I became aware of Kiri Callaghan through Twitter and a mutual acquaintance Blake Northcott when she did a Follow Friday. Her awesome bio hooked me. Through Kiri's Tweets I became aware that she was writing a one act play called Funeral Potatoes. You can buy the Kindle version here for .99 . I bought the play today and was blown away. The story is about two friends in their twenties Kismet and Vera. The story opens with Kismet and Vera sharing a normal shopping trip trying on clothes. This really establishes the relationship between the two friends. The character interplay and banter is done really well and you feel like you know the characters. The fun eventually turns to Kismets funeral, and what starts out as banter until the reality of the situation falls on them. The audience really finds out how bad Kismets situation is when she wakes up afer an episode with Vera having returned from a funeral. This is the scene where the Funeral Potatoes come in. My favorite scenes of the play are the ones told from the point of view of Kismets mind. This is where are the reflection comes in and she shows her fears and tries to come to grips with what is happening to her. One of the poignant parts of the scenes are the clock ticking in the background. You can almost feel the time running out.
The questions that Kismet asks herself are ones we can all identify with. Is there anything after we die? Did we do enough with our lives? Is this all there is? As someone who has their issues with death, I really identified with her. This book asks a lot of questions but does not answer many. That is left up to the audience. The characterization is great in the book, and we can only hope that we all have friend like Vera.
If you want to read more from Kiri she is currently working with Blake Northcott on a novelization of Luna a were-wolf themed TV pilot that is currently in development from creators John Ceallach, and Randy J. Goodwin of The Vampire Diaries.
You can also find her on Twitter @KiriCallaghan
