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These are the Newsletters I have written so far for Writing.com. |
| About this Newsletter As one of your Fantasy editors, my goal is to challenge you to think outside the KNOWN and to help you inject your tales with fascinating facts while jagging left and right through troublesome frolics and teethe-writhing dilemmas. Perhaps we can help each other to safely jog through these twisty turns of radical thought, alternate viewpoint, and dynamic detail. Come! Let’s head down the Path of Dimensions, untextured by any earthly array. In other words, let’s drop out of reality for awhile. Shall we?   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  B A R G A I N S Who doesn’t want to find the bargain of the century? That’s why many people stand in line to be the first to enter a specific store on Black Friday. It doesn’t matter if that’s the only day the shopper gets to sleep in. It doesn’t matter that the store opens at 5:00 a.m. when it’s still dark and not even the birds are up, to eagerly tweet in the day. It doesn’t even matter that a shopper hasn’t yet had that first cup of coffee, the one necessary to get lips to smile, brain to jog into thinking mode, or even the chance to say good morning to children, husband, hungry pets, and the sofa where the shopper usually sits with a newspaper, a piece of toast, all curled up with toes in slippers and robe stretched across toasty-warm knees. The only thing that counts is that the line starts forming at 4:30 a.m. (or earlier.) And so, the buyer has to be there, has to join that line of fervent, sleepy-eyed folks, has to stand in the cold for an hour and a half more or less just so a desired item can be purchased cheaply. Sure, it’s easy to say that people like that are crazy, but . . . Bargains! You hear me? Bargains! Isn’t that what Vegas is all about? Getting something for nothing? Pulling down the lever, placing that special card on the table, rolling the die . . . Bargain breakfasts. Bargain drinks. Buffets with thousand calorie meals all ready for the taking – a bargain! And then there’s all that free, easy money. Beat the system. Get a bargain. Win. Buy. Splurge. Is this truly spirit of bargaining, sale chasing, emptying the wallet to buy, buy, buy only a symptom of humanity? Do only Earthlings march to the bargain’s drum? Or might aliens be so inclined? Might elves, dwarfs, magicians, witches, fantasy creatures, or unidentified flying pilots salivate over sales? A bargain is a bargain. I believe that’s a universal concept. Close your eyes and picture it. Who wouldn’t buy the last on-sale spaceship? Sure, maybe it has a small dint. Maybe the ship’s last owner was bucked into a cliff or an asteroid. Oh, well! The thing’s on sale. It’s a bargain. It’s something everyone wants – if only you could get there first. What about a wand? A witch’s broom? A dragon egg? Bargains are everywhere if you know where to look. Now, how does this pertain to writing a fantasy tale or a science fiction story? Easy. Set the tune to bargain basement . . . Have a blue-light sale on Mars. Or, at least, find a graveyard of slinky slottoms holding up signs that say: “Hurry, hurry. Only one left. SALE.” Now open your eyes and think about flea markets. Souks? Bazaars? How would such an alien salesman’s carnival be different than your local market place? What would you find unique about its products? Describe product guarantees. What would you use for money or what would you trade? I suppose you could be a magician offering services, or the witch who would tell futures, but is your main character mint green or slightly mustard? Would three noses help to promote your wares, or would they complicate the issue? If you only rented out your products, how would you make sure your property was returned on time? (Did you implant it with a boomerang feature?) So for this month, your injection of creativity is to write about the bargains of the future or of alternate worlds. Add some magic, some witchcraft, or simply power your sales with offers for the Best Deal of the Century. What will you put in that bargain basement of science fiction/fantasy? What kind of bargains are you about to offer?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  The following are items I’ve stumbled on this month. I recommend you taste every one of them!
This is fantasy at its best, the kind of magic that makes a reader believe!
It was the title of this folder that intrigued me since I, as many of us – both aliens and magicked ones – seek a bargain, even if in words.
The marketplace holds other dangers – like loss and guilt.
Bargain shopping can be dangerous, even if you’re one of the special ones who live to fight.
This is a lovely poem. My favorite lines are as follows: These riddles riddle me as solo socks and loved ones in the store find hidden niches -- are these glitches in the swinging space-time door?
This writer is a friend of mine, but I still must warn you, the story is pretty dark. If you’ve got a weak stomach (or a good imagination,) maybe you shouldn’t read it, except that it sparks my imagination about salesmen and vacuums, and what might happen if a magician’s wife wanted to flee . . .
An interactive storyline about a shop filled with potions. Until next month, I’ll continue swinging from green-leafed tree branches in the Writing.com forest, busily searching for interesting tasties to share!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  COMMENTS from November’s Fantasy Newsletter The following writers took a moment to comment about my last Fantasy Newsletter. I thank them very much! To see back issues, go to:
Hi, If you want the real truth on ghost and their activities, I can give you information first hand. There is much more than I can cover here, so if you would like, please visit:
This a true story, being updated as I live it. I can assure you they are very, very real. Hugs, Pammierose pammierose This is an interesting collection of ghostly visits and experiences. Anyone writing about ghosts should take a peek. It is guaranteed to give you new ideas about what ghosts do when they’re haunting you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some interesting points. One of my favorite alien worlds is Heinlein's Mars in "Red Planet" and "Stranger in a Strange Land". The ruling caste is in fact the ghosts of Martians, known as "Old Ones". An interesting social order that I wish Heinlein had spent more time expanding upon. {suser:(ericthefred} You are so right! How could I have forgotten that book! Yes! You brought those tales back in a flashback. My favorite was the way they “mutated” into whomever you wanted them to be. Wow! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for your delightful article. Tadpole1  Thank you. You’re so sweet! I appreciate your writing. Please, please give me input on this newsletter, so I’ll know what you’re thinking.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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