Theatre of Curious Acts

Let me introduce you to my NaNoWriMo project: THEATRE OF CURIOUS ACTS.

Oh, and by the way – I’m cheating.  The ‘Theatre of Curious Acts’ is a set of intertwined stories set over a century – three novellas and two short stories – all heading toward the same conclusion.  The basic premise is:

The Grim Reaper is a girl, her name is Olivia and her pale horse is a pirate ship.  When Daniel Cole, a shell-shocked WW1 soldier, is transported to the surreal otherworld where she resides, he ruins her and her sisters plans for the coming apocalypse.

So we have:

Part One: Shrapnel From a Broken Smile

A ghost story. It’s 2008, the once glorious ‘Theatre of Curious Acts’ is derelict and provides the perfect playground for a boy out to impress a girl.

Part Two: Paper Dragons

In 1918 a group of WW1 Soldiers head out to the Theatre of Curious Acts for a fabled ‘Paper Dragon’ show.  They are transported to a surreal otherworld where Daniel Cole and Swan Ecklund are beguiled by two sisters – Olivia and Blanche.

Part Three: (The man with) One Yellow Shoe

It is 1985 and Harvey Cadell (one of our soldiers from ‘Paper Dragons’) has returned to the theatre, which is now a cinema, to catch one last performance before he dies. And in the hope he will find a door back to that otherworld and some of his lost friends. Instead he meets The Collector of Memories and finds himself trapped in a movie.

Part Four: Monstrous Interlude

It’s 1955 and during the showing of a B-movie a monster escapes. It is up to ‘The Collector of Memories’ to put it back.

Part Five: Anticipating Pitchforks

Daniel Cole returns from the otherworld just in time for Armageddon. Oh, and he’s arrived on Olivia’s pirate ship and her sisters are following in their own transport: a zeppelin, a battleship and a train.

You're a fool if you don't read this...

If you haven't checked out Reciprocity by Aaron Polson, then I urge you to do so. It appears in the current issue of The Battered Suitcase and it's FREE to read.

It is a magical literary tale with a wonderfully surreal ending. It's also one of those stories that makes you realise you're still learning this thing called writing and you better up your game because there are guys (and gals) out there that are this good.

Seriously, check it out.

You know that guy Bradley Sands, well he's...

Bust Down the Door and Eat all the Chickens, has an interesting anthology looking for submissions.

Here are the guidelines for: Bradley Sands is a **** (word removed due to the fact the blogger also writes for children).

Just because the anthology is entitled BRADLEY SANDS IS A **** does not mean that every story must feature Bradley Sands.

- Titling your story is futile as all stories will be called "Bradley Sands is a ****."
- The story need not be about the evisceration/ridicule/humiliation of Bradley Sands.
- The story should be bizarro/irreal/surreal. If you don't know what that means you should probably do some research.
- If I reject you, it doesn't mean I don't like you or your writing. It means the story wasn't correct for this anthology. No hard feelings.
- Send your story as an attachment. Include your authorial name and email address with the story. If this isn't included, you will not get a response. Sorry.

Here are some more guidelines:

BRADLEY SANDS IS A **** strives to be the most ill-conceived, poorly planned e-anthology out there. Please send your stories to me, Andersen Prunty, at andersenprunty@yahoo.com. Include "Bradley Sands is a ****" in the subject line. I will send you an email letting you know it has been received. I will kind of edit the anthology. Every story will be titled "Bradley Sands is a ****." I should come away from your submissions feeling that Bradley Sands is a ****. How you make me feel this way is entirely up to you.

Submissions should be 1000 words or less.

They should be bizarro, weird, funny, angry, or a combination.

You are welcome to submit them to me whenever but I will not begin reading them until September 1, 2008 (This is a lie. Please see above.) I will stop reading them December 1, 2008 (This is still true). In January 2009, the selected stories will appear as a free .pdf e-anthology published by BUST DOWN THE DOOR AND EAT ALL THE CHICKENS and co-edited by Bradley Sands. Readers will vote on the selected stories (I don't actually have any idea how we'll do this. Send me an email if you would like to help or have any ideas). The author of the winning story will be paid 100 American dollars and the much sought after title of Bradley Sands' arch-nemesis.

How can you not send something to this? :) And if I've left any **** words un-**** - oops!

Tumbleweed and Dead Dolly

Courteous rejection today from the Robots Beyond anthology. And today's lesson - the plural for tumbleweed is tumbleweeds. Dunce. Who did I discover this from? The editor of the RB anthology, who also happens to hail from Texas - double dunce. Some good comments - worthy effort, some very nice surreal moments - so it wasn't all bad.

Now onto more of the surreal. The short story I'm working on - DEAD PARACHUTES - which I was hoping to submit to the Harvest Hill Anthology is getting sillier and sillier and... What's up with me? I used to write dark ficition, and here I am with an anthology that would be very interested in a story with a southern gothic feel and I've gone bonkers... We have garden gnomes, an ex super-heroine, evil plastic surgeons and zombie Dolly Parton's. I may have to blow them all up and start again. I really like two of my characters, so I'll perhaps pick them up and terrorize them in another part of town.

Maybe I'm going through some sort of breakdown. Please send chocolate.