Posted on No Comments on CALLING DRAMA GROUPS AND PUBLISHERS

CALLING DRAMA GROUPS AND PUBLISHERS

The nights are getting longer, darker and cooler as I write this October blog.  The GAA year is winding down.  Success was very limited in 2023 for my teams.  Now my attention returns to writing. Lots of ideas flowing around my head for plays and short stories and longer ones. However, before the words hit the laptop screen and store in the clouds, I am spending some time calling out to Drama Groups and Publishers. Hello!!

The stories I write and tell are nothing until people hear or see them. I have got so much satisfaction and pride from the small wins I’ve had in the past.  It’s the little things that make life wonderful.  From Macra Na Feirme performing a one act to the publication of a short story or poem, it does feel like scoring a goal in a major GAA match! Without drama groups, theatres, producers, directors, actors, stage crew, editors and publishers, those small moments of pride could not happen.  The work in trying to contact the appropriate people, prepare submissions or competition entries can be time consuming and certainly not the most attractive part of writing.  When someone contacts you back it becomes so worthwhile.  So please if connected to a Drama Group or a Publisher, please explore the stories I have to offer.  One hit would make the year!

DRAMA GROUPS

PLAYS BY SEAMUS D NORRIS

If you are involved in a drama group, please click the link. If you are a Producer, a Director, an Actor or Stage Crew or possibly the Chairperson or Secretary please check out my library of full-length plays and one act plays. There is a variety.  Some fun, some serious. Some Irish, Some American, Some contemporary, some historical. Some have large casts, some small.  One thing for definite, you will not be disappointed with the stories.

Maybe you are not directly involved, but you know someone who is.  Please share this Blog with them.  Use your social media connections.  I would really appreciate it. I would especially love anyone who is involved in Macra Na Feirme to check out my one act plays and make contact. An organisation that inspired my love of stage drama, inspired me to write and gave me so many wonderful memories. Some of my material would be well suited to an American or English audience. Reach out.  You might end up performing a World Premiere!

PUBLISHERS

When it comes to publishers, I know it is a longer shot.   I have one completed novel, one completed volume of short stories, one novel which is a work in progress and a completed novella that I would love to have published. If you are a Publisher or related to a publisher, please check out below and reach out to me. A million thanks in advance.

QUEST FOR JUSTICE

My first completed novel is a crime thriller with a science fiction undertone and a romantic sub-plot filled with suspense, intrigue and mystery stretching from Ireland to the Channel Islands to the United States and back to a thrilling action packed climax off the South West coast of Ireland. 88,000 words of compulsive and exciting reading.

DREAMS VOLUME ONE

A collection of 16 short stories written over a number of years.  I describe them as Dramatic, Romantic, Entertaining and Amusingly Magnificent Stories.  Stories that are inspired by a mix of imagination and reality.  They are Sport, Western, Romance, Crime or rural Irish themed. Dreams Volume One is about the story, the drama, the fun, the twists and the unexpected.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder and you’ll enjoy. Stories set in Ireland, England and the United States of America with time periods varying from the mid 1800’s to modern day to sometime in the not-too-distant future.

THE UNDERDOG

A teenage boy who has moved to Ireland with his mother, brother and sister after the disappearance and presumed death of his Father in the Middle East.  They move to his uncle’s farm in a rural area.  He Gaelic sport of Hurling becomes his love.  The story revolves around his life, his family, his friends, his adversaries and the girl he likes with a subplot about the mystery regarding his father’s disappearance. He is an underdog and an adventurer. This is still a work in progress.

JAMIE

This is a novella of 40,000 words. The Emergency Response Unit is the elite police armed tactical unit of the Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police and security service. Jamie is one of their best officers. After a tragedy strikes while on duty, he is partnered with a tough and beautiful female officer who has baggage that links her to a notorious unidentified serial killer.  Can they work together and track down the killer before history repeats? Plenty of mystery and intrigue.

 

Posted on No Comments on THE STORY

THE STORY

The Story… If you Google the definition (and everyone loves to Google these days), you get “an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.”  This is why when I write, The Story, is the most important aspect of my material, factual or fictional.  I write to entertain, I write to tell a story because everyone has a story and everyone is a story and reading the written, should be entertaining. The academic scholar and literary writer indulge in the extravagant words with exquisite narrative and description. Often the pace and the context of the story is lost in the elaboration of their finely manicured words. My words are more simple than most, but the story is the key.  The Story… Everyone loves a story no matter what the theme, setting or overriding emotion.

We Irish have a huge tradition of storytelling.  The seanchaí of old, pictured by the fireside with an attentive audience, entertained with stories of legend, folklore and current affairs of the time, long before television, Netflix, Amazon and the many other forms of streaming entertainment. The story is what mattered to them. It had to provide entertainment on the long nights before electricity became available.  The Irish culture is traditionally a social one and storytelling is the foundation that it is built upon. We love to socialise, from the fireside, the graveside, the church wall to the pub, the local shop or sports facility. We love to meet, talk, gossip and have a laugh. It is probably one of the reasons why we became known as the land of saints and scholars and produced so many renowned writers. Those special interactions. Even the guy on the bar stool regaled his audience with the story. His words and grammar were not always the best, but his story mattered and adapted versions would be narrated in workplaces and other hostelries thereafter.

