Yes, I was going for Green Penguin green
Invisible Ink was born today, on my 53rd birthday.
I think we’ll get started not by slapping its bottom and making it cry but with a somewhat disingenuously named FAQ.
Why is this called Invisible Ink?
Over the next few months I will be publishing a few different audio drama projects. They were written by me (that’s the ink part) but they are, of course, things you will listen to, not look at (that’s the invisible part). I’ll use this newsletter to dig deeper into the ideas and inspiration behind these stories.
What’s more, Invisible Ink is a common trope in mystery stories. My upcoming Radio 4 show Done to Death is about exactly that: the common tropes of mystery stories.
More about Done to Death in a little while.
There’s something ephemeral about email newsletters, and that also makes the title feel nicely appropriate.
Perhaps the greatest true story about invisible ink is the one about the bank robbers who covered their faces in lemon juice, believing it would make them invisible to the security cameras.
Oh, and if Invisible Ink and lemon juice are more-or-less interchangeable, I suppose the title is also a tribute to crêpes, my favourite food. Why not.
What are these audio drama projects?
First up will be Rez High. This is an epic sci-fi series I created and wrote for Rusty Quill. You will be able to hear it on their Neon Inkwell feed. If you subscribe now you’ll be able to check out Imogen Cassidy’s Welcome to Fosters over the coming weeks and Rez High after that.
Neon Inkwell is a very wide-ranging anthology feed, comprised of supernatural, horror and sci-fi stories. Rez High is entirely standalone and has no connection to the other stories ont he feed, though we all share the brilliantly ambitious, creative Elizabeth Moffat as our producer and storytelling champion.
Here’s a mini-blurb for Rez High:
In the distant future, a band of scavenging young adults find a vintage VR system that becomes their gateway to a surprising alien world: a gameified recreation of a 20th century high school.
I’ll tell you lots more about Rez High in future emails but here’s a handy checklist of some of my reference points and influences: Grange Hill, David Bowie, Zoids, Isao Tomita, Skool Daze, the Blitz kids, Solarbabies, and Grandaddy. It’s a big show with big ideas. I hope you love it.
Then a little later on, Done to Death will air on BBC Radio 4 and through the BBC Sounds app. This is a murder mystery about the conventions and cliches of murder mysteries.
Done to Death was produced by the furiously inventive and passionate Sarah Golding at Wireless Theatre and directed by the very wise and talented Polly Thomas. Here’s a mini-blurb:
Asta Norris is the latest member of the Wickleford Whodunnit Book Club, where her seen-it-all attitude isn’t winning her many friends. When the club is caught up in a murder mystery of its own, it’s down to Asta to see through the cliches and sort fact from fiction.
I’ll take a closer look at some of these cliches and conventions in future emails.
The cast of Done to Death features Saffron Coomber, Caleb Obediah, Liz Carr, Cerrie Burnell, Tamzin Merchant, Pete Gold, Nina Wadia and Maryam d’Abo. Incredible.
Because I don’t want to spoil any real life murder mystery books or movies in Done to Death I have needed to invent imaginary ones. This means the characters can reference Lt. Columbo or The Honjin Murders or John Dickson Carr and give nothing away while having free reign to discuss the solutions to, say, Three Little Letters by Effie Kaye.
For extra fun, I’m going to share these original doubly-fictional mysteries via Invisible Ink, giving you a chance to solve their puzzles yourself before the show reveals all.
What else will pop up in these emails?
I’m going to use Invisible Ink to write about the Hows and Whys and Waaaahs of writing both audio drama and mystery stories.
There are plenty of good mystery games, both digital and of the card-and-paper kind , and I’ve definitely got some recommendations.
And knowing me, I’ll probably point you towards some movies and TV shows too. Have you seen Art Detectives yet? It really doesn’t have to be one half as good as it is.
And is there anything else?
If you know anoybody who loves Golden Age Detective fiction, cozy mysteries, YA sci-fi, the craft of storytelling, Yorkshire accents, crêpes, puppets, or emails from East Anglia, please introduce them to Invisible Ink.