One of my favourite writers for as long as I can remember is Robert Graves who is probably most famous for writing what is arguably the greatest ever historical novel – ‘I Claudius.’
He also wrote a very poignant, hilarious and brilliant autobiography entitled ‘Goodbye to All That’ which I have devoured several times.
Part of which describes his move from England to Majorca (Spain) where he would spend the rest of his life sitting in the sun and writing some forty or so books.
Fast forward almost a hundred years and I found myself making the same leap onto the European continent (Alicante, Spain).
There are many reasons why but one of the most fundamental is...
In the past five or six years as well as running Peracals Productions, I have…
written fourteen original feature screenplays, written three novels. written, produced and directed three feature films and written and produced another as well as three shorts, written directed and produced six audio plays and produced two others. 1
I have worked with some amazingly talented and wonderful people, many of whom I now consider to be friends for life. It’s been a very busy and exhilarating and productive few years of working pretty much non-stop.
But… I realised that at the end of last year that I had reached a turning-point, or maybe even an end-point of my creative career. I was also concerned that I was becoming someone I never wanted to be – someone more cynical and mercenary. The entertainment business is not kind to kindness, and I could feel my natural idealism and love for what I was doing being gradually eroded. I also felt that I was increasingly becoming stuck in a creative cul-de-sac both as a writer and as a producer.
I either needed an extended rest or a complete change. I have never really enjoyed resting, as I seem to have an innate restlessness and always feel like I should be doing something more productive, so I realised that a fundamental change was needed.
Another inspiration was Bowie's escape to Berlin in the mid seventies where he recreated himself and produced some of his greatest work.
To be honest it wasn’t that great a leap. My family have had a place in Spain for the past thirty years which I have always considered to be my home from home, and though I usually would spend about twenty per cent of my time there I actually managed to do some eighty per cent of my writing there. I also eat less and exercise more when I am there and bizarrely though I seem to be much less busy I get a lot more done when not dealing with the distractions of London life.
So, in April I packed my bags (and cats) and flew to Spain to start my new career in a new town.
Our European adventure had begun…
1
- original feature screenplays:
Daemon Mind. The Olympians (Hermes and the Blood of the Gorgons) Mirradoor, In Your Room, Daemon Mind Fallout, Nocturnes, God - The Untold Story, A Sketchy Affair, Stranger and Neighbours, The Heroes (Eye of the Storm), Welcome to Your Apocalypse, I Remember Tomorrow, Preston Undercover, Untitled 007 script.
- Novels:
Door to the River, I Have Always Been Here, Dominion 1 – A Twist in the Serpent’s Tale
- Feature Film as writer/director/producer.
through a dark mirror, Daemon Mind, Strangers and Neighbours
- Feature film as writer and producer
Dimension Slip
- Short Film as writer/director/producer.
Mea Culpa, , Ghosts of the Wasteland, Time to Dance to Time
- Short film as writer and producer
The Horror - The Horror
- Audio plays as writer/director/producer.
Preston Undercover, King of the Castle, An Adventure in Time, God – The Untold Story, All Our Tomorrows, A Sketchy Affair
- Audio plays as producer
Between Two Worlds, Rossetti’s Dreams