I am a writer of poetry and fiction and an avid reader. Here, I think 'out-loud' about books, movies, stories, writing and other fictions.
I lost the whole site at one point and am rebuilding old posts from my backups.
An infinite loop of noir wherein Dex takes Adeline on a date in his Belvedere to visit a nightclub in the desert with plans afterward to watch the stars fall. There is a fez capped maître d', a shark toothed professor, guns and murder and promises of a solution.
An American student, following a guidebook on a Walking Tour of British Coastlines, discovers that in the "off season" that not much of anything is open along the rainy grey coast. He stops at a village called Innsmouth. He finds a pub with an odd name and checks to see if they serve food. They do, of a sort, but he decides the British serve food as a punishment. Two fellows sit by him and he buys them a round of Shoggoth's Old Peculiar. He's never drank alcohol before and listens as the two men talk to him about H.P. Lovecraft and how they're acolytes. He wakes up in the morning with a terrific headache, but no village.
This is a story of people who are experts in defending themselves, but they are put to the test in ways that make their lives difficult at best. The character’s voices are distinct enough to hear snippets and know which one is talking. The suspense is intense. And there is a supernatural element, giving us a connection in the story that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. It needs editing (we all do on our writing), but that can be taken care of after the first draft is complete. A very interesting story.
Hemingway sets the scene in few words. A deaf old man sits in front of a café, late at night and continues to order brandies. There are two waiters who carry the conversation of the story. The younger of the two wants the old man to finish and leave so he can go home. The older waiter is patient and willing to allow the old man to stay as long as he wants. For the older waiter, it’s a matter of pride to run a clean well-lighted café.
Straub shows he is a master of horror in the simplicity of a tale. He tells the story of a man who seeks enlightenment by visiting a guru in India with a German friend. As he reaches the village where the guru lives, he is asked to touch a dying boy, who immediately becomes better. Then he touches a wall which glows neon where his fingers trail. But the guru does not tell him what he expects.
Weights and Measures by Jodi Picoult (2011) in Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, Harper Perennial
Miss Picoult’s poetic, ability to move the reader comes into
full force here over the tragic loss of a seven-year-old daughter and the
heart-rending attempt of parents trying to get past the grief. And the extreme effects that can happen in
the imagination come to life.
I read this out loud so Margaret could hear it. Her response was that from now on, whenever
someone says her stories are too sad, they should read this story.
The Knife by Richard Adams (2011) in Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, Harper Perennial
Like Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”, this story is told from the
point of view of a character who has done something criminal. It traces the discovery of a murder weapon,
and the bullying that pushes the narrator to the reprehensible act. And the confession to a dear uncle who
chooses to keep the secret.
Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch by Kelly Barnhill (2014) Tor.com
A fun, quick read of fantasy by a master in the genre. Mrs. Sorenson has been widowed and is free to
have her animal friends again. No one
has seen a sasquatch since she was married 30 years ago. But now, one seems to be following her
around.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile by Bernard Waber (1965) Houghton Mifflin
The second book about Lyle the Crocodile. It completes the storyline in the movie of the same name. Only here, Mr. Grump lives a couple of doors
done from the Prims (not in the same building).
Mr. Grump really does find a way to get Lyle sent to the zoo. But the resolution is different, yet still
satisfying.
The House on East 88th Street (Lyle Crocodile) by Bernard Waber (1962) Houghton Mifflin
This is the story of a performer and a crocodile that can do
what other crocodiles don’t do. The
movie followed the book closely, plus embellishments to fill-out the time and
give the main character a fuller story.
The family that moves into the apartment on East 88th street
is the same, and Lyle’s lovability is the same.
But the story in the book is much shorter. Still, it makes me want to read the other
books in the series.
Recitatif by Toni Morrison (1983) in Confirmation: An Anthology of African American Women
A story about two girls raised like orphans in a shelter
because their mothers could not take care of them. One mother spent her nights dancing, the
other was sick. They tend to stay closer
to each other because they’re not like the other kids, or each other. They overcome the fact that they’re two
different races, but like all eight-year-olds who become friends, they have
good times and bad. Eventually one
leaves before the other and they don’t see each other again until they are
grown. But by then, they have different
viewpoints on life. The biggest
difference is how they want to look back and see their pasts. Eventually they reconcile over the past. But they understand that their present and
future are necessarily going to be foreign to one another.
