Samantha Grosser

Not much has been happening on the writing front for the last few months. Dead Letter received some very encouraging feedback from both Hampstead Theatre, who felt the writing was strong, and from the Royal Court Theatre, who thought that the scenes in Afghanistan bristled with atmosphere and that the drama was neatly focussed through a personal lens. Unfortunately, however, neither company wanted to take it any further. The play is still out there with various other companies though, and I am, as usual, awaiting responses. My novel, After the Twelfth, is also under consideration in a few places, and I’m waiting to hear on that as well.

On a more positive note, the bookshop where I work in Sydney (Angus and Robertson - one of Australia’s largest chains) is interested in stocking copies of Another Time and Place in a few of its stores, with a view to doing some promotion. As the novel is currently unavailable, quantities for a reprint are now under negotiation, which is very exciting. Waiting to hear about that as well.

So what am I doing with myself apart from working in the bookshop? I’m rewriting Char and Wads, which I’m beginning to realise is going to be a long, slow and arduous process. The raw materials for a very good play are there, but I’m still trying to work out how to pull it all together into something that works much better dramatically. It’s a bit of a case of trial and error (it just seems to be the way I work, regrettably), but I think it’s worth persevering.