It may seem a bit crazy to write a sequel to one of the most iconic novels in English literature, but that's exactly what I've done. I had an idea, I've run with it and I believe my current screenplay is an exciting new take on one of the world's, and definitely my, most loved stories.
It's working title is 'Little Lamb Who Made Thee' in reference to (as the poetry lovers will know) Blake's poem. That particular work by Blake, to me, always conjured up that Frankensteinian wonder at the power of creation; that nature can contain the benign and the ferocious, the innocent and predatory. The overarching question is on the act of creation itself - can one creator really be responsible, and morally complicit in the necessary violence and bloodlust of one species upon another?
In Mary Shelley's novel, what struck me as a starting point was the fear of the human imagination as a creator, progenitor of mental and physical states beyond one's control. Where Victor Frankenstein sets out with a very conscious plan for his creation, a new form of man; unbidden fears are unleashed from the imagination of my heroine, Catherine. The creative power of her mind is capable of things she never thought possible.
I've got through my first draft, which like every first draft, needs a great deal of development, but I am excited and happy with this unusual take on the Frankenstein myth. Mary Shelley's work has been an inspiration to so many screenwriters like myself; I'm sure she'd be amazed at the legacy of her imagination.
Wow, what an amazing picture.