Dolly Parton's 9-5 Musical

Last night, our book club, Housework Can Wait, went to Dolly Parton's 9-5 Musical in the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin. It has been a while since I was at the theatre and wow, it was brilliant!

Our book club is a member of the Bord Gais Book Club's of Ireland and they gave us free tickets for last nights performance. I have to admit, I do like a bit of country and western so I was really looking forward to the show. That and the fact that I so rarely get out! 

We collected our tickets at the Box Office and made our way upstairs for a delicious glass of wine before taking our seats. I tried not to cry at the €18 charged for three glasses of wine and just soaked in the ambiance.  

View from where we were standing

The show began with Dolly herself narrating. The main characters, Violet (Jackie Clune), Judy (Natalie Casey), Doralee (Any Lennox) and the boss Franklin (Ben Richards) were introduced along with a little explanation of the differences in working conditions in 1979.

Taken from the official website 

It had been a long time since I saw the movie so can't compare the two but really, would I want to? I doubt it. The performance was fantastic. The choreography, acting, sets and costumes were amazing. Even from up in the circle, the attention to detail in costumes was apparent. The sets were designed well to allow a fluid movement between scenes and often played a part in the story. The actors put on such a great show and one of the more memorable performances came from Bonnie Langford (Roz) who, in a very sexy number, had the audience in fits of laughter.

Towards the end, when Dolly comes back on the clock screen suspended above the stage, the audience were in high spirits. She broke into the song 9 to 5 and had a lot of the theatre goers up on their feet clapping in time (I'd say there was a bit of foot stomping too!).

All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience. If you get a chance to see this performance do not pass it up!

Here we go again...

The ABNA contest opened this morning and my entry is in. This is my second year in a row entering and I've gone with the same novel. Since this time last year, Bleeker Avenue has been extensively edited, professionally and by my beta readers so hopefully it will do better.

Another item on my agenda today was to post off a short story to Take a Break's Fiction Feast. Done!

It's been a busy day because I also applied for funding for my writing from the Arts Council of Ireland. Fingers crossed for me! It would mean I wouldn't have to worry about bills while I finished Devil in the Clouds and I would be able to get it properly edited.

Fourth on my list was a new blog post. I had something else in mind for this but I'm going to save it till Wednesday (I'm still working on it).

Today's list

Lastly, I plan to do 1,000 words on my WIP. I've about 2.5 hours until Beth arrives home. I think I can manage it!

Check out my lovely new bookcase (Beth owns the bottom shelf)

 Did you enter the ABNA this year?

New Year Resolutions

Good morning world! Happy New Year to you all. Hope you celebrated in style whatever way you wanted. I had a quiet night. Some bright spark let off the loudest firework known to man at midnight and, as a result, I spent the first hour of the new year with Beth. She was still up at 8am, sitting on me and telling me to get up!

I don't usually make a list of resolutions but I do believe lists make things happen so here it goes...

New Years Resolutions:

1. Finish Devil in the Clouds

2. Enter the ABNA

3. Learn to drive

4. Get more writing jobs

5. Stop eating rubbish and get back down to my ideal weight (not sure what weight I am but know it's not ideal)

6. Start jogging again and complete the Dundalk 10k in May

Just before Christmas I received the first printed copies of The Secret Beneath Bleeker Avenue. It was pretty cool to see my book actually in print.

So happy with them :-)

I made only one (sort of) resolution last year. It was to keep my blog more up to date and I think I kept that! Well, it's definitely better than previous years. 

2012 was a good year. I finished and published my first book, had articles published in The Irish Times and online with journal.ie, I turned 31, Beth turned 3, we went on holidays to Carlingford and Spain. It has been a full year and I hope 2013 is just as good!

How were your New Years celebrations?