I had the privilege of meeting Kathleen Winter at the Vancouver International Writer’s Festival last year. It was there that I heard about her debut novel, Annabel. (Yes, this is a photo of Kathleen and I, taken at the festival.)
Back in July,Emeire brought my attention to a challenge to 5 authors in the Walrus, this summer. Each author was asked to make a list of 5 guidelines to write a short story. The lists were then traded and each author had to writer a short story according to the list of 5 guidelines received.
Alexi Zentner’s complied the guidelines that Kathleen Winter had to follow. They were:
1. You may not describe any characters physically (beyond using “he” or “she” or their given name).
2. Include a peach, but don’t make it sexual.
3. You must have dialogue, but you may not use the word “said” (or any variation of the word “said”).
4. Evoke warmth without mentioning the sun.
5. A dog must bark in the distance, causing a character to state that he or she finds people who treat dogs like children sort of creepy. Somebody else must take offense at this comment.
The result was Madame Poirier’s Dog. I found these guidelines intriguing and saved the link to the story for a future date. Then John, of The Book Mine Set reminded me of it last week with his review and I had to read it immediately.
The narrator is an unnamed senior woman who appears to be living in assisted living or perhaps a nursing home. She is a bit upset because an old neighbor, Mrs. Poirter is moving there and seems to think they were great friends.
Our narrator sees it differently. She reminisces with her youngest son Armond about Mrs. Poirter and her dog.
At it’s heart, this is a story about how are life changes when we get older, including how family members deal with it or not. Our unknown narrator has other children but is Armond, her youngest son who visits her and has the patience to listen to her reminisce about the past. Though it has an ambiguous end, I recommend it. You can read it here.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
At the beginning of the month, I reviewedUNT by D.L. Stone. I also ran across another short story which he posted on his blog,A Quiet House. Tammy wanted to avoid a scene with Paul tonight. She was tired and just wanted to slip under the cool sheets and sleep.
“She knew Paul was in some dark corner waiting to pounce. His Camaro was parked under the pecan tree toward the back of the house. The high glossy shine smeared there reflection of the moon.”
Some nights she would tell him that she was shopping with friends but she knew he could smell the other men she has been with, on her. She wishes that she could be rid of him. He has no job and is just in her way but she knows he won’t leave.
Tammy arrived home and found Paul in bed. Hoping she doesn’t wake him so takes a shower. When she gets out…
Sorry for the tease style review but if I say anymore I’ll give away major spoilers. I wouldn’t want to do that, so you’ll just have to go read the story if you want to know what happens. Do you think you can guess? There’s more to than what you think.
The writing is crisp and clean as the cool sheets D. L. Stone describes. He has other stories and they all free for the reading. I would love to see other peoples opinions of his stories, so if you have reviewed any, please leave a link in the comments. If you haven’t, go give him a try and come back and let me know what you think. You can read this and his other short stories,here.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
I’m reviewing something a little different this week. A book blogger that some of you may know, Brian of Walk the Walk posted his own short story that he wrote Good Night, Mrs. Moreheadduring a writing exercise. He also submitted it to the Norman Mailer Writing Contest for High School Teachers.
“Norman didn’t just duck his head or stoop his shoulders through doorways, each joint in his bodyparticipated out of necessity—an unfortunate circumstance for a plumber who by the nature of the job often accessed low and cramped spaces. When engaged in work, Norman often resembled a preying mantis—all knees and elbows and Adam’s apple.”
He sat in his truck outside the house of a client while he decided if he was going to call in sick or not. Finally the decision was made for him when a neighbor spotted him and told him “good morning” and Mrs. Agnes Morehead yelled to him that her door was open.
“On the dining room table, set directly in front of her plate of one fried egg and one slice of toast, was Mrs. Agnes Moorehead’s beloved cockatoo Baby. He winced as wings obstructed his sight during some moments; otherwise, the wings marred his hearing.”
Baby really liked Norman and got up on his shoulder right before he got to work. Once in the bathroom and out of hearing distance from Mrs. Morehead, he told Baby to “beat it”. Baby didn’t but when Norman had to scrunch in behind the toilet Baby left his shoulder and perched herself in the bathroom to watch.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Morehead let Norman know that she was going to make herself some breakfast of a friend egg and toast. “I like to dip toast into the yolk!” She actually repeated this several times during the story.
This story started out very funny with the descriptions a very tall plumber and a bird that wouldn’t leave him alone. However, as it progressed, into turned into a story about dementia in an elderly woman. Before Brian started the story he stated, “The story completely evolved and shifted from a comedy about a cockatoo flapping around the head of a very tall plumber to a story about caring for a mother with the onset of dementia.”
I didn’t really get that Norman was Mrs. Morehead’s son. She did call him “son” one time in the story when she asked him to close the door. However, elderly people have been known to call unrelated men, son. Perhaps I missed something there. That said, I really liked this story and want to encourage Brain to keep on writing. This is certainly a story worth checking out. I would love to know your opinion of it! Go on, go read it here.
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.
