It's Friday, folks, and about time this blog had another flashback... so today the file cabinet of curiosities has coughed up a little gem dating all the way back to 1992, when 11-year-old Marisa discovered the world of short stories.
The other day I mentioned that I'm a short story lover - LOVE them. Well, I've had short stories on the brain lately, more so than usual because on Marisa's Big Fat List of Goals for 2012 we have:
#4 - Write 3 short stories and post them on my blog
(ie be a big brave girl in public)
Which isn't a huge deal, other than the fact that having my fiction read by anyone other than my trusted crit partners makes me feel like I'm standing in front of the world in my undies - which isn't something I imagine I'd enjoy.... but as I'd love to be an author with a whole world reading my stuff, it's about time I get over my issues - or at least make sure I'm wearing super cute undies!
When I was in 6th grade, my English teacher passed out a short story for dissection, called Midnight Snack by Diane Duane. (part of an anthology called Sixteen, which you can find HERE)*
Unicorns, people, UNICORNS.
I love unicorns.
I do.
I really, really do.
But not only that, Midnight Snack was a YA urban fantasy, which tickled the fancy of middle school Marisa more than any other genre (yeah, things haven't changed much), and sparked a whole slew of urban fantasy stories in my notebooks - though none about unicorns because I was still too much in love with the ones in this story to attempt writing unicorns of my own.
And because of this story, I fell in love with the entire world of short stories. See, before this one I had only experienced the short stories found in our class textbooks - stories so boring I didn't even read them all the way through, and would instead turn to the back of the book where the longer stories, such as Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, could be found.
(oh man, I remember reading that one in class when I was supposed to be doing anything other than secretly reading ahead in the textbook, wiping and wiping and wiping at my never-ending stream of tears)
Not too long ago, I picked up the short story anthology Zombies Vs. Unicorns -
And I liked it - it was a quick, fun read.... but not a single unicorn story grabbed hold of my heart quite like Midnight Snack did.
Short story lovers out there, tell me, what stories hold your heart? I'd love to know!
*if you google it, you can find it on teaching sites online - though I hope you'll pick it up from your library or purchase it for your bookshelf, too!
Happy Lucky Friday the 13th, folks!
As I was born on Friday the 13th, I refuse to believe it is anything other than lucky... despite what this previous flashback might tell you.
2 comments:
AHHH! I, too, loved unicorns. Couldn't get enough of them! I wrote a story in fourth grade where I mashed together a hybrid of unicorns and Pegasus and called them unipegs. I had one called Mystery, I think, and I rode her over a waterfall of orange soda in my story. Ahhh childhood.
I'm glad you enjoyed "Midnight Snack." :)
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