Monday Musts: Some Lovely Things to See

One of the best things about dorm life is that, while you have to deal with early morning fire alarms and frat rushes, laundry thieves and loaded schedules, you do get exposed to an incredible amount of amazing literature, music, art, foreign films and rare pop-culture. I've decided for the next few Mondays to post about these "Musts." So here we go - two items of note to start us off!

OUR HOUSE IS A VERY, VERY, VERY FINE HOUSE

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski is maybe the most frightening and incredibly intricate books I've ever read. Danielewski sets up three narrative strands through breaking the "fourth wall" at various levels. The story is narrated through editorial footnotes by Johnny Truant. He is compiling the work and notes of his neighbor, an old man who has recently passed away. The notes, ranging from medical reports, scientific research papers, film strips and personal journal entries, detail the chronicles of Navidson, the man who lived with his family in the House of Leaves. All three characters are haunted by this thing that haunts the darkness, though "the creature" is never named or revealed in definite terms.

The thing about the story is that while it goes crazy near the end and you actually have to turn the book upside down to read some of the notes, it all works together to form this amazing reading experience. The premise is that there is a House, and in this House, there is a door. The problem is, this door is on a perimeter wall - a wall that has nothing but the outside world behind it. If you look out of a window on this wall, you would look into the backyard. But when you open that door - you don't step into the backyard. You step into a hallway as black as death where no echo returns. If you want great character driven story and something that might just scare the sock off of you, definitely give it a look. It's one of the best books in my stash.

IF YOU'VE GOT A BONE TO PICK...

Written by Jeff Smith, Bone is a gigantic graphic novel that tells the epic story of the Bone cousins, Fone, Phoney, and Smiley as they travel through a strange valley far from home. Besides the fact that, so far, I've had my socks blown off, Bone won ten Eisners and eleven Harveys (the highest awards for comics) and is one of the longest running comics from a single self-published writer/artist.

It's sort of an Everyman story, but I love the "save the world" theme that crop up subtly throughout the book. Generally that trope annoys me, but Smith pulls it off. His characters and story are never cliche and better, they never suffer from the "guys in tights" syndrome that overwhelms most traditional comics. While the story is sometimes dark or heavy as the load of the hero becomes almost too much to bear, Smith never fails to give you a line or two so that you can crack a smile and ease the tension.

Hope you enjoy these. Next week I'll probably be talking about some music, movies or anything else I run across in my stash later this week. Have a wonderful Monday!

So say we all.
Bri

On Surreal Dreams and Possible Horrors!

Last night I received critique from my friend-critic and while I expected it to be harsh (but helpful), it was anything but harsh and incredibly helpful. She offered ideas on the small wording of sentences and large structural ideas for the plot as well as for character development. My everlasting thanks.

When I woke this morning, I remembered a strange series of surreal dreams which just might make their way into a horror story. When I attempted to explain them to my friend, the sense of terror and cold was amazing. I don't have any definite titles yet, and while I am interested in developing these ideas, I may hold off until I spend a few weeks in Terry Wright's Science Fiction and Horror class next fall.

As far as what I am sending to magazines, here is the run down:

1. What is Now: Easter Sunday will be out by the end of this week. We can only hope and pray that at least one of the three I send it to will love it and buy it from me.

2. When Otis Met Everlyse is going out on Wednesday and while it probably will not generate moneys, we can hope it flies into a magazine of some sort, so that I can tell editors I have been previously published.

3. The Promethean has been completely dropped from my line-up, mainly because I don't care for the story. The idea was pleasant, but I know of various other ways I could use the characters. I want to return to this, but I want to focus more on the science fiction than fantasy stories at this point - probably because the genre is a novelty to me.

4. Science fiction as a genre fascinates me and while working on my novel this summer, I will be churning out various science fiction stories. Hopefully some will bring out female protagonists, since I hardly write females in any of my stories.

That's the update kids.
So say we all.
Bri

On Constructive Critique and Demeaning Critique

Hello again.

Today, I received critique on What is Now: Easter Sunday, a short story that was one called Breaking the Bowl. Most were very positive, but there was one that was scathing, I felt, for the sheer joy of being scathing. I couldn't understand why the writer of this critique felt it was professional/helpful to offer NO constructive criticism. But then I found that someone who would go out of his way to be so specifically unhelpful was not involved for the sake of critique.

So that brings me to what I wanted to talk about: in dealing with critique and rejection, grace is required. This guy gets me flustered and I generally feel that he is offering nothing positive. But at the same time, I try to appear friendly, smiling like a wolf with too many teeth. I wonder sometimes if someone who is combative, as he is, is not aggressive toward a genre itself (in my case Science Fiction or Fantasy.) Or simply toward other writers in a class.

While I know I don't like this person for his unhelpful and condescending comments about me and, more importantly, my work, I know that I have to tolerate him. I can take criticism very well, and I like suggestions and critique of my work - but I don't need someone to lay siege to me. While some may say that his critique is light compared to what an editor may someday say, it is difficult to deal with now. Maybe he's a hurtle on my road toward publication. But above all: I know that I have to act with grace, even when he does not.

Which...to be very honest, is very difficult.
Keeping my head up.

So say we all.
Bri

On Hard Lessons

Tonight, I discussed one of my short stories with my very best friend and harshest critic (a very good thing to have in a best friend), and came to a startling and agonizing realization. I don't really want to expound on it here, but I will say that I discovered a very great weakness in my writing.

The thing is that my friend has read everything I've written for the past six years and while some less familiar readers probably would not have noticed it, she did. She pointed it out because she realized I needed to see it early in my writing career and not before I was so far into the rut of the problem that I could never get out. I offer my most humble thanks.

I will be gone to San Antonio for the next few days and I'll be working over three or four stories while I'm there. If you don't hear from me for a few days, that's why. I might be able to write up something tomorrow, but I need some time to think over what we talked about tonight. When I have a more coherent idea of exactly what I need to say, I'll let you know.

So say we all.
Bri