Random

1. I almost got sprung doing something bad this morning, but I was swift with my coverup and got away with it.
   

   
    

2. I wrote 27 pages yesterday in some sort of public holiday frenzy. Everything I write now, I can't stop thinking 'Is this too much like New Light Shine?' and then I have to tell myself 'Fuck it."
   

   Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it …
   

   
    

3. I have too many books. Please, let no more bookchains go down the gurgler. I can't afford any more sales.
   

   
    

4. I started writing a novel. And then I started writing more of it.
   

   
    

5. I haven't written as much today. 8 pages on one thing, and a 4 page play about pills. It's a random sort of day.
   

   
    

6. I'm thinking of buying a dog with my prize money.
   

Dreams

You know, when I'm at the soul sucking day job, all I dream about is the hours and hours I'm going to have for myself when I'm at home writing. I see myself sitting at my desk just churning out page after page of incredible, awe-inspiring dialogue. The truth is … well, I sit at my desk, and at some point usually about the time the sun goes down, I think it's probably time to get out of my pyjamas – or at least wash my face and I look at the pages that I have written and call them every name under the sun and usually put them into a file that I then go into the backyard and bury so they will never see the light of day EVER AGAIN. Then I start drinking. Yep. Living the dream.

Movies

One of the great things about not working at soul sucking day job is cheap Monday movies – I know I've mentioned it before but $6 movies on Lygon Street – you really cannot be asking for more than that. That makes you a greedy guts and you should be ashamed of yourself. Go and sit in the corner until you can appreciate the wonder and glory that is $6 movies on Lygon Street.

Right. Where was I?

MOVIES!

Well, I went and saw Snowtown today. Yeah, the one that Richard Wilkins called depraved and gave no stars and said he took one for the team by going to see it so we all wouldn't have to. And then twitter went a bit mad with him and everyone was either pro-Snowtown or anti-Snowtown. So, I went to see that.

Oh, you want to know what I think?

Snowtown is a devastating, poetic examination of a period in Australian history that has never been widely discussed, that we prefer to think is a freak occurrence that will never happen again, but could so easily, because this happened so easily. The acting, the writing, the directing, the slow deliberate camera that makes us keep watching, that forces us to confront every detail of this horrific story, are all carefully considered and of the highest order. Richard Wilkins, you should be ashamed of yourself for so wildly missing the point of this film and the Snowtown boys and girls should pat yourselves on the back. You are exactly the kind of filmmakers this country needs. And I only looked away twice. I think I did pretty well.

Back

So, I go and one little award and then I forget the blog that got me there. Well, not quite, and a soul-sucking day job rather than winning an award has been the main cause of not being able to finger to laptop and speak to my adoring fans … You are all still out there aren't you? Oh good. I was concerned there for a while. But soul-sucking temp day job is over and while it possibly the most exhausting job I've ever done I will actually miss my little gaggle of assistants. I'm thinking we should all go form a dancing troupe and leave the glamour of the law behind us. I'll work on this.

So, I'm back.

Where’s Shannon?

It's come to my attention that people are trying to find me and are finding it difficult, having to resort to reading my inane ramblings on Twitter and Facebook. Sorry about that.

If you're trying to get into contact with me, the best way is by email – smurdoch31@gmail.com

However, if you are spending your days yearning for inane ramblings then head to @shanmurdoch on twitter where I do my best to take inane to the level of martial art.

Yale Drama Series Award

About a week ago, at about 7.30am, just as I was getting ready to get on a plane to go to Sydney, I got a phone call.

On the other end of the phone was a very nice man who very calmly told me that I had won the Yale Drama Series Award for 2011.

This lovely, lovely man also remained very calm when I started shouting things like "OH MY GOD!" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" and "I THINK I NEED TO SIT DOWN" which is all I managed to get my brain to say for the ten minutes we were on the phone.

This is the announcement in the New York Times:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/australian-playwright-wins-yale-drama-series-award/

"I'M REALLY HAPPY" is about all I'm managing to say at this point but it doesn't come close. I'm thinking I'm going to have to spend some time inventing new words like superridiculamazahappy.

New Light Shine

My play is on in Sydney. Well, a reading of my play is in Sydney which is pretty cool and I can barely wait to get there and be all playwrightey for a couple of days.

This is a little something I wrote about the things I thought about, the things that were going on in my life when I started writing the play and what the play is about.

Enjoy. And if you are in Sydney on the 16^th March, come down to Parramatta to see it and say hello.