That's all folks!

Dear reader,

Finished!  At last!  Finished!  The story is finished, and my soul has gone out into it.  That is all.  It is nothing worth mentioning.

I hope you enjoyed the adventures of the Gilbert & Sullivan gang.

If you're stumbling across this for the first time, welcome!  Here's a summary of what the stories are about, along with links to the start of each.

Hilarity Ensues
Inspired by a dream a friend of mine had.  The aim was to incorporate all of the silly ideas friends of mine had about settings for shows- In space!  On fire!  On ice!  With turnips! (not a clue)  With a spoon! (don't ask).

Things I learnt in writing it: Planning is good.  Attempting to insert an overarching story arc when half of it has already been 'published' is not. 

Misplaced
This was inspired by a conversation with my housemates at the time on what would happen if we and our friends were stranded on a desert island.  I've never seen Lost and have only read extracts of Lord of the flies but influences from both somehow got in, as well as a slight Narnian element. 

Things I learnt in writing it: Having too many characters and then creating a duplicate version of each is confusing, for the author and the audience.  Although it does give you freedom to be nasty and still have a happy(ish) ending.

Fantom of the operetta
Once the character of 'Future James' was created while on holiday, time travel seemed the natural follow up to space travel and alternative dimensions.  And what would a group of G&S fans do with a time machine if not go looking for Thespis?  There's also visible Discworld influence, although I didn't realise that till late on in writing it.

Things I learnt in writing it: Aargh time travel is a pain to write if you are a pedant and want a plot that holds water with no obvious flaws.  Aargh.

Here's a how-de-do!

Apologies for the current hiatus is posts.  Life at the moment feels like fighting a hydra: solve one problem and another (or two) will appear in its place.  Plus I need to do some research (ie: wikipedia or watching Topsy Turvey, see the level of accuracy I aim for on your behalf, dear reader!) before I write the next bit.

I will get back to the story, promise!  I won't just leave my characters stuck in the time vortex.

A long-expeted story

Hello, dear reader(s),

After far too long, a teaser for the third story, Fantoms of the Operetta, will be published on Tuesday- my birthday present to you all (in the hobbit fashion of giving presents on one's birthday rather than receiving them,  Yes, I'm currently reading Lord of the Rings.)  Publication of the actual story will hopefully start soon, once I've got a bit more written (ie, the beginning).

Enjoy!

Misplaced

   "Run!"

   The creature loomed above her, taller than a human, outlined black against the light from the fire.  They had thought the campfire would provide protection against animals, but they hadn't expected anything as big as this.  

   Close by David crouched over Becky, trying to rouse her.  There was blood on the ground beside her and she wasn't moving.  Everyone else was fleeing as fast as possible, apart from two or three who were standing at a safe distance, watching and calling to her and David.

   Ruth looked up at the creature.  She wasn't sure if it knew she was there, half hidden as she was behind a rock, but she didn't dare move in case it noticed her.  

   "Come on!" Nick called.  "Run!"  The creature had begun to advance, its indistinct shape moving stealthily towards her.  Slowly she tried to draw her feet under her, ready to start running.  She had never been much of an athlete, and she didn't think she could outrun the creature, but she couldn't just stay here.  

   She stumbled up and into a shambling run, just as the creature's paw swept down.  A claw scraped down her arm and side, but she kept running.  Nick and the others had turned to run too, as the creature took a few steps after her before seeming to loose interest as it sensed an easier target.  

   Ruth heard a scream, and looked back to see the creature bend its head to the hollow where David had been with Becky.  Then the scream stopped.  Ruth turned and ran after the others, struggling to catch up but they all seemed so far ahead.  She seemed to be dropping further and further behind and the pain from the wound inflicted by the creature's claw was increasing.  She wasn't sure which direction she was heading in any more. Dimly she head the creature roaring behind her, and in terror she quickened her pace, using her last strength.  Then, dizzy with pain and fear, she tripped over a tree root and fell...

   Ruth woke up suddenly.  She opened her eyes and sat up.  The first light of dawn was peeping over the horizon, and the fire had sunk down low.  She looked around at the others.  There were David and Becky, lying close to one another, breathing gently and regularly.  There was Nick on the other side of the fire, there were all the others, lying here and there around the fire.  There was no blood to be seen, no wounds, and no giant monster with huge white teeth.  All was calm and quiet.  It had just been a dream.

   Or had it?

The story begins here...

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to anyone who might happen to be reading this! 


Just a note to tell you to watch this space...Hilarity Ensues may be over, but something else might be on the way.  That's why this blog is changing its' name to "What Precious Nonsense", as a generic title that aptly describes the content.  As for what this new thing might be...watch this space!


Happy New Year!

The Hilarity- before and after

Half way!

Dear reader (s, if there's more than one of you out there!)

Well, we're now about half way through the adventures of the crew of the Hilarity. At least, halfway through what's currently planned. Coming up:

Ice
Snakes
Ninjas
Sorcery and love- if you can tell the difference
More bad puns, bad jokes and G&S quotes

The characters are now taking on lives of their own. Although they're based on people and have aspects of their personalities, they aren't 'them.' I'm not suggesting that this is how the real people on whom the characters are based would react, but that this is how these characters might react.

Enjoy!

Coming up...

More adventures of the crew of the Hilarity. Including:

Fire
Ice
Zombie robots
A heavy dragoon
To flirt is capital

Coming soon!
(Once I've got round to writing it and not being distracted by later bits of the story!)

We apologise for the delay...

but the blog "Hilarity Ensues" is delayed by approximatly goodness knows how many days. We apologise for the disruption to your journey, and hope you have a pleasant blog-reading experience when episode three finally arrives.

Coming soon...

A pirate(ship)! Horror!
Men in women's clothes.
A most ingenious paradox.

Coming soon...

Irretrievable ruin!

The Gilbert & Sullivan Society
In space, on fire, on ice, with snakes...and turnips.
In Bognor Regis.

Including zombie robots, ninjas, cowboys, pirates!

Or, Not as good as The Mikado.