Marian Allen's Blog, page 365

X, How The Muppets Miss Their. AtoZ Day X

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X is a tough letter. Only the Muppets could save me, with their Oh, How I Miss My X.

And leave it to the Muppets to choose a great songstress to sell a song that, taken out of context, would be a true torch song.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Patti LaBelle Sings How I Miss My X

She brings it on home, doesn’t she?

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character misses his or her ex.

MA

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Trust & Treachery on #SampleSunday

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Dark Quest Books and editors Day Al-Mohamed and Meriah Crawford are proud to announce the release of Trust and Treachery: Tales of Power and Intrigue.

This long-awaited book will be a part of the Dark Quest Books launch at the upcoming Balticon science fiction convention (www.balticon.org), where several of the authors and editors will be in attendance.

http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Treachery-Tales-Power-Intrigue/dp/1937051919/

Trust & Treachery
Tales of Power and Intrigue

And why am I telling you this? Well, it’s because I have a story in it!!!1!

Here is a snippet:

“A Short, Dark Future” – excerpt
by Marian Allen

He came wandering into Mike’s at three in the morning, looking all deer-in-the-headlights and blinking against the smoke. He sat down at the bar like he knew he was out of his territory and wanted permission to live.

When Mike asked for his order, the guy scanned the menu on the whiteboard and asked for a steak sandwich and a beer.

That got me hungry, so I asked for the same.

When he went to pay, he spread open a wallet stuffed with twenties and fifties and even a couple Franklins.

He saw me staring and gave a little laugh. “Went to the bank today. I was supposed to buy travelers checks, but I forgot.” He gave Mike a twenty and told him to pay for my order out of it, too.

I acted like I was objecting, but I didn’t fight too hard, you know?

This guy was starting to interest me. I held out a hand. “Len Tarski.” Not my name, but I didn’t exactly say it was, now did I?

“Joseph Bettering.”

“No shit? Just like that whiz kid that made all the money with… whatever it was?”

He bobbed his head again. “That’s me.”

“No shit? You live here? In this town?”

His mouth was full of sandwich, which never stopped anybody else I know from talking, but he nodded and chewed with his mouth closed.

I chewed, too, thinking about all that cash.

When we finished our brews, I called a round for the two of us. He tried to protest, but I told him, “Fair’s fair.” He approved of that, like I figured he would.

“So,” I said, “you on your way to the airport?”

“No, I leave tomorrow. No, I just couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk. I think better when I walk.”

Then he started talking about some damn egghead gobbledygook no normal person could understand, but I nodded my head like it was something anybody would care about. I picked up a word here and there, like “invaluable” and “in the vault” and “hate to leave”, and that kept me pretending to listen.

He wound down and gave another one of those little laughs. “All that must be pretty boring to you.”

“I ain’t claiming I followed it real well,” I said, “but I like hearing a guy talk about stuff he’s good at.”

One thing led to another and before you could say “pigeon” he’d told me where he lived and when he was leaving and how long he’d be gone and what a worry it was to have his alarm system down and that he had a vault full of stuff that was worth a bundle to his competitors.

I told him a lot of baloney that was supposed to be about me, too, so he’d leave with the feeling that he’d had a chummy night out with a regular guy, not like he’d been pumped.

All in all, it seemed like it was a better idea to let him leave with the cash and hit the vault after he was gone. If I couldn’t get into the vault–well, and even if I could, it was good odds there would be something worth picking up around the house while I was there. Whatever.

~ * ~

What a creep, right? The guy, I mean, not me.

So hustle right over to the ‘Zon and pick you up a copy or two. Makes a great gift.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character spills his guts to a total stranger.

MA

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What A Wonderful What? Day W for A to Z

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Katya Graymalkin here.

Here’s a song Mom likes. She especially likes this one because of the talking at the beginning. She says it comforts her. Not as much as having me curl up next to her, but some.

What A Wonderful World

I like it, too, but the man has the words wrong. Mom knows the right ones, and she sings them to me sometimes:

I see eyes of green,
A little gray nose,
Silver fur,
Pink jelly-bean toes
And I say to myself,
“What a wonderful cat.”

That makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it? Of course it does.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR ANIMALS: Make up a song to sing to your human.

KG

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Voodoo Daddy, Big Bad. V Day for A to Z

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Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, for all your swing and hot jazz needs. Click on the link and treat yourself to long minutes of free scorching be-bop. Twenty-three skiddoo!

For more swingaroo goodness, go hit their official Big Bad Voodoo Daddy YouTube channel.

Now click on this Big Bad Voodoo Daddy video and SWING, YOU DOGS!

Whew!

A WRITING POST FOR YOU: Write about somebody going to a dance.

MA

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Uberorgan for Day U of A to Z Challenge

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The Uberorgan is pretty much what it sounds like: a huge organ that looks like … well … a bunch of huge organs.

It’s the creation of artist Tim Hawkinson. It isn’t an instrument so much as it’s sort of a performance installation; it “plays” “music”:

“Several bus-size biomorphic balloons, each with its horn tuned to a different in the octave, make up a walk-in self-playing organ. A 200 foot-long scroll of dots and dashes encodes a musical score of old hymns, pop classics, and improvisational ditties. This score is deciphered by the organ’s brain – a bank of light sensitive switches – and then reinterpreted by a series of switches and relays that translate the original patterns into non-repeating variations of the score.”

Uberorgan at Oddmusic.com

In other words, it makes sounds. Click through to that link up there at the top of the post and feast your ears on two samples of the Uberorgan’s music. It sounds like whale songs, actually. I wonder if I can get a CD of it?

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character comes across a gigantic version of an ordinary musical instrument.

