20 August

Today we mourn the passing of Lucky, neé Bernard . . .

When I gave 20 August that title, I was merely picking the date I began writing. The stage version came first, the screenplay later. The stage play has never been produced due to production requirements, but there is interest on various fronts in the scripted version, and I hope yet to see it made into a movie.

The original play was set in London, but for the screenplay I've Americanized it a bit, since that's where the producers and directors who are interested in it are located. But when I was writing (and I've said this before in previous posts) I sort of had a young Ewan McGregor's voice in my head when writing Dixon (who narrates the piece). Not sure in American terms who that might translate to. Actually, not sure in British terms who that might translate to these days. Sigh. I'm showing my age. (Let me just say however, for the record, that Mr. McGregor is older than I am by a good half decade.)

I wrote 20 August in a ridiculously short amount of time; I remember Hurricane Irene happening the day I finished it. I chose the title, and then chose the name Bernard at random, and only discovered later that 20 August is the actual St. Bernard's Feast Day. One of those magical moments when whatever you're in the process of writing suddenly seems meant to be.

Anyway, it didn't seem right to let the day pass without a mention.