirajah Prize.

I’m not able to speak about the story yet. It will be available as part of an anthology published by Comma Press.

Organisers set up The Dinesh Allirajah Prize after Dinesh’s death in 2014. It was a reflection of his love of writing short fiction. This is the ninth year for the prize.

Our stories had to be on the theme of Fandom, which allowed me to revisit an idea I’d actually vaguely had back in 2010 or so, for a competition that I think involved Terry Pratchett. It’s always so cathartic to finally get a long-held idea on paper, and doubly so when it not only find a home, but is shortlisted for an award.

Tickets for the online prize giving event are available from here. You can read the original press release (if you have a Book Brunch subscription) here.

Blog, News, Novels, Short Stories

New Short – New Updates

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A new short has been written and submitted for a competition! And while I’m not going into details at this point, it’s one I’m quite happy with.

To start with, I’ve had some problems with the website over the last week or so. When I’ve tried to reach it to post updates, it hasn’t loaded. I’m not sure if this is a me problem or an everybody problem, so it’s something I’ll keep an eye on.

Onto the short. It’s for a competition and I’ve decided not to talk too much about competition shorts from here on. They like anonymous judgment – no name or contact details on the manuscript. And while it’s unlikely the judge will jump onto Google to try and find details, it’s also not really in the spirit of things to post too much. So for now I’ll keep it secret.

All I’ll say is it deals with themes of masculinity, dementia and being trapped in a life that isn’t your own. It follows a father and son who had a bad relationship, but who now rely entirely on one another.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting some other updates. Some thoughts on submitting Nepo Baby, and an exploration of storytelling in film through three versions of The Secret Garden. I’d like to write more often about storytelling, but time is short and sometimes the website doesn’t work. We’ll see what happens.

News, Novels

Nepo Baby – Complete

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A short but very sweet update: my novel Nepo Baby is complete.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve returned to it after a six-week break and stress tested every part of it. I’ve gone through chapter-by-chapter, and I’ve read the whole thing in a single sitting. It’s a really good book.

After reading all the way through in a single setting, I had some twenty things to fix – mostly in terms of style and wording choice. Now it’s the best shape it can possibly be in.

Nepo Baby is ready. I won’t change a single thing about it until it’s sitting with editors.

That does mean that it’s ready to start submitting to agents. This is always the part of the process that I like the least. The pitching process is very different to the writing process, and it’s something some people are naturally good at. That leads to things like, for instance, submitting novels to film festivals (something I’ve seen during my work with Lift-Off a number of times).

Those are concerns for a different day. Right now I’m basking in the glow of having a finished, polished, very enjoyable novel. Nepo Baby is ready.

News, Novels

Nepo Baby – Update

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If I’ve been quiet, there’s a good reason. The time has finally come for me to revisit Nepo Baby with fresh eyes and prepare it for final submission.

Nepo Baby is my new novel, following reformed murderer Mikey Cornwall as he joins the investigation following the murder of a young girl in a celebrity’s bedroom. It’s the dark, psychological story of a man trying to come to terms with his past while being unable to let it go. It explores our fascination with murder, our innate desire to severely punish instead of help, and the inheritance of trauma.

I’ve been happy with how well it’s stood up to the six week break. We’re well into editing for effect, not for content. I’ll read it one more time – all the way through, in one sitting – and if it stands up to that, I’ll begin the process of getting it published next week.

That does mean that I’ve slowed down on shorts and on my follow-up novel. They’ve been briefly paused – just for a few weeks – while I return my focus back to Nepo Baby.

It’s an exciting time. I’m very confident in Nepo Baby. That’s in a big part thanks to the characters.

I can’t wait to share them. But for now, back to editing. Wish me luck!

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