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Nice moody weather this week in Illinois. First there was the snow and the odd mix if brutality and wonder it brings. Hmm...I like the idea of creating a creature that can be at pitiless and as beautiful and serene as a snowstorm at the same time. I'll have to file that idea away.
Tonight I went out for a bit and there was heavy fog, which really added to the mystery and wonder of the snow. Of course it didn't add to the driving skills of the other people out and about so my chances to really enjoy it were more limited than I would have chosen. Still, it was very nice. I will not miss the cold when it goes away, but I will miss the trappings of winter.
And what am I writing in this? Well, I just finished a first draft of an SF story called "Closing Time at Galaxy Video". It's cold and damp in the story so maybe the weather crept in a bit. On the other hand, the story I'm working on with Bobbie (and finally have a little free time to get back to :-)) is set in early summer in New Mexico, which is a whole 'nother kind of weather.
It's set at a truck stop near Santa Rosa, and the pictures I've been looking at for research make me yearn for those open, arid spaces again. Some of that may just be my chilly bones yearning for a little warmth, but there's more to it than that. There's a severe kind of beauty in the desert. Like the snow, it is pitiless, but it will take your breath and capture your imagination at the same time. I hope we can catch that feeling for the story.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Celebrates 100 Years!
10 months ago
4 comments:
Hmm...have you ever heard of snow women? I've seen/read mention of them in a few places (although I'm not entirely sure as to which culture they originally belong)--most notably in an Algernon Blackood story and the Japanese anthology horror film Kwaidan. Might be good places to get some ideas to build on. And yes, as much as I hated the ice we had, that fog last night made it look awesome.
IIRC the story in Kwaidan is "Yuki Onna" and is a good one. I'd love to see the movie someday but have only read the book. I really liked this story.
The best way to capture it, might be to open the next chapter with your line:
There's a severe kind of beauty in the desert. Like the snow, it is pitiless, but it will take your breath and capture your imagination at the same time.
D'oh!
You're right!
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