I attended an incredible conference last month focused on the Science Fiction and Fantasy book publishing industry.
Everywhere I turned, I ran into an editor, writer, publisher from all of the major publishing companies in North America. I didn't (unfortunately) come across my favorite author of all time (who inspired me to be a writer in the first place - Robin McKinley), but there was enough there to keep me occupied.
Of course, there are lots of "sub-genres" in this genre: paranormal, mystery, paranormal-mystery, horror, gothic thriller, etc. It was a great opportunity for me to really s-t-r-e-t-c-h my imagination.
As a result, though, I have been imagining strange sorts of happenings all the time now, freaking myself out.
The other day, one of the little pipes in my condo had a little leak, leading to the sound of lightly rushing water in the middle of the night. As I heard the sounds of swirls and I reached for the my bedside lamp, I couldn't help but think, "gee this would make a great opening for a horror short story".
I quickly banished the thought out of my mind, knowing that just like every horror story out there, I would actually have to go "see" what all the noise was about.
Last week, I picked up the phone to have one of those phone canvassers ask me, "can I have a moment of your time?" It got me thinking, what if I said, "yes" and he said, "thank you" and then hung up ... would I find that creepy? Absolutely! And, off I go again on another tangent of strange happenings that make me really not want to answer the phone at all these days.
I like that my imagination is running amok. It's exciting! I'm just not so sure how healthy it is for my anxiety levels.
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11 comments:
really really enjoyed this post... and when i returned to the title... ha ha ha... the humor is so alive...
when i was young while reading
horror stories i used to
ask myself if a sound and stable mind could imagine such things?
when i grew up i could understand how this happened... mostly
the writer writes to remain sane and stable...
think you'll regret it if you do not write these down... your mind is picking up good stuff... just start rendering them...
cheers
The examples you give remind me of Philip K Dick - who used to take a simple idea and run off at wild tangents with them
Keep up with the creativity
My son loves Sci Fi. The conference sounds great, very stimulating. I'd love some more examples of good writers in the genre as I belong to Bookmooch and am ordering Sci Fi bks for my son for Xmas. Easiest to order them from the author's name.
These happenings that you enlarge and embellish with your imagination sound great to me. The Sci Fi mind must be special yes, however all Sci Fi writing must be grounded in the ordinary in part in order to draw the reader in and make them feel that yes, this is a "real" world they are being presented with.
I rarely read Sci Fi but have read a few fantasy books, a couple Ursula Le Guin. The others something abt a dragonfly or little creatures that flit about like dragonflies.
Thanks for you comment on my blog. Be well, Honor, Suki
You should be writing these things down!! Never let ideas escape you. They sound like they would've produced some good stories. Especially the phone one.
Oh dear, I can just imagine myself scaring myself to death with such thoughts...but I see where it can be good fodder for the writers soul. Glad you had such a successful conference vist...and happy writing!
If only I knew my paranoia and crazy thoughts of my imminent death was imagination, I would have become the female Steven King long ago. If you ever want any paranoid ideas just let me know, they are courtesy of my mother's lifelong fear training course :)
There is an award awaiting you on my blog. Scroll down a couple of posts to find it.
It's great that your imagination is running on overtime; how alive that must make you feel! When I took a short story course a long time ago the teacher said he thought my genre was mystery. For some of the reasons you described I closed it away. You shouldn't do that because you're coming up with some good stuff. The phone thing sends chills....
HB: thanks for the encouragement; indeed, I think these little imaginings are signs that I am finally recovering from my previous work (where I overworked relentlessly) which left me little time for anything else
DFTP - I will have to check out that author! I love tangents.
Suki - oh, sci-fin is delightful. Tad Williams, Orson Scott Card, Stephen Donaldson, George R. R. Martin are all great. Ursula is a classic!
Samurai - yeah, i know i should be writing these down. i did - on my blog. now to find the time to write!
Lynn - thank you :)
Soul in Progress - you have such a great imagination; we should find a way to use it somehow that would help your soul :)
Lydia - thanks for the encouragement!
OK, so the bit about the phone canvasser asking you for a moment of your time made me laugh out loud. Write it, for heavens sake! It'd be fantastic!
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