MA

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Tortilla Soup for Day T of A to Z

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Tortilla Soup is a movie, in case you don’t know, as well as a delicious dish. Our #4 Daughter showed it to me, and I’m so glad she did! It’s a feel-good movie that’s also a feel-deeply movie. And, although it isn’t a musical, it has a great soundtrack.

I lucked onto this soundtrack CD, originally a promotional item, so I don’t know if yours would be the same as mine. I hope so, because look what came in it.

My Wonderful Tortilla Soup Soundtrack CD

Yes, those are RECIPE CARDS for dishes in the movie, including the titular Tortilla Soup. How awesome is that? Way, that’s how!

If you want a recipe, do yourself a favor and look at this one from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. If you don’t want a recipe, do yourself a favor and look at this one anyway. It’s beautiful and I love the woman’s humor.

Now let’s sit back and enjoy one of the songs from the movie. You’re welcome.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: What’s your favorite soup? What’s your main character’s favorite soup?

MA

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Santana Is Smooth on S Day of A to Z

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Santana. Oh, me, oh, my, who else? ~sigh~ ~heavy sigh~

And what song could I choose other than SMOOTH?

Almost seven minutes of perfection:

Santana — SMOOTH

Are you happy? I am.

And he’s more than just a brilliant and passionate artist. His web site reveals it:

from Santana Official Website

The arc of Santana’s performing and recording career is complemented by a lifelong devotion to social activism and humanitarian causes.  The Milagro Foundation, originally established by Carlos Santana and his family in 1998, has granted more than five million dollars to non-profit programs supporting underserved children and youth in the areas of arts, education and health. Milagro means “miracle,” and the image of children as divine miracles of light and hope—gifts to our lives—is the inspiration behind its name.

I’m posting at Fatal Foodies today about — what else? — smoothies!

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Write about a miracle.

MA

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Randy Newman for A to Z Day R

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Randy Newman is, in my opinion, simply the best. I love a lot of songs and a lot of songwriters, but Randy Newman just might be my favorite.

Want a song that’ll break your heart? Listen to Marie.

Want a social satire so bitterly funny, you don’t know whether to laugh or to cry tears of blood? Listen to Political Science.

Want a song to help you recover from that one? How about something from Toy Story? ‘Cause Randy Newman wrote those songs. In fact, let’s listen to one together. Let’s listen to this one, a duet between Randy Newman and the phenomenal Lyle Lovett, who calls Newman his hero.

You’ve Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman

And now we’re happy again.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: What makes your main character happy when all seems bleak?

MA

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Three Men In A Blimp on #SampleSunday

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“Three Men In A Blimp, To Say Nothing Of The Automaton” is the story I submitted to the Three Fates Press cyber/steampunk anthology. Now you might suppose that I would be certain to be accepted, since I’m one of the publishers, but you would be wrong. Being one of the Fates cuts no ice, when it comes to submissions. Alas, that it should be so, but so it is.

THEREFORE, I was delighted to have the story accepted.

Jordan Bell has created an AWESOMESAUCE cover for the anthology, CIRCUITS AND STEAM, and the book should be out fairly soon. You may be certain I’ll let you know.

Here, then, is a sample of my story.

Three Men In A Blimp, To Say Nothing Of The Automaton — excerpt
by Marian Allen

Conkers looked at the two of us as if we were idiots. “Old Bill can drive a steamcar without putting it into the ditch above twice in ten miles. If he can do that, it should be child’s play for him to drive something that doesn’t need a road.”

Minor and I were much struck by the simple good sense of Conkers’ logic.

I clapped my hands together and rubbed them in anticipatory glee. “Well, then,” I said. “All we need now is a dog.”

Minor tapped out his pipe tobacco in the fire (he knows I hate that), and said, “Must it be a terrier?”

The three men in a boat had a terrier, you see.

“I could borrow my Aunt Amelie’s terrier,” I said.

Minor recovered his habitual scorn. “A terrier in an airship? As mad as terriers are for jumping about?”

“My Aunt Amelie’s terrier is an irritating dog,” I said, thoughtfully. “Not to put too fine a point upon it –”

“Murder your aunt’s dog on your own time,” said Minor, rather ungenerously, I thought. “If we were to murder every irritating terrier we came across, we’d never do anything else. We won’t take a terrier.”

“What, then? Do you have a dog in mind?”

That was when Conkers had his second flash of brilliance in one evening. “We could buy a clockwork one. I saw one at the second-hand shop, the last time I pawned my watch.”

“Did you, by Jove,” said I.

“It isn’t in the best shape, but I tried it, and it does work, after a fashion.”

Minor had to quibble over trifles: “What sort of a dog is it made to be?”

“The chap claimed it was meant to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.”

“Oh,” said Minor, pacified. “Cheerful little dogs. Right-o!”

So we were agreed. We would rent a small airship and we would take a clockwork dog.

~ * ~

The story is, of course, a takeoff on or tribute to Jerome K. Jerome’s wonderful Three Men In A Boat, To Say Nothing Of The Dog, which I adore.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: What kind of dog would you take?

MA

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Queen and Katya and Queen Katya Day Q of AtoZ

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Katya Graymalkin here.

Yesterday, Mom posted about the Princess Bride, so today I’m posting about the Queen Cat — namely, ME! Mom says that a mom-cat is called a Queen, but I say, I don’t have to have a litter of little paw-biters in order to be a Queen. I already AM one!

I Am A Queen

Mom likes a singing group called Queen. They have a song called Killer Queen that has cats in it, so I like them, too. In case you can’t understand the lyrics, Mom found them and gave me the link to post.

And here’s the song. With cats. But I’m the queen.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR ANIMALS: What would you do if you were king or queen of the world? (Which you aren’t, because that’s me.)

KG

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