I’m pleased to be able to tell you part of the reason why I’ve been so absent from blogging recently, and it’s legitimate and real and relates to actual writing and everything.

I’m one of the four writers on the daily smartphone drama Persona, which is coming from the lovely folks at App-Media in January 2011. There are three other folks contributing words (Phill, Ronnie, and Adam), and between us we’ve written the first ‘season’, which will cover the whole month of January.

It’s been genuinely interesting writing my ‘slice’ of the show (the various strands weave in and out of each other, and new episodes – or, rather Appisodes – will be released on a daily basis. As I understand it, you’ll be able to buy the app from the appropriate online place, and then you’ll automatically get the new show delivered to you. Sounds a lot like the Cracked Reader for the iPhone which I have, and am very happy with.

As you can see from this set of photos, a rehearsal was held on November 27, though I won’t say (or perhaps can’t say?) which cast members are involved in the storyline I wrote. But if you want to see the character breakdown, it’s here, and those of you who’ve followed the blog for a while will probably be able to guess which characters are ones I’ve come up with (clue: look for the usual verbosity)…

Shooting is taking place this week in London, and if you’d like to be an extra, I believe they’re still looking for people to do just that. You will, of course, get to feature in a pretty revolutionary bit of drama, but more than that you’ll get to meet the nice people involved (I can speak from actual ‘IRL’ encounters with them, they’re lovely), plus you’ll receive a credit and get food and travel expenses paid for. If you’re available this week in London and interested, the best ways to get in touch with them seem to be either Twitter or Facebook. Tell them I sent you.

Anyway, it’s been a genuinely interesting (and hopefully for all involved, productive) time writing the scripts for Season One (or ‘January’, as it’s more commonly known), and I’m looking forward to being involved with Season Two – and, of course, seeing how the cast play the lines I’ve written. One thing which it’s certainly reinforced in my mind is the fact that redrafting is vital for me, and as much as I might like to think it’s the case, the first thoughts out of my head onto the page are very rarely the best. Even the brightest jewel, I like to think, needs a bit of polishing to shine (ahem).

I’ll tell you more about how to view the show, and where to buy the app, and the like, as soon as I know more. And, of course, if you are an extra, do drop me a line and let me know how it goes, eh?