Happy April Fools Day! I was going to play April Fools on the blog today, but decided that April Fools trickery is funniest in person or by phone. I am sure that my four older grandchildren will all find a reason to tell me that: my pants are ripped, I have orange on my nose, my hair fell off the back of my head and plenty of other tricks that, being Grandma, I will fall for, hook, line and sinker. And won’t I be the silly fool.
So, for all of you, instead of a trick, I present the Snopes write-up of the origins of April Fools Day and if you don’t believe a word they say, well, April Fools to you.
So, for all of you, instead of a trick, I present the Snopes write-up of the origins of April Fools Day and if you don’t believe a word they say, well, April Fools to you.
Now, for Two Sentence Tuesday:
This week I wrote:
“He tried to grab the door-frame, his arms waving like a seagull trying to flap away a plover pecking out clams at low tide. But the screen door come at him and smacked his shoulder.”
Our Sister in Crime, Meredith S. Cole, a Murder New York Style alum had an excellent story called “Exercise is Murder” published in the Department of First Stories of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2008. I read her story Saturday. Here are two sentences:
“The apartment looked as if its owner had walked into one of the chain furniture stores and ordered everything out of the display. The furniture was arranged and the posters on the wall were framed, but nothing looked as if it was ever sat on or enjoyed.”
Meredith was last year’s winner of the St. Martins/ Malice Domestic First Novel Award. Her novel will be released in 2009 and we promise to tell you all about it.
Terrie
This week I wrote:
“He tried to grab the door-frame, his arms waving like a seagull trying to flap away a plover pecking out clams at low tide. But the screen door come at him and smacked his shoulder.”
Our Sister in Crime, Meredith S. Cole, a Murder New York Style alum had an excellent story called “Exercise is Murder” published in the Department of First Stories of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2008. I read her story Saturday. Here are two sentences:
“The apartment looked as if its owner had walked into one of the chain furniture stores and ordered everything out of the display. The furniture was arranged and the posters on the wall were framed, but nothing looked as if it was ever sat on or enjoyed.”
Meredith was last year’s winner of the St. Martins/ Malice Domestic First Novel Award. Her novel will be released in 2009 and we promise to tell you all about it.
Terrie
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13 comments:
I've always loved the spaghetti prank.
Your two sentences give a great visual.
df Leah,
Thanks for the compliment. I like those two lines myself. Those lines are from a short story that I have been trying to make shorter.
As to April Fools. I do love a good prank.
Terrie
I love both sets of lines, Terrie--the written and the read. I am part of such a talented bunch!
Here are my promised contributions. First, something I read:
"It took quite a while to extract me from the trouser leg without ripping the seams. 'She'd have looked stupid in it anyway,' Belinda said, glancing in the direction of the door."
These lines are, like last week, from Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen, which I just past the middle of. No, Lady Georgiana wasn't stuck in too-tight jeans; the book is set in 1932. Do I have you wondering even a little bit?
Now, something I wrote:
"The metallic smell of Ashley’s blood collided with the pine smell of the wreath beside her own office door and mixed with the alcohol fumes emanating from the dozen or so plastic cups abandoned on a nearby desk and containing remnants of the punch from the party, and smacked Harley in the face. A wave of nausea rippled through her and she grabbed her stomach, lurching for the hallway leading to the women’s room, shoving the nicotine-drenched fingernail examiner out of the way and silently praying she be allowed to make it without embarrassing herself on top of everything else that had happened today."
Happy April Fools Day!
You sound like a good sport for a grandma. Mine wouldn't have enjoyed such silliness at all- pity. I like your choice of picture and your briny sentences, too.
I wrote:
He laughed, which turned briefly into phlegmy hacking with the cold. “No offense, girl, but if I planned to betray forty years of service to our Lord and to Mother Church, it’d be for someone with more seasoning and bigger knockers."
I read:
The sun was well down the western side of the sky, silhouetting in red the rooftops and steeples of Vienna, when several of the akinji came yelling down along the wall from the north, evidently trying to shear off the body of Viennese soldiers that was outside. Eilif's company was out on the plain when they came, and led the way in a counter-charge that drove the Turkish footsoldiers back up to the Weiner-Bach, the narrow sub-canal that flanked the north half of the east wall.
- from The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers, a history-based fantasy melding the history of brewing, legendary warriors like Sigmund and Arthur, and the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1529.
Yikes, Elaine. I'm practically grabbing a hangover remedy in sympathy. And blood, too? Hmmm.
Elaine,
Those Christmas parties will kill ya! Nice lines. And you are getting me interested in the Rhys Bowen book. Is it the one nominated for the Agatha?
Terrie
Hey Clare,
You have put such fabulous pictures on this blog that as I strolled through Google images, I kept saying, "Hmmm, what would Clare choose?" So glad you like it.
What mischief will Father get into, or is it the sweet young thing that gets in a jam???
Terrie
Clare- I love the lines you wrote! And yours don't have a little trash can after them. ;-)
Terrie- Yes, it's the nominated book. The first in a new series, too.
Great sentences, and what an inspiration! I'll link you on my blog, as I'm joining in the two-by-two fun.
My sentences:
"First of all, it's important, as with every word we write, to be careful and sparing. If a gesture is not illuminating, simply leave it out, or try cutting it and see if you later miss it or even remember it's gone." -- from Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer, one of my new favorite books on writing.
For my two written, from my WIP: "He missed the actual accident, but heard the kid scream, a high animal sound. Sagging between two men as they drug him off the lift, his face turned purple from crying."
Thanks for adding in, Britta. I didn't realize you were doing yours on Thursdays. We'll have to link over this week. You may not be the only one finding the perfecta of MTMonday to TSTuesday almost too jam-packed with fun to manage. But I'm happy to get to read snippets of your WIP at your blog.
Good stuff, Terrie! I've been so insane with work this week I've done barely a thing. Embarrassing, but true.
Britta,
Thanks so much for stopping by. I enjoyed your read and your written sentences.
I just stopped by your blog. It's great.
Laura,
Nothing to be embarrassed about--we are allowed to be busy!
Terrie
Great lines. And I too thought about a trick for my readers, but being as it was my anniversary I decided that subjecting people to my thoughts for a year was torturous enough. :)
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