tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post3153854825276194214..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: "The Hounds of Heaven" A Dark StoryAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-13430223416129412552016-04-12T20:08:03.799-04:002016-04-12T20:08:03.799-04:00Hi Annabeth!
Structurally the story is a mess, I&...Hi Annabeth!<br /><br />Structurally the story is a mess, I'm working on that which is stretching my craft skills. Sometimes its good if things are a little messy, because then you get to work them out and you learn new things. I think a couple of the most fascinating record albums ever compiled are the Beatles Anthology VOL 2 and VOL 3 because those are all demos and early drafts of their most famous songs. Its a revelation to see how raw and half baked and confusing some of their early versions were when they were first carried into the studio. Its like anybody could have written them. Then you realize how much creative work went into the process along the way to make them classics.<br /><br />Also uncomfortable is good too. This is not a story that will make people happy, but I just want to make sure no matter what that it isn't misunderstood. That's my only fear. I don't think for a moment the Westboro folks are these victims of Heaven, but they can serve that purpose historically. I think.<br /><br />Garce<br /><br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-85013062725514407552016-04-12T20:00:40.096-04:002016-04-12T20:00:40.096-04:00Hi Fiona! Finding these late. Haven't seen y...Hi Fiona! Finding these late. Haven't seen you here for so long! I noticed. Missed your voice.<br /><br />I think this is the most fascinating election of my lifetime. Its fascinating the way seeing a tornado approaching you from a distance might be fascinating. One half of your brain wants to run like hell. The other half is wondering if your video camera is charged up and what shelf did you leave it on.<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-82375787920602324212016-04-07T15:08:53.152-04:002016-04-07T15:08:53.152-04:00"The Westboro Baptist Church, whether they me..."The Westboro Baptist Church, whether they meant to or not, i think did a great service for the LGBT community by stirring up some compassion and solidarity for them."<br /><br />I'm really uncomfortable with this idea. I know that's the point of the story, but I feel really weird crediting acts of hate as good in any way. Because it's absolutely true that they (just like the characters in the story) are causing hurt to people in their immediate vicinity (and those who hear about it) through their hatred.<br /><br />The idea that God may not be trustworthy is certainly an intriguing one. <br /><br />I do wonder why at least Bruce doesn't stand up to God. One of my favorite stories that played with that was about an Adam and Eve who respond to God's accusations in the Garden with defiance, owning their own actions, demanding to know why knowledge was denied to them. In the conclusion of that story, God says, "On a thousand worlds, I have servants, but now I have children." Wish I could remember the title and author of that one. <br /><br />As others said, I was confused about the flow of the story and lost about how the infidelity fits in. I think you're right that the story needs some work. But the idea of asking for God's will is obviously a fertile subject for you as a writer. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-90430067703247031572016-04-01T16:59:42.273-04:002016-04-01T16:59:42.273-04:00It's tempting to believe your concept of that ...It's tempting to believe your concept of that church's people being moved by God in order to gain compassion for gay folks, but when you research who these people are, they're just another in-bred bunch of close-minded ignorant fools, who think they, alone, speak for God. If that were true, I'd be right there with my atheist father, telling them to fuck off and take their God with them.<br /><br />The idea of a Trump presidency repulses me. My kids know that if that happens, my flag, which I fly every day when I'm proud of my president, will go back into the crawl space, where it rested the entire time that "shrub" was supposedly representing me to the world. Of course none of that will matter when he keeps poking at rabid dogs, like madmen with delusions of world domination, and encourages them to drop their nukes on all of us. Because no matter where you drop them, we all breathe the same, polluted air. Sigh.<br /><br />We live in very scary times, indeed. But as my late dad told me a long time ago, there has never been a good time be alive, or to have kids. All we have is hope for ourselves and for the future. Thank Zeus that Pandora left the box open long enough to allow hope to escape also.Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-2857705350096108212016-04-01T05:54:34.735-04:002016-04-01T05:54:34.735-04:00Hi Roberta!
My thinking at the time was that Joan...Hi Roberta!<br /><br />My thinking at the time was that Joan saw herself as a fallen woman because of her drinking and her sense that she was losing everything as a result of it. She was a last minute addition, she wasn't there in the earlier version so I'm still wondering about her.Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-12139316156446680522016-04-01T05:51:20.753-04:002016-04-01T05:51:20.753-04:00Hi Sacchi!
