The books I would write...
The books I would write if I wrote would cover all manner of subjects and matter. I'd write some self help books:
The Shaman's Guide to Self-Divination - would be all about using cards and runes to read what is going on now within oneself. If I could figure out what is going on well enough to write it I'd write this one first... but it will have to wait a while...
Then there would be "Techniques for talking to yourself when you aren't mad". I'd write this one mostly to reassure myself.
Then there is my autobiography called "My life before now" I'd have to keep on updating it as now is always current. Maybe a blog would be a better format for the updates once the bulk was written.
There would be 3 books on spirituality called: Walking the path, Working the path and Weeding the path. Very Zen.
There would be a book of poetry called "Going Metric" which would be an interactive poetry book. The reader would be encouraged to write replies to each poem as they read them. Much more fun!
But I'd start with some fiction. When I was little I used to love the Arabian Nights. I recall one summer when the tent was up on our lawn and I sat inside writing my own version. I'd write versions of many classic fairy tales but start them beyond their normal ends. This would be "Happy Ever After?"
Here is the first paragraph of the short story about Cinderella's daughter
Cinderella gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Like all babies the girl was red and wrinkly and only her mother loved her, though King Charming was very kind about it and happy to see his wife so happy too. By the age of two it was clear that the ugly sisters were beauties compared to little Nobella. Poor Cinderella what was she to do? She'd imagined proudly showing off her daughter as she grew; instead she began secretly consulting Good Fairies, White Witches and when they all failed to make even the slightest improvement she realised she would have to try the Worst Witch. The Worst Witch was quick to diagnose the problem; Cinders' daughter was cursed from before birth. The Worst Witch knew this because of course it had been she who had been paid to cast it, though she did not mention that part of it.
For more book fantasies see Sunday Scribblings.
Posts
13 comments:
Fun fairy tale! I love reimagined fairy tales, they seem an endlessly fertile territory for the imagination. I also love to mine folklore for ideas. Your other book ideas are all so imaginative and unique -- the poetry book sounds like great fun!
Cute opening paragraph! I loved (still do) the Arabian Nights too, but never thought of trying to write my own version. Yesterday I saw a stack of beautifully-illustrated French copies of the book at a brocante. Such magic! And that's the thing about fairy tales, all awash with magic. Sounds like you could write some good ones!
You left out one of the most important titles you would write:
'Not Dancing to the Music of Time'. :-)
You'll have to put lots of hearts and bunnies (or whatever) on the cover of "Going Metric", otherwise it'll end up with the mathematics textbooks.
Laini - thanks - I realised after I'd written my paragraph that I'd written more a synopsis of the first chapter than the first paragraph - I clearly wanted to tell too much too soon...
Paris Parfait - I think it would be fun, magic has its own rules - like making wishes work against the wisher - and I've always liked that sort of playing around with the meaning of words.
Reluctant Nomad - you are right I did miss that one out... maybe that one is yours to write?
Kyknoord - I know - I looked in Amazon under Going Metric and there are loads of them and all of them about really going metric - I suppose I could write a book that was about going metric when read from one end and was poetry from the other - satisfy both ends of the market - but what would happen in the middle?
funny, I never questioned what ever happened to Cinderella...or what 'happily ever after' meant.
Going Metric sounds like a fantastic, fun book!
Joy Eliz - sometime in my teens I thought "happily ever after" was code for "and now they had sex"! - which of course is why I start with a baby's birth.
I think Going Metric might be fun to write - I used to post to a poetry newsgroup and most of my poems were responses to other peoples.
I would love to read any or all of these books of yours! I'm a fan of Joseph Campbell's theories on the power of myth . I do think the best talesm the ones that endure, contain truths about the human journey, that communicate to us all through our collective unconscious. Whew! Sorry - I didn't mean to blog-jack the comments here! But I do think I can see the seedling of a truism already sprouting from your first paragraph...Please keep writing
Melba - I feel that going beyond knowledge is where I'd want to be - does that make sense? And the fairy tales with the helpless women and happy endings are why I'd start after they'd finish.
Tinker - thank you - archetypes are fun to play with - good job too - its either play with them of be taken over by them! And I love long comments so please don't feel bad about making one.
I would like to see a prequel to the spirituality series titled, Laying the Path: zen for the DIY enthusiast.
some great ideas for books!
Ian = strangely I got email notification of this comment at the same moment as I got through to http://www.diy.com/ ;-)
Oh I would love to hear the rest of Nobella's story ... and your help in talking to myself when I'm not mad would be greatly appreciated!
Hobess - I don't currently feel I've got the sticking power to finish a whole book. That may change - indeed I'm working on it!
Post a Comment