Life's a Pitch...

Like new cars, I think new projects should have a certain smell that make you want to get behind the wheel (or the keyboard) and see how far you can push that baby before you either drive it into the ground or blow the head gasket.

As soon as my bright and shiny new project rolled off the production line last week, I immediately took it for a test drive and started pitching it to production companies, networks and just about anybody else who would listen. As if by magic, I was instantly transported back to 2003 when I was pitching Arthur!

But why is pitching so daunting? You walk into the exec's office, and if you're lucky, you'll get to finish your coffee before hearing a 'thanks, but no thanks'. (how many times did that happen while pitching Arthur?!!)

If you're really REALLY lucky, you might even get your seat warm before being shown the door.

Pitching a primetime show, I was expecting either one of those scenarios; partly because primetime is new territory for me. But it went surprisingly well. I was asked to drive my project back to the assembly line for a quick tweak and polish, then to get back in touch when it was ready for delivery...

...OK, enough with the car analogy; it's really ticking me off.

When I got back to KAD Headquarters, I had an email telling me that my recent interview with the Writers' Guild was now available online. If you didn't catch it in the magazine, you can read it here.

Now then, where's that polish?...

It's the thought that counts...

You know when you have a list of jobs that you really don't want to do? I have one of those, and it's as long as a roll of wallpaper. It's one of those lists that, as soon as you read the first item, you suddenly find more important things to do, like cleaning out the cutlery drawer or measuring the bathroom ceiling.

Item number one on my list: to update my website. After all, the entire thing is completely out of date. I was thinking I could maybe have a new button for my new series Tom, Dick and Harry. And then, maybe something about my top, top secret new project that's so secret, I barely know anything about it! And maybe I could even include some audio of Arthur and Merlin. Well, I could. But the thing is, I really can't be bothered. Still, it's the thought that counts.

I'd better make a start. Let's face it, this ceiling isn't going to measure itself...

What the...!

I've just realised it's the end of May! OK, so where did that month go? The last time I looked, it was February. Maybe I was abducted by aliens again...

My dark and sinister past has come back to haunt me this week. A friend I last saw in June 1986 got in touch last weekend. This came as a complete shock; not because I haven't heard from him for 22 years years, but because I apparently still owe him £3. The good news is that he's willing to forget the interest.

The other good news I received this week is that King Arthur is creeping ever closer to a third series. In the words of the inept king himself, excellent!

Being interviewed...

...by Danny Stack for the Writers' Guild last week went surprisingly well, considering I found the prospect of an interview utterly terrifying!

As a writing-type person, I'm quite happy sitting at my PC writing all day, every day. So when the spotlight fell on me, I suddenly felt very nervous and very self conscious.

But having said that, I think it went well. It'll appear in the magazine next month, then possibly online towards the end of May, so I'll include a link when it becomes available.

Happy Birthday to you...

It was three years ago today that Arthur premiered on CiTV. No doubt he'll be marking the occasion by being shaved, beaten, squashed, splatted, plucked, crushed and trampled...

Time Travel in an Instant...

I've spent the last few days musing on one or two things, like how do vampires shave if they don't have a reflection? And would I travel back in time if I made instant coffee in a microwave oven?...

...oh yeah and last night, I dreamt I sounded like Barney the dinosaur.

OK, the vampire thing, I can sort of work out for myself.

But the coffee-in-the-microwave thing isn't as silly as it sounds. A friend of mine was once convinced he could travel back in time if he got the coffee measurement just right. A heaped tablespoon would not only get you completely wired, but also take you back as far as Battle of Hastings. For reasons I still don't understand, he wanted to beat King Harold at poker...

...but the really unsettling thing is that his reasoning behind the whole time travel idea was based on sound scientific fact. Spooky...

But most of my thoughts this week have been on my new series, Tom, Dick and Harry. The latest news is that the animation route has been abdandoned. Tom, Dick and Harry is going to be live-action. Sweet!

Oops...

Although we got together towards the end of last year, I've just realised I haven't mentioned my new agent. Oops...

I'll mention them in the side bar too...