Thursday, June 3: Femme Fatale
HOT, HOT, HOT!
by Deborah Elliott-Upton
”I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth.” – William Faulkner.
I’m sitting alone in my hairdresser’s reception area. A coffee machine is gurgling, a Coke machine is humming a bit too loud, but stops abruptly as the air conditioning kicks into high gear. From several rooms off the hallway I face, I hear soft murmurs followed by laughter. The sounds float around me like waves lapping upon the shore. The bits of conversation I can make out are comments on the weather (it’s hot!) to a new guy a stylist is dating (he’s hot!) or the situation in Congress (which always seems to be a hot button topic).
”A man from hell is not afraid of hot ashes.” – Dorothy Gilman
I pilfered through the stack of magazines and note the expected: hairstyle magazines with hairdo’s most of us wouldn’t choose, some great ones that most of us can’t choose and fashion mags of celebrities who make outrageous choices seem commonplace.
What I never expected to find was a copy of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. This one is a recent issue and had seen some serious use. Hooray for the person who placed this magazine into the mix. There are some of us who enjoy tickling our brains as much as tweaking our appearances.
”A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows.” – O. Henry
I’d recently heard former agent-now author and publisher, W. Terry Whalin, talk about how each year less and less of the population are reading anything past what they find on an Internet screen. That and empty libraries are scary propositions not just for writers and publishers, but our world.
What would life be like without books of paper? If the Kindle, Nook and iPad have their way, we may find out in the near future.
Most of my writing friends are either novelists or non-fiction book writers. Very few of us compose short stories on a regular basis. In fact, several people have informed me they don’t care for short stories. I personally don’t get it. Short stories are perfect choices for these times. Short attention spans are required for short stories. We don’t have to invest all that much time in reading a short story.
Yes, reading is a choice. It’s one I choose to take. I think readers are hot.
You’re opening paragraph reads like a good start for a short story!
She waited on deck that fateful hot summer day, at a salon where gossip flowed freely from clients lips as stylists snipped. Deborah flipped through a recent copy of AHMM in a vain attempt to block out the mindless chatter. It almost worked when his name caught her ear. John Bullhorn. Handsome bachelor, future congressman, ex-lover.
–insert disclaimer here–
Even though I’m reading this blog and writing this comment online it doesn’t replace my love for books including short story collections.
Your hot Deborah! I mean that in the way that wont get me in trouble. =D
Hey, Cindy, I think you’ve got something there! And Kerry, you silly boy, you’re always going to be in trouble about something — it might as well be about leaving a comment somewhere.
Someone had pulled the plug on all the electronic books. In one single moment of time, the literary world had been erased from all handheld devises. Realizing the devastation to mankind this could be, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, around the corner and down the street, making his way to the nearest Library.
His fingers created a deep cavernous rut as he pulled it through the dust that coated the shelf, “Where did all the books go?”
Oh Craig! I didn’t know you wrote horror!
Nice and you do make a strong point. I really do have a need to dust every one of my books and say I read it tomorrow–or read it again.