When I first read the news, my jaw dropped. A police officer was lured to a man’s flat under the promise of sexual favours and ended up in a cannibalistic feast for one with all the trimmings. Something like this just doesn’t happen in real life, and in London of all places, but there it was. I love my police procedurals so this got my mind racing. I imagined what it would actually be like to be in that interrogation room with the culprit. What would the police officers ask? How would they make him confess? This had all the makings of a horrific short story, so I explored it more. What if the suspect was a most innocuous person? What if their motives were more sinister than what it first appeared? How about a police transcript? How to write a story with only dialogue guiding us as to what is happening in the room; letting our own imaginations fill in the horrid details? Little by little, “For the Record” was born.

I was still excited after I submitted the short story to the Twisted50 vol 2 competition. After my experience at The Impact50 (finalist but, alas, not a winner), I knew I was in for an exciting ride. I went to sleep still pumped up, mi imagination running wild. I laid in my bed when I first heard it… the cries of the neighbour’s baby. When I woke up the next morning I started outlining what would later become “Hush Little Baby”.

When both stories were selected as finalists of the Twisted50 vol 2 competition my mind was racing with anticipation. When “For the Record” won, I was simply over the moon. This was my first incursion into prose (I’ve always considered myself more of a screenplay writer) so you can imagine my excitement. However, the result begged the question: what about the other story? After some consideration, I decided to convert it into a short screenplay (because, that’s what you do) and enter it into some contests.

And then this happened…

“The 12th Waterford Film Festival (http://www.waterfordfilmfestival.net/) wrapped up yesterday to a packed house and was a great success! … The WINNER of the Screenplay Award went to ‘Hush Little Baby’”

Needless to say, this was completely unexpected and extremely surreal. I had a hell of a time travelling to southeast Ireland, watching fascinating short films, meeting very talented people and having my mind blown when the winner was announced. I’m ever so grateful for the opportunity offered by the Waterford Film Festival and for this award which has the potential to open a lot of doors. Furthermore, I would never had pushed myself to pursue the story further had it not been for the encouraging feedback I received for it through the Create50 process.

Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to get back on the saddle and continue writing. But now there is a new exiting project in the horizon: evolve “Hush Little Baby” into a short film… because that’s what you do.

Ricardo Bravo

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