Okay.

[agilebrit]

I have destroyed the Earth. (It blocked my view of Venus.)

And now I need to figure out what I'm writing next. "Funny" would be a bonus, because that was some heavy shit, man, and I want something light after sending a character on a guilt trip so vast that they'll probably take away her shoelaces before they put her in a cell.

Hubby thinks I should do another one with the intrepid crew of the Inquisitive Tamandua, perhaps one where the computer malfunctions and hijinks ensue. Of course, "the computer malfunctions and hijinks ensue" stories are a dime a dozen and may even be on the list of stories that Strange Horizons doesn't want to see EVER EVER EVER, so I'd have to really make it stand out in a good way.

Nothing in the Bunny Hutch is really jumping out at me. "Monster on Vacation" could be good ("Don't make me turn this thing around!" where they're riding on a dragon or something), but the one I have in mind has basically the same punchline as the Xander-meets-a-dinosaur-in-Africa story.

I'd love to do a "modern-day small-town fantasy" (as opposed to urban fantasy), if only because I'm tired of stories that take place in Chicago or San Francisco or Boulder. Hm. Something might have just clicked for me there...

I'd also love to do that CatsCurious faery tale thing, but I'm still fairly creeped out and I'm not sure I could get over 5000 words out of it. Deadline's sneaking up for that one fast...as is the deadline for Writers of the Future. Gah.

Comments

[mermaidrain.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about the Cats Curious contest and here's what I've concluded. 1) It's easy to modernize fairy tales when you bring them back to their disturbing roots (incest, cannibalism, murder, etc.). 2) The roots of fairy tales do NOT make for good comedy adaptations (unless you're a genius who can figure out a way around this). 3) This contest is a HUGE mistake because of that.

The only way around that I could think of was to try and find a funny fairy tale (like those weird Grimm fairy tales involving sausages) and go from there. BUT I couldn't figure out how to adapt/modernize those.

Another way would be to take a side character in a common story (the core ones like Sleeping Beauty or something) and just have them tell a slanted (but FUNNY) perspective on the whole thing. BUT again, there's the problem of those creepy roots.

SO, while I came up with 2 plausible ideas I couldn't make them work out in my head (and if I can't do the head plotting, writing them down doesn't usually work for me). And then there's the OMG huge word count that they want. I don't know if I can make one of the 2 ideas I've got that long.

The whole thing is problematic. =P"

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

It really is. I mean, with something like "The Tinder Box," maybe we're just getting bare bones and there's more to the story than what they're telling us, but day-um, you know? There's just no way of making it humorous. At all.

Disney does it by adding cute animal sidekicks (or talking furniture) and taking out the dark elements completely. But that seems like...cheating. *sigh* I think I'm going to have to give this one a pass. Unless I really can come up with a Jerry Springer format where the caption is "My stepmother is a bitch and my dad is a doormat." That would be funny...

[mermaidrain.livejournal.com]

Unless I really can come up with a Jerry Springer format where the caption is "My stepmother is a bitch and my dad is a doormat." That would be funny...

While I've seen something sort of like this and know it can be written and sold, I don't think it would work for this contest. But DUDE you've totally gotta write that. Even if it's just for me to read. LOL! ;)

BUT I think it would sell to other markets personally. Revisionist fairy tales are really popular. There was one I read once that was my favorite abou this poor prince who keeps marrying the wrong girl. Let's just say Snow White and those dwarves had a VERY unhealthy relationship in that version. LOL!

But seriously, most of modernizations are dark. Like Neil Gaiman's Snow Glass Apples or my favorite fairy tale anthology series by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow ("Black Thorn, White Rose" or "Black Heart, Ivory Bones" or "Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears" or "Black Swan, White Raven"--there were 5 or 6 books in the series with short stories by TONS of famous authors--they're in the library here so I'm sure they're there too). Good, but dark. ;)