Hazia’s Reflections

I’ve diversified my reading to include a wide range of short stories from various genres. My instructor asked me to check out Roald Dahl - study how he developed his stories. I got his big compilation. His plotting may be clever, but the language is intelectual, not emotional. I didn’t really enjoy his stories, except Lamb to Slaughter. I got Agatha Christie’s full anthology too, to get crime ideas. Haven’t got to start on those though.

Out of curiousity, I grabbed Laurell K Hamilton’s fantasy shorties; this was after cluelessly, carefully checking out the rack line by line. Her creations are what I’d call ‘the sky is the limit’ - her imagination knows no bound. Cupids… merman… vampires… wizards… sea monster… I love her pieces. My favourite is The Edge of the Sea. Depicting a serial-rapist charming Merman, it combines romance, fable and darkness. Her language expression is beautiful, so romantic with a touch of scariness, see below, set by the sea:

The moon rode high and almost full, shimmering silver on the rolling waves. The sea whispered, adding on to the triton’s song. Music and ocean hissed and roared until Adria could not be sure who was singing to her. Was it the sea?…

I also got a Science Fiction collection (Year’s Best SF 12). I’ve so wanted to write futuristic stories. Again, my favourite story is a romance piece, Home Movies which featured a professional chameleon falling in love and breaking her contract which involved transferring her experience to her client. It’s a juicy multi-genre combination of romance, adventure and science. Check out below, perfectly set in a tropical jungle:

The sun emerged above the canopy and the turned instantly into a sauna. Water dripped, flashing like jewels in the shaft of yellow light that speared down through the leaves, and a bright bird with crimson and blue feathers fluttered between the trees. Kayla laughed softly, her wet hair plastered to her head…

I am so inspired. Wait for my first science fiction cum fantasy piece:)