This thing with Trump is fascinating t...Hi Sacchi!<br /><br />This thing with Trump is fascinating to me, I can't get enough of it. Maybe they're right, maybe sometimes you just have to burn it down. The Westboro Baptist Church, whether they meant to or not, i think did a great service for the LGBT community by stirring up some compassion and solidarity for them. You never know.<br /><br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-19177518575590877912016-04-01T05:44:06.774-04:002016-04-01T05:44:06.774-04:00H Daddy X.
Didn't know that about Prius. Its...H Daddy X.<br /><br />Didn't know that about Prius. Its like writing historical fiction but right now.<br /><br />Its the premise I can;t get away from. I like the idea of this story, but I still have to figure it out.<br /><br />I once had a great premise for a story but realized I wasn't mature enough as a writer to tackle it. I waited a year and tried it and it worked out really well. Maybe this needs time to brew.Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-586320242316120022016-04-01T05:41:40.109-04:002016-04-01T05:41:40.109-04:00Hi Lisabet!
In its first form it all took place i...Hi Lisabet!<br /><br />In its first form it all took place in a cemetery with flashbacks, which makes me think that's probably the right way to do it. Start in the main scene and then explain it a little as it goes along. The infidelity was confusing. The problem I'm trying to solve is that it's Olivia's story, it has to be somebody's story, and she has to want something, she wants to know God's will for her, a dangerous thing in my experience, and the story has to emerge from this want. I think the idea is right, but I haven;t found the right expression for it yet.<br /><br /><br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-26272196345754744672016-03-30T20:47:48.601-04:002016-03-30T20:47:48.601-04:00I was also confused about the rendezvous in the ce...I was also confused about the rendezvous in the cemetery, and I thought it was going to be a group suicide as well. I agree that the story needs to be more coherent, but the premise is definitely intriguing. (Among other things, I'm curious to know how Joan is a "fallen woman" -- just because of her drinking? Or does she drink because she cheated on Rev. Roger earlier, or because of something else?)Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-28171293444977067692016-03-30T13:00:32.787-04:002016-03-30T13:00:32.787-04:00This feels chillingly like the way quite a few peo...This feels chillingly like the way quite a few people seem to want Trump to be President so that things will get so bad that a "revolution" will rise up. They're generally people privileged enough to assume that things getting bad won't affect themselves all that much. Still, on a more limited level, this kind of thing might work.Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-87851001487095214562016-03-30T11:54:22.049-04:002016-03-30T11:54:22.049-04:00Like Lisabet, I too was wondering what the initial...Like Lisabet, I too was wondering what the initial infidelity had to do with the reaction premise. Perhaps allow both elements to drift into the realm of a physics theory regarding equal and opposite reaction.<br /><br />And-- Toyota makes Prius. :>)<br /><br />In any case, an intriguing concept to work with.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-56550662074016782662016-03-30T08:28:00.810-04:002016-03-30T08:28:00.810-04:00I was quite confused midway through. Because of yo...I was quite confused midway through. Because of your setting the final scene in a graveyard, I half-expected everyone had been told by God to commit suicide.<br /><br />Also, it's not clear how Roger's infidelity fits into the story. And Joan & Olivia somehow seem to be two aspects of the same person.<br /><br />Great premise though!Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-54300848108177355412016-03-30T06:11:32.457-04:002016-03-30T06:11:32.457-04:00I have very mixed feelings about this story. As a...I have very mixed feelings about this story. As a short story I don;t think its well written on many levels, especially the structure, it needs a lot of rewriting before its going to look right to me. On the other hand the premise of it fascinates me. I've recently been studying about a Buddhist practice called "tonglin" which is a discipline for cultivating compassion by wishing blessing on others and to take on their suffering on yourself. Its quite a stretch. There is a real church here called "THE Westboro Baptist Church", you can look it up which has become culturally hated for its actual practice of picketing soldiers funerals and condemning homosexually in the cruelest language, the same words you see in the story. And I thought - with glee - what if these are really the nicest people in the whole world, but God called them to do this terrible thing in order to draw compassion to LGBT folks? I think the angry feelings the protests aroused in the public may have helped push forward some of the liberation that has been given to LGBT folks. Its as though the Westboro Baptists paid the price, or maybe took on themselves the price, for their freedom.<br /><br />Either way its a fun thought. The story needs work though. <br />Garce<br />Garceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-68609129072091698692016-03-30T01:27:54.258-04:002016-03-30T01:27:54.258-04:00Jeez, Garce.
What about free will?
And what abo...Jeez, Garce. <br /><br />What about free will?<br /><br />And what about knowing the tree by its fruit?<br /><br />Powerful, scary, confusing and thought provoking story!Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.com