Honoring My Grandfather
My grandfather passed away on Valentine's Day.
I am still numb, and the funeral is on Saturday.
Gramps was my last living grandparent, and he was a WWII veteran. His greatest accomplishment in his life was serving in the war.
He even earned a Purple Heart.
He was 97.
His health was really good, almost perfect, for many years. But a few years back, he took a fall and that changed everything. He steadily deteriorated. About a week ago, we were told to see him because he wasn't going to be with us much longer. He hadn't been eating and was being fed intravenously. It was time.
Hubby and I went to see him the day before he passed, but due to a miscommunication, and quite possibly my stupidity, we didn't end up in the right place. Apparently, my dad was there at the same time. He said we went to the wrong place. I'm not sure how, but the fact remains: I didn't get to see him before he died.
I will carry that with me forever.
So, I will write Gramps a note. And hope that wherever he is, he will see it and understand.
Ssh! The Maestro's Devolving!
Music is important to me. Perhaps too important.
My wife loves the movie Ladyhawke. Beautiful, romantic, blah blah blah. I hate it. Why? The music. Modern, electronic music in a film set in a time before electricity was discovered and domesticated. Geez, Richard Donner, I know it was the 80s, but really? Electronica???? Completely pulled me out of the story.
Most recent Star Trek movie? Like it, but didn't love it. Because of the music. Not that the soundtrack is bad; on subsequent listens, I have to admit it's pretty decent. But the trailer music was, in my opinion, much better, and I went into the movie expecting that music, not the actual soundtrack that accompanied it. Major letdown that colored my first impression of the movie.
Reflections
I think we, as people and as writers, are a reflection of everything we’re exposed to in life. Not just how we were raised and our experiences, but what we read, what we watch.
Genre Writing and Identity
Hi, I'm the author of this month's Turtleduck story, "Lonesome Hearts". Cool, right? There's just one problem. My bio says I write science fiction and fantasy (also known as speculative fiction). I identify as a genre writer. So why isn't this story speculative fiction?
The original idea for the story was to combine folk music and fantasy. I wasn't sure what the fantasy element was going to be, but I knew I was aiming for a story in the tradition of the wonderful anthology The Horns of Elfland and the music-related portions of Elizabeth Bear's beautiful Blood and Iron. When I started writing, I had a strong sense of place and character, an idea of the situation, and a vague sense of the plot. I wrote half the story and still no fantasy element had shown up.
