Short Story Reading of THE ATTACK by Mark Renshaw

Performed by Val Cole

 Get to know the writer:

What is your short story about?

It’s about a guy experiencing a severe panic attack. From his perspective, he views these incidents more like battles, as if he’s being assailed by an invisible force. Using this viewpoint helps him to focus through the pain and fight back.

What genres would you say this short story is in?

Drama.

How would you describe this story in two words?

Grief, recovery.

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I’m a sucker for the original Star Wars trilogy.

What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

My favourite song changes as time goes by. One of the ones I keep going back to though is Dream On by Aerosmith.

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

One of the few books I’ve read numerous times is Legend by David Gemmell.

What motivated you to write this story?

At the time, I was trying to cope with the loss of my mother and I was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks for the first time in my life. Writing this was quite cathartic.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Isaac Asimov. He’s my literary hero.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I love turning my work into produced films. I’ve produced two of my own stories so far and I’m in post-production of a third. It’s amazing to see what I’ve written given life on the screen.

What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I entered a Doctor Who TV script into the Fanfiction Festival a couple of years ago, and it won a table read. It was wonderful to see the script performed by real actors so I decided to try something similar with one of my short stories.

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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

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