Backdraft

11.40 pm. I have a first draft down, and I think it's okay. I'm really quite nervous about this because it's the kind of earnest "journalism" that I am not quite used to writing.

On that note - I always call myself a writer as opposed to author or journalist, but an editor referred to me as a journalist this week and that made things happen and in the eyes of the person she said it to, I am a journalist. It's happened before... "Felicity - this is Quick. Quick's a journalist with etc." Funny. I really do think of myself as a writer and not a journalist.

Also, because of this silly catering job this week I've been wearing a chef's outfit again, and the runners and kitchen hands have been calling me Chef. Like a title type thing. It's fucking funny:

"Chef - what should I do with this thing?"

"Erm... put it over there?"

"Okay. Thanks Chef."

Also what is funny is that I set the barbecue fully on fire today. Christ on a pogo stick. It got really busy and it was just madness, it started with wafty flames that were quite pretty, but then it just kind of settled in and the flames got bigger. So I closed the hood and thought that lack of oxygen would put it out, but it drew air in from various venty bits and just got bigger. The Dreaded One was working with me today and she said, "Just ignore it. There's not much more that it can burn and it'll go out."

Several minutes later I was smelling molten plastic and there were plumes of acrid smoke and I started thinking that it's funny that we have a fire extinguisher but I've never really looked at the instructions. Like when you get on a plane and they go on about the escape procedure and you start leafing through the inflight magazine because you know your plane is never going to be one of the ones that crash.

Anyway, I was weirdly embarrassed about using the fire extinguisher. It just would have been too dramatic. And I was wearing a chef's outfit and not a fireman's outfit, so I disconnected the gas tank, moved it away and ran away.

I ran away and filled a container with water and ran back and doused the flames and they went out and that was nice because I really was starting to get concerned. There was a certain technique in my dousing of the flames because it was a small container and quite angry flames. Angry enough for the heat to crack the iron grill. Not bad.

Anyway. Film Festival story done. I think it reads just like the work of a "journalist". It comes out on Tuesday and I think it will be okay. I'm hoping it will be well-recieved. I just would have liked more time with it. And the freedom of another thousand words. We'll see what happens.