Review

Finished Masters of Fantasy edited by Terry Carr and Martin Harry Greenburg. Maybe I’ve reached my limits on anthologies for awhile because this one just didn’t do it for me. My opinion has NOTHING to do with the quality of the stories; for the most part I thought they were all well written and entertaining. What caused me to be glad to put the book down was the over-riding theme of “bad stuff happens to good people”, or at least, undeserving or oblivious people. One or two of these OK, but twenty?? I was, as my husband would say after listening to Celtic music, ready to slit my wrists. So depressing.

It’s one thing if a bad, mean, or insensitive person gets his or her just desserts, but when something horrible happens to an innocent I wanna scream. Yes, I know it happens in real life, but when I read, I mostly want to enter another world, and the world these stories were taking me to I didn’t want to go.

I also read to learn something. If what I’m learning is that no matter what I do or how hard I struggle some psycho is still going to kill me then why try? What’s a story like that trying to teach me? That some people or creatures are beyond redemption? Give the reader an alien or inhuman viewpoint? Explore how people act in terrible situations? Make you feel better about your own life?

OK. I admit there may be reasons for writing and reading such stories. And I sheepishly admit that I, in fact, have written such tales. But again I say…twenty of them in one anthology??? I think at the very least the editor could have added the word “dark” to the title.

Sigh. I just started another anthology. I hope this one’s not as depressing.

Inspiration

Writers gather their inspiration from many sources: paintings, travel, a walk in the woods, music, conversations, movies, other works of fiction or non fiction…the list is endless. I use all of the above, and I would also add seasons and holidays.

I live in Indiana. A friend of mine once said there are only a few days one can be comfortable outside here; otherwise it’s too hot, too cold, too humid, too rainy. I understand, although I love the changing seasons, especially this time of year. I believe autumn in Indiana would be considered one of those few times it is glorious outside; the crisp cool air is invigorating, not to mention the stained glass leaves against cobalt blue skies.

And then there’s Halloween. I love everything about this holiday; the weather, the costumes, the pumpkin carving, morning mist, renaissance fairs, hayrides, campfires, corn mazes, and that inherent spookiness that arrives with no other celebration. My husband I love it so much we got married on Halloween.

As a writer, I often look for inspiration around this holiday. I’ve written several short stories with a Halloween theme. I often prod my imagination with vintage Halloween items, especially postcards. Back then no one seemed to think Halloween was evil…just magical, mysterious, and fun. Not to say if you're not careful trouble may find you, but that's true of any holiday. Here are a few postcards to perhaps jump start your creativity:

******************************************************

There are lots of vintage postcards with pretty witches, which I think is rather neat. As Samatha on Bewitched once said, not ALL witches have warts on the end of their noses. :-) Here's a fetching example on her way to a dance...but what kind of dance? The verse says "spooks from far and wide" will be there. But who else? Her love? Is her boyfriend a spook? A story in the making.

Of course, a pretty face can hide all sorts of undesirable character traits. Get a load of this tricky witch; what could you compose about her???

An interesting Halloween tradition of times past was for women to gaze into a mirror and hopefully see their future mate. Here's a lovely woman doing just that. So...what is her intended like? Where will she meet him? He is human...mohaha.

A black cat is such a Halloween icon. This one looks like he has something up his paw. He appears quite dapper. Too dapper. I think he's an enchanted man that got too fresh with one of those pretty witches. :-)

I choose this one because it reminded me of the Munster's family car. This image is so funny. Where is this crew going? Are they all friends? Or did poor hapless Mr. Pumpkin man pick up some hitchhikers he wished later he hadn't...

I liked this one because it reminds me of Disney's the Sorcerer's Apprentice. See? I do like Disney. Sometimes. Anyway, these corn stalks could tell a fine tale, I'm thinking.

Here's a spookier one. This one gives me the creeps. What happened to this sweet child? Will she have a pumpkin head forever? Or maybe she isn't so sweet...maybe she's trying to draw you closer and closer to her bed...

Here's a spooky one about goblins. Read the greeting: The goblins are coming and they'll get you, and I certainly hope they will, for the letter you promised so long ago, is only a promise still. It makes me wonder, to say the least, why someone was so angry over an unsent letter. Did that someone have power over goblins? It sure looks like it. Brrrrrrrr.

I liked this one because it's spooky and because I think it looks like Transylvania. I can see ghosts floating over this darkened metropolis, honing in on its towers and spires via the glowing pumpkin.

This one is cool because it seems like a transition between Halloween and Christmas. Wouldn't the combination make a great story?

I love these postcards. I think I'll do it again for the Yuletide season.

My Favorite Arthur C. Clarke

In answer to a question, my favorite book by Arthur C. Clarke is Childhood's End. My favorite short story by him is the The Star. If you have about ten minutes you can read The Star here:

http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/engl510/star.htm

Both the book and the short are about the same thing. And both make me cry every time I read them.

Anthologies and a Book Review

If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been reading a lot of anthologies lately. They are perfect for reading in between editing. I know me; if I get started on a novel I won’t put it down. But I enjoy anthologies for their own sake. Many people don’t, and I understand; sometimes you just get going and oops…there it is. The end. But I like short stories, especially when they are collected around a theme. It allows me to see the same subject examined by different authors. It’s fascinating to read so many interpretations of something as mundane as water, fairs, or a moment in time.

