"Pyre"

Short update today. I was bashing through some archive folders on the weekend and happened upon this, a short screenplay I wrote five years ago (and conceived, probably, a decade before that).

One of my favourite scenes (along with everyone else) in The Return of the King is the lighting of the beacons; which, naturally, led me to think about the men who guard those beacons year-round, waiting for someone to sound the alarm.

This is a five-page script that I can’t imagine ever serving as anything other than a writing sample — unless one of my readers knows the producers of The Rings of Power? — so, here you are. It’s not a mocking script. I like the rhythm I was able to find in the dialogue, and the short, vicious way in which I retconned the scene.

Look, half the reason I’m posting this is because of the sheer fucking balls of that title page.

A couple other things to recommend

• I stumbled upon this piece about The Matrix Resurrections quite by accident. I’m very glad I did. (Zero Indent)
• I refuse to think about Platner, but I always enjoy a bit of Toht-related writing. (McSweeney’s)