Friday, February 18, 2011

Friday Filler: 3.43

For some strange reason I love it when I'm driving around and happen to catch gas station workers changing the prices on their tall corner signs: the little suction rod they use to slide the numbers in and out.

Laundry day is coming up, and I'll be curious to see if my little dryer that could is still chugging along for free. A quarter saved is a quarter earned.

What am I working on you ask. Well, I'm about 17,ooo words into Cyberlama. And, I'm on Chapter 2 of The Sister Soul, which is a scarier sequel to my novella The Boy Who Was All Alone. I'm excited about both projects. And, as of last week, I came up with a little cameo role for the son of one of my blogging buddies that I'm anxious to write. Here's a hint: it has to do with purgatory and rainbows.

In other random news, if you aren't already watching "Raising Hope", I highly recommend it. I'd also like to recommend "Gnomio and Juliet", mostly because I know a bunch of people who worked on it, and I'd like it to do well. There are some fantastic little moments in this movie. Oh, and another movie I'd recommend is called "Another Year". If anyone has seen that, let me know. I'm dying to talk to someone about it.

Question: Should short story collections be named after one of the stories in the collection?

20 comments:

  1. I actually hate it when collection are named after a single story. I much prefer when the anthology is given its own, encompassing name.

    Also, Domey, you won something at my blog. I think you'll like it.

    Also, I too love catching them in the act of changing prices. I have this fantasy of actually correcting them mid-adjustment. Like standing behind them as they start to put up the new number and going, "ah-ah-ah," or something.

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  2. Oh dear, C. N. Nevets will hate my Anthology title...

    The title is "The Dying God & Other Stories." The Dying God is the longest, and by far my favourite, story in the anthology.

    I personally think there's nothing wrong with it, especially if the title implies a theme or connecting thread.

    In my case, it would be folklore. 'The Dying God' is an archetype that is found throughout religious tales and folklores from around the world.

    My tales are all based on folklore (the connection is tenuous, but still there).

    That was a round about way of saying, I think it's fine.

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  3. The good news is that hating a title doesn't mean not reading the collection. :)

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  4. purgatory and rainbows? Man, you must write such interesting stories...I'm dying to know more about that one.

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  5. I buddy of mine who owns a service station had to rush and change his price first thing in the morning. He had forgotten to raise it the night before. He explained it was unlawful (in New York anyway) to adjust prices during the day.

    My total number of completed short stories I've written is four. If there's a common thread among them, it might be regret. I suppose "A Sad Sack of Stories" might work.

    And no, "A Sack of Sad Stories" will not work, thank you very much.

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  6. oh- that advertisement for gnomio and juliet was soo cute! I love that skipping gnome.

    And I've seen Another year too and really liked it! :) I want to watch more of his stuff but haven't gotten around to it.

    Lavanya

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  7. Nevets, Happy Birthday! And thanks for the very cool prize. I'm going to do some research and will get back to you. Now that you're a whole year older, we're nearly the same age. Yay!

    S.M. Carrière, Thanks a lot for explaining your logic. It makes sense. And your collection sounds interesting. I want to find out more!

    Tess, I'm excited about the purgatory rainbow section in the book. And I'm uberexcited to show the person I'm writing this for once it's written, which, granted, might take a very long time.

    Charlie, if you publish "A Sad Sack Of Stories" they should all be printed as separate booklets and sold in a sack. Perhaps consider writing them on pieces of bread.

    Lavanya, I'm thrilled you saw and liked Another Year! I'm really curious to know how many people could like a movie like that. It's right down my alley in terms of the type of story it tells. There's a French movie called L'heure d'été that is very similar. I'll be excited for you to read my writing. I've noticed before that you and I have similar tastes, and I'm very grateful for that. So, yeah, Bread should be arriving at your door any day now. :(

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  8. I like it when collections are named after one of the stories. But the cover had better have the word "stories" on it, because I've picked up books thinking they were novels and was disappointed to find they were collections. Nothing against short stories, of course, but sometimes I'm in the mood for a novel.