Forbidden Planets edited by Marvin Kaye, is a collection that is decidedly not mundane. The title conjures up strange and deadly destinations, planets where humans go at their own risk. And the stories do deliver that alien and scary feeling, especially the first one, Mid-Death by A.D. Foster. Whew. A planet that will kill you…sooner or later. I also enjoyed a story set on the world of Coyote by Allen Steele, but I have to say I like his longer works better. He’s a master of world building, and I don’t think the short venue does that justice.

The stories are all Sci-Fi, and are supposed to be “hard” Sci-Fi, although a couple of them lean more towards fantasy. Hard science fiction is…hard. It’s difficult to include the human side when you’re writing this kind of Sci-Fi; science must be science, or at least, aim for that. I missed seeing the human element here, except in the Coyote story. I know it’s difficult. But the master of this genre, Arthur C. Clarke, seemingly does it effortlessly.

My dad intruded me to Clarke; he loves “real” Sci-Fi, and this was something we shared. And still do. Dad admires Clarke because he is an expert story teller and a scientist. I loved Clarke for that too, but more because he made me care deeply about his characters. I can still remember the last shivery lines from a few of his stories (may not be exact): “the ancient struggle between man and insect had finally been won, and man was not the victor”, “was it a trick of fate that the clicking claws were in front of him,” brrrrrrrrrr.

The reason they were so scary is because of the astonishing craft of the author. The reason they stayed with me is because by the end of his stories I cared what happened to the protagonist; an equal and separate skill. In the Forbidden Planets collection I didn’t so much care what happened to the people. The stories were all well written and I enjoyed them. But afterwards I found myself wanting to re-read my collections of Clarke’s.

Rats. I just checked…my dad has them.

Book Review

I’m in my final edits of my latest book. Have I said I abhor editing? Yes. I believe I have. So. It doesn’t take much to distract me; most any shiny object will do, including a good book. But putting off my least favorite writing chore was not the entire reason I finished Night Bites almost in one setting.

The complier (or editor, as she calls herself here), is Victoria A. Brownworth. It’s obvious what the collection is built around: Night Bites? That can pretty much refer to just one creature. And the fact that a woman with pointy incisors graces the cover.

Ms. Brownsworth states this anthology of vampire stories is different. She promised views from various cultures, time periods, and orientations. Hummmm. I’ve read about a million vampire stories. How different could they be?

But they were. The are all chilling. (This is a vampire book, after all). Some of the stories go way beyond chilling; just when you think no, the author isn’t going to go there…she does.

She. These stories are all written by women. And that is the most compelling thing about this book. All of these tales represent the alien feeling, the otherness, and the pariah of society quality of the vampire; something that most women feel at some point in their life within our culture. Interesting enough, not only are these stories all written by women, the vampires created are also mostly female.

The female vampire is so fascinating; she is dangerous and irresistible, she is simultaneously old and young, wise yet driven by her needs. And it doesn’t matter how fragile she looks, she can overcome the even the most powerful. She often plays with men like a cat with a mouse; sometimes giving the illusion that her prey is stronger, but she is in always in control.

Women, I think, will find this book strangely satisfying. Men may find it frightening.

Within these pages is also the whisper of sisterhood; the Illuminate of the female gender. Brotherhood usually describes all of humanity. But sisterhood…that’s for women only. And we know what that means. Even if we don’t have superhuman power, we have own magic. And we are linked by our struggles as much as those eternally questing creatures of the night.

What’s your type again? Ah. O negative. Ummmmm…my favorite.

Moohaha.

Book Review

I just finished reading Masterpieces of Fantasy and Wonder compiled by David G. Hartwell. It is interesting to think about a “compiler” as opposed to an “editor”; an editor helps stories to be the best they can be, a complier chooses the best stories to be included in an anthology.

But the two are also similar. While there are hard and fast rules concerning the English language, individual editors have their own opinions about how prose should look. So too do compliers; one person’s “best of’ may not be someone else’s.

And so I think it is important to understand what criteria the compiler used to make his or her decisions on inclusion. Mr. Hartwell uses the term “fantasy” broadly, in that the person writing the story may not have called it that. Since some of these tales were written before the fantasy descriptor existed, that seems fair. Mr. Hartwell also promises to “surprise and delight”, and that he does.

This volume contains many famous authors familiar to fantasy readers such as Beagle, Le Guin, and Vance. I’d read many of those stories before, but I enjoyed discovering old friends. For example, one of my favorite fantasy stories of all time, Narrow Valley, by R.A. Lafferty was chosen. I laughed reading it just like I had the first time. It was nice to see it again. Others I’d never read before, such as The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath by Patricia NcKillip, proved delightful.

Mr. Hartwell also presents a number of historical stories. Some of them are really thick to read; old language and dense prose, but most times the effort is worth it. My favorite in this category is a set of Peter Pan stories by J.M Barrie. These shorts were the basis of his book by the same name. They were old fashioned, but absolutely wonderful. I’d never really understood the terrible choice Peter had to make until I read these.

This is a great collection; bite sized pieces of literature that you don’t have to dig up yourself, which is the genius of the complier when done right, and this volume is.