Recently, I was at a book launch in Langton’s, Kilkenny. The book is called “Uncover, Discover, Recover” by Fergus Heffernan. Fergus is a man I have come to know and respect over the years through my hobbies of Drama and the GAA. The book is his story. It was a very good and intriguing launch with excerpts of the book read by local drama group members to great dramatic effect.  I have to admit I am very slow to read books and it will take me some time to finish it, mainly due to all my hobby demands and reading shorter articles in my thirst for quick knowledge. (I know! A bit hypocritical for a writer). It could possibly take me a few months to complete. Although I had no idea before the launch what the book was going to be about, I get the gist of the story from the launch and the bit I have read. It has two strong threads of suicide and sexual abuse both underpinned by mental health. I have known and respected Fergus for many years and the content surprised me. I did not know or even guessed. Just goes to show. However, it his story and it takes a lot more courage to write your own story, especially that story, than the fiction that I write. Fair play to Fergus.  I do hope the end of his written story offers hope and I am confident it will, because Fergus was there to launch the book himself, with a smile, to a huge, diverse and enthralled audience.

Hope is one key component of my stories. No matter what the content or context, I want my stories to give hope. Hope that they live happily ever after. Hope that they will find a way. Hope that they can live with the consequences. Hope that it will be better. Hope that there will be more. Hope is a belief in a better tomorrow. If you have hope at the end of a story, your story, the story has touched you, life gets better. 

The stories, I write are fiction, but many, particularly the Irish based ones are based on real life events. Others, particularly the westerns, are the product of my wild imagination. But they all tell a story. As I said previously we all have a story and we all are a story. Our stories entertain. Our lives entertain. Even the sad and tragic ones entertain and capture our imagination and empathy. Entertainment is not always about the happy emotion, but hope is. We Irish love to ask “anything strange, exciting or new?” The answer is more often than not “No.” But the truth is our lives are exciting when you think about it and every day is actually different and sometimes even strange.  The story is different every day, albeit similar. And maybe it is that similarity that causes us to miss the subtle differences. We are all diverse characters in one huge big story called Life.

My characters are often composites of people I know or the person I would like to be. We all strive to be someone else, better than what we are, but how many of us achieve that? Few I suggest. But writing and the story allow us to get close. It allows me to get close.  If you love a story and who doesn’t, I believe you will be entertained by the stories I tell. My website and online published library is now over two years old. I am disappointed with the number of people who visited here and/or have read any of my stories, plays, novels etc. My stories have to be read to have life, provide entertainment, to give hope. I really appreciate those that have taken the time and especially those who have gave me feedback, positive or negative.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are good friends. I need more people to read and share my content. That is my ultimate hope for 2020.  As I said at the start, everyone loves to Google.  Why not Google into my stories this Christmas. Share with friends and relations. Be entertained. Find hope. Most of all… Savour the Story!

Posted on No Comments on THE SHORT STORY

THE SHORT STORY

My latest Short Story, “The Pattern Of Seamie O’Connell” has been published on the Website.  Please take a few minutes to read and enjoy. It is loosely based on a true story from one of my personal experiences, like so many of my short stories. It was specifically written as an entry for the 2018 RTE Radio 1 Francis McManus Short Story Competition of which there was over 1800 entries.  Congratulations to those who won. However, without trying to be ungracious, I often wonder what these arts competition really want, particularly the ones run by RTE, our national broadcaster. This is meant to be a short story competition suitable for radio. What better theme than a story about one of our national sports, descriptive by nature, a solid story and of course an Irish theme. Ideal for broadcasting in that our national broadcaster frequently broadcasts GAA matches live. This match has the added drama and the back story. Throw in a funeral and sure it must be the near perfect traditional Irish story.

The judges were for the RTE Competition were Danielle McLaughlin, RTÉ’s Arts and Media correspondent, author Sinéad Crowley and book publicist Cormac Kinsella. The stories were limited to 2000 words. Not a lot for a writer to be descriptive and tell an epic story. Cormac Kinsella said of the winning entry, “What impressed me most was despite its length the reader is given a fully realised world that the characters inhabit.” Seriously “A fully realised world!”. What is that? And if you could do it in less than 2000 words, what is left for the story? Of the runner up, Sinead Crowley commented “It soon becomes clear that there is another layer waiting to be uncovered. Deceptively simple, with well-drawn characters and evocative writing”. Another layer and deceptively simple! Evocative writing! In my youth, the hens were good layers!  I didn’t know you could draw picture on radio. Of the third “Doesn’t shy away from its material in any way and at the same time remains nuanced, with lots of subtle layers”, said Danielle McLaughlin. Why would it shy away? It’s meant to be a story!

My issue is that words like “layers”, “evocative”. “nuanced”, “subtle”, “deceptively” and “realised” are words RTE adjudicators love to use to try to make themselves sound more educated and sharper than the common man or woman in the street. What is wrong with saying that it was a “funny story”, a “sad story”, a “dramatic story” or a “tragic story”. The common denominator is the word “story”. Yes, it’s a story, a short story and the story is the important ingredient of a short story. The story matters! RTE adjudicators represent arts nationally using taxpayer’s money. So maybe now and again they need to think of keeping things simple so that everyone no matter what their level of education can feel part of the arts and literature that this country is famed for. Ireland is famed for its story telling. Let’s not lose the art of the simple story telling to fancy words and evocative language! Maybe it explains why so many are turning away from the National broadcaster to watch, read and view the stories of other countries in their medium of choice.  Everybody loves a good story, even more so when it is Irish based.

Anyway, rant over. I would be interested in hearing my audiences’ thoughts, both on competitions our National broadcaster run and thoughts on “The Pattern of Seamie O’Connell”. In the meantime, some of you will have noticed a small restructure of the website, where the Gallery and the Contact are now part of the Main Menu, not to mention this excellent evocative Blog that is deceptively simple with loads of layers, subtle sarcasm and I just realised how nuanced it is! Don’t be afraid to let me know your opinion and connect with me on social media.