Sunday 1 August 2010

Sliding thru the Weekend

Having neglected my Fantastical Fifty stories for Fred (who now has a title but insists on the monkier) and having reached Fred's self-imposed deadline for the day, I decided to work on a short that has been swirling around my flashdrive for a couple of weeks. I knew its beginning and I knew its end, but its dangling inbetween bits were rather messy. Then I hit upon the answer...

The man with the sketchpad is Death.

Oh crap. I think I have a reaper fascination. That can't be good. I wonder if I was one in a previous life, or fell in love with one in the inbetween time between then and now. Or maybe, a portion of my brain is stale and needs some fresh air.

Ouch, poking a pencil through your skull hurts. Think I'll stick with stale.

On an unrelated note, but kinda related in a 90s way...I ordered the first four seasons of Sliders on DVD yesterday. I didn't order season five because a) it's not on sale in the UK and b) Jerry O'Connell isn't in it so why bother. Way back in the first or second season an episode inspired a (long retired) novel - Scattered Flowers - and yep, Death may have had a bit part in that book.

Maybe I'm not stale. Maybe I'll just tag the word retro onto my thoughts.

15 comments:

K.C. Shaw said...

Death is such a universal experience that it just fits in every kind of story. And he makes a great character, too. What more can a writer ask? :)

Cate Gardner said...

He makes *many* great characters. :D

Anthony Rapino said...

The way you were trying to figure out who the guy with the sketchpad is, I'm trying to figure out who Teresa, the owner of a used book store, is.

I used to love Sliders. Haven't seen it in a long time. Wasn't there an episode based on The Lottery? I seem to remember something like that...

Cate Gardner said...

Maybe she's Death too... I think there was a lottery episode.

Aaron Polson said...

Everything old is new again...except for friend death. Death just is.

(keep fighting the good fight, Fred)

India Drummond said...

It feels great when a story idea clicks into place. I have a book where I'm in the same situation... I have written the beginning, and I know the end... I just need to know how they get from Point A to Point B. Hoping for a moment like yours!

Jamie Eyberg said...

The man with the sketchpad is death. I knew he was an artist. I knew it.

Cate Gardner said...

He salutes you, Aaron.

India, maybe they're all Death.

:D Jamie.

Danielle Birch said...

I realised a while ago that someone dies in every one of my stories. At first I worried about it a little but then I let it go.

Cate Gardner said...

Danielle, sometimes I save people.

Katey said...

Honestly, both Sliders and reapers are awesome. So I think you are not only justified, but awesome in your own right.

Not that this is news.

Cate Gardner said...

The reapers will probably give way to parallel dimensions sometime soon.

Bobbie Metevier said...

Jerry! Vern from Stand by Me!

Cate Gardner said...

Indeed. :D

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