Comments on: Pet story…

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:47:44 +0000

Let’s see. Some of them are wolves, wary and stand-offish. Some of them are brightly-colored canary-like birds that like to fly about the rafters, out of reach. . . .

By: heteromeles

heteromeles — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:24:21 +0000

Actually, when I was in grad school, we named our theses. One woman named hers “Mr. Pesky.” I named mine ‘My Precioussss.”

Unfortunately, someone has already completed a thesis comparing the process of obtaining a graduate degree to The Lord of the Rings. That bastard! He ruined such a great metaphor!

Genres as critters. Yes. I can see that, because animals tend to like things more ordered than humans do. That’s sort of like stories with plots and themes, as opposed to the messiness of real life.

Confession: I don’t like straight up romances, so I’d compare them to zebra finches. You ever had those? They’re cute, not to intelligent, easy to feed. You put a pair in a cage, and after a couple of years, you have about 30 of them, all identical, all fluffy, chirping like a bunch of diminutive tribbles. They’re so cute!

Personally, I think SF and fantasy are more like birds. Birds are a cross between a two-year old and a alien, and the smarter they are, the more you have to learn to live with them. That’s a proper SF novel at least. Makes you see the world a little differently, just like owning a bird does. And birds are smarter than they look. I once watched a pigeon reboot a computer by walking across the keyboard. Ctrl-alt with one foot, delet with the other, and fly away as the machine and owner make interesting noises….

Cats though: cats are like mystery novels. On the one hand, they do like their routine. On the other hand, they can be comfortable to be around. On the third hand (cats require three hands), they do leave hairballs and other presents for you to find.

By: Wolf Lahti

Wolf Lahti — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:51:18 +0000

What kind of animal is my story?

A snake, a large black snake – probably an anaconda – that escaped from its terrarium and is slithering in the secret recesses of my house, waiting for its chance to strangle me when I go to sleep….

By: Alma Alexander

Alma Alexander — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:14:50 +0000

Ariella: HIGH FIVE!

Ladies and gentlemen I think we have a winner here…

By: Megs - Scattered Bits

Megs - Scattered Bits — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:52:04 +0000

I could see a hamster being a mystery. They’re blind beyond nine inches in front of them. My brother’s hamster died because she got out of her cage and couldn’t see she was walking off the second-story balcony (can’t think of the right word, so that one will have to do) in our house.

By: Ariella

Ariella — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:47:07 +0000

And then there’s my dissertation. It started life as an amorphous blob, a sort of jellyfish of a curious and hitherto unknown species. But I made the mistake of taking it home and making it mine. It grew tentacles and began to consume all my time and substance. Now it has become a Lovecraftian leviathan and I fear that I will never defeat it.

By: Elias McClellan

Elias McClellan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:51:33 +0000

That’s it Ms. Brennan, remain diplomatic. Then you can bridge the gulf ‘tween the disparate groups. I seriously thought I was the only caustic character here. Me and Sneaky D. Katt love literary fish, but not so much the guts.

By: Marie Brennan

Marie Brennan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:12:27 +0000

Of course, if we run with your metaphor, then one day you’ll wake up and find your Genre Cat has flipped your Literary Fish out of the aquarium and onto the floor, then made a snack of its guts . . . .

By: Elias McClellan

Elias McClellan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:47:18 +0000

Gerbals, then? Yeah, I know, oy vey.

By: Alma Alexander

Alma Alexander — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:01:09 +0000

Wouldn’t a RABBIT be erotica – as in, what with their stellar “breed like rabbits” reputation and, ahem, the activities that need to take place before said breeding can occur…?

But the mental image of hamsters… as erotica… OY. (Facepalm. Trying to get mind around this.)