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  9. Scott, I'm going to title my short story collection: "A Novel That You Must Read!" People will be mad, but then, I'll publish my next collection, and I'll call it. "Really, this time it's a novel. I promise!" Then, I'll publish a novel and everyone will be so relieved that they will give me an award.

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  10. You are evil, Big D.

    I'm going to call my first collection of stories The New American Vegan Cookbook. There'll be a mouth-watering photo of a pot roast on the cover. Every story will begin with a list of ingredients and will end with a wine pairing suggestion.

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  11. I think the wine idea is really good! I've thought of suggesting locations where each of my stories should be read, like roof top and subway and hotel in Brazil.

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  12. For next year's anthology, we'll have to have editor's comments after each story where we make just these sorts of recommendations. Or we'll write fictional accounts of where we were and what we were drinking the first time we read each of the stories: "I was having a Hemingway martini at the Hideout, just finishing up a good cigar when I first read C.N. Nevets' I Hate It When. Even now I can taste gin when I think of it..."

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  13. You've hit on something. We'll use the word "Aficionado" in the title.

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  14. Nice round-up. I love to hear what you're working on. I would say a collection of stories should not be named after one in the collection. I prefer it to be named for a general theme that ties the stories together or that sort of thing.

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  15. I'm loving this entertaining exchange between you two. I remember when I started writing I seriously wanted to add 'Music to listen to while reading this portion' (because that is what the characters were listening to) etc..lol. or 'this is what you need to smell to understand how the character was feeling' etc (wait- I still think I want to do that!)

    Domey- I haven't watched Summer hours so will put that on my list. I love lazy movies like 'ANother Year' and they are the movies that I find the easiest to watch- sort of my comfort zone. Have you watched anything by Ozu?- I call him my Japanese Jane Austen. I love his movies because again nothing dramatic actually happens but the experience of watching is very enjoyable (for me,atleast- I can imagine people finding him boring).

    Ofcourse speaking of favorite directors (because Ozu is one of mine)- have you watched anything by Luis Bunuel. I think I love him more than Ozu. And his 'discreet charm of the bourgeoisie' is one of my favorite films (I end up recommending this film to anybody who I end up talking about films to).

    oops- sorry for the barrage of suggestions.

    And, can't wait to read bread- though I have to warn you, March is going to be super busy for me(advancement/comprehensive type stuff to deal with)- so my feedback might be slightly delayed- hope that is ok. Ofcourse, I usually end up doing the most reading when I have the most work, so we'll see.

    Lavanya

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  16. Lois, thanks for your thoughts, and thanks for caring about what I'm doing! :)

    Lavanya, I'm really grateful for this list. Thank you! I am always looking for more movies in this style, but I have no idea where to go. I'll put your suggestions on Netflix tonight. Thank you! (And I'm flattered you think you might actually get Bread by March! I think Nevets has given up hope.)

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  17. "And I'm flattered you think you might actually get Bread by March! I think Nevets has given up hope."

    LOL (I really must stop using that 'word')..And I thought you meant it when you said "So, yeah, Bread should be arriving at your door any day now. :(" . I guess I overlooked the ':('.. March, you say?- I was ready to look for it next week (I thought you'd already posted it!!)

    ooh- Summer hours is streaming on netflix so I might watch it this weekend..

    You might also like 'Certified Copy'. I saw it the same time I saw Another Year..I thought it was flawed but lovely- I am not sure if it was released here in the theatres, but you can check (I watched it at a film festival in India.)

    Lavanya

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  18. I really want to see Gnomio and Juliet! You've said such great things about it. I don't personally see a problem with naming a collection after one of the stories. If it fits the book.

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  19. It is a common practice – the same with poetry collections too – but I prefer it when they’re not. The problem is coming up with a title that encompasses the collection as a whole and since most short story collections are made up of standalone pieces that can be hard. I have a collection of stories that are all based on the senses and so the obvious title – to me at least – is Making Sense since that is what everyone in each story is ultimately trying to do, make sense of their lives.

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