Glitches by Marissa Meyer (2013) Tor Books
Little Cinder has lost her parents and a leg and an
arm. And she seems to have access to
information in her brain whenever she asks a question. Her new stepfather, an inventor, has taken
her in to be a new member of his family.
Though her stepmother and one of her stepsisters is not very happy to
have her. She feels she needs to prove
her worth and fixes the housekeeper android.
But before she can show it off to her stepfather, he has come down with
a deadly plague.
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (2010) William Morrow & Company
A collection of stories by some of the best writers, including Gaiman's The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, a masterpiece told in the isles about a man who lost a daughter and sought revenge.
It also features Joyce Carol Oates, Joe R. Lansdale, Walter Mosley, Richard Adams, Jodi Picoult, Lawrence Block, Peter Straub, Gene Wolfe, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Moorcock, Joe Hill, and others.
A fun study of the short story in the twenty-first century.
The Wickeds by Gayle Forman
Two women,
the wicked witch who fed the poisoned apple to Snow White and the wicked
step-mother of Cinderella join forces to ruin the wedding of one of their
grandchildren. They join forces with the dwarves, who didn’t like Snow
White barging in on their operation. At the wedding they find that their
granddaughters are spoiled brats and switch sides to make sure everything turns
out all right in the end.
The Princess Game by Soman Chainani
This story
is done in Film Noir style as a spoof on 21 Jump Street. Two detectives
are sent undercover to a school where young women, princesses, are
murdered. One is sent in as a chemistry teacher, a really poor teacher
who doesn’t know as much about the subject as his students. The other, a
rookie, because he looks young enough to be a student. He joins the princes,
a clique of rich boys who like to steal the princesses virginity. More
keep dying and the undercover operation unravels. Who done it? And
will we find out before everything spins out of control?
Hazel and Grey by Nic Stone
An updated
version of Hansel and Gretel – wherein the children are teenagers in
love. Grey is a guy who’s always been seen as just another black kid,
destined for the big house. But he wants to do better. He wants to
use his street smarts to keep himself, and his love, Hazel safe. He hates
the man who ran out on his mother. Hazel hates her stepfather. They
try to run away to spend one night together. But they get lost in the
woods and when they find a house, there’s a big party going on there.
Hazel is drugged and trapped in a room, so Grey acts like he was there to sell
her. In the end the find the proprietor is none other than the same man
who abused Grey and has had his eye on his step-daughter. They manage to
cause a ruckus and attract the cops, who arrest the pedophile and free up the
kids they were pimping.
The Prince and the Troll by Rainbow Rowell
This is how
fairy tales really should be told. In this case a man, who lives by a
road and loves his job, crosses a bridge every day. The problem is that
building the road has caused the river under the bridge to silt-up and instead
of clear water, there is just a lot of mud. One day, when he has stopped
to look at the river, he drops his phone. But it is caught by the bridge
troll. She manages to toss the phone back up to him. Over time, he
builds up a friendly relationship with her, finding a way to get down near her
and bring a cup of coffee each day from her from Starbucks. He falls in
love with her, but she is wiser than he is and knows nothing good can come from
such a relationship. Eventually it rains a lot and the river flows once
again, sweeping everything in its path away, including the troll. But in
spite of this the man continues to stop each day at the bridge, waiting for her
return.
Wilderness by Dean Koontz (2013) Bantam
A pre-cursor story of a new character. We never get to see Addison directly, only through the reactions of other people. When he was born, the midwife wanted to strangle him as a mercy to his mother. But his mother held a gun on the woman and made her promise to never tell what she saw. His own mother can only stand him for so long, before she has to insist that he go outside where she won’t see him.
A hunter accidentally comes upon him hiding in a cave and only sees his eye, then pursues him, trying to kill him, until a hiker surprises the man, entering a dilapidated cottage where Addison is hiding under the floorboards.\
Yet not everything fears the sight of him. Wolves seem to like him and are willing to follow him, warn him of danger, and even play in front of him.
Where will Dean take us on this journey?