jameskillick.co.uk

Where it all begins.

The centre of my online world - from here you can navigate to my blog, follow me on Twitter, read the opening chapters of my novel, and even send me an email.

News about my current projects below.

Imagine the child you've always wanted turns up at your door. Imagine he's a man, the child of a woman not your wife. Imagine your wife doesn't know. Now imagine that man is sleeping with your wife. Would you want him then? Would you welcome him? Would you miss him when he's gone?

An opportunity to see a reading of 'You're Going To Miss Me When I'm Gone' at the Alma Tavern Theatre on Friday September 30th before it goes global. Tickets now available from the Theatre West website. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Like all the best ideas, it wasn't mine. I'd had the genesis of a play in my head for a long time. It kept bugging me to the point where I just had to write it. I had a venue (The Alma Tavern Pub Theatre) and a company (Theatre West) in mind when writing it and upon completion I sent it to them. I heard nothing. Then I got an email invitation to enter their Picture This project – 50 writers pick a photograph from a bucket and write ten pages of dialogue and a treatment based on their picture. The pages get read by actors in front of a panel of judges and eight treatments get picked for development. Of those eight (or nine as it's turned out to be) 5 will get a full production in Theatre West's autumn season, and the remainder get a rehearsed reading.

I worked that treatment and ten pages and I've got through to the next round – which means at the very least 'You're Going To Miss Me When I'm Gone' will get a rehearsed reading, at best a full production. Needless to say I'm excited. I've got until the 25th of July to finish the script. Holidays have been cancelled and schedules have been cleared. You can all come and see the product of my work in the Autumn. I might even buy you a drink.

There is something about the sea, something calming, as if confronted with that immense and undeniable swell of indifference there is reassurance in our insignificance - a place where even the biggest issue can appear lessened, somewhere someone whose world has fallen apart might go to make a decision - do I step into the sea and disappear or do I return to the land and face the reality of my life? I didn't see him at first, small and central, not only dwarfed by the landscape but by the photo itself, but he was there - a character with the genesis of a story - a young man who decides to find his father, a father who doesn't even know he exists, a father who conceived him when married to a woman not his mother. Not a story about the sea, but a story about fathers, sons and lovers, a story about the search for meaning and purpose and truth, and how a seemingly insignificant event can have devasting consequences.

And I've still got the original play looking for a home – 'The Spirit of Stuart Sutcliffe' if anyone is interested...

On a journey through despair, love, violence and death Jack discovers you can't kidnap someone else's idea of truth, you have to find your own.

Telling your boss where to stick his job and then burning the company car isn't the best way to react when you discover your wife is having an affair with a bloke from work. Running away to stay with a friend who isn't friendly anymore isn't sensible either. Sleeping with that old friend's best friend's girlfriend isn't wise, but stealing the best friend's car and using it to commit a violent crime is surely madness.

But when your actions cause someone to burn to death, you know you've gone too far.

Your wife thinks you're a missing person.

Your friend thinks you're a murderer.

The police think you're a terrorist.

You're probably all three.

But worse than that, the girl of your dreams doesn't want to know.

Jack's got no money, no home, and a bad case of misanthropy. On a journey through despair, love, violence and death he discovers that you can't kidnap someone else's idea of truth, you have to find your own. Yeah, there's more to life than marriage, a car, a mortgage and a job, but not much more. So go back, face the music, learn to love - but most of all, learn to live.