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truepennyToday is Shakespeare's Birthday (observed), so have a sonnet:
Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows, yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 129
Today is also Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch day, so here are pointers to all of my fiction you can find online for free:
Text
"Absent from Felicity" (Hamlet slash)
"After the Dragon"
"Draco campestris"
"The Half-Sister"
"Letter from a Teddy Bear on Veterans' Day"
"A Light in Troy"
"Meta"
"A Night in Electric Squidland"
"Queen of Swords"
"The Replacement"
"Requiem for Prey"
"Straw"
"Sundered"
"Under the Beansidhe's Pillow"
"Wait for Me"
"The Watcher in the Corners"
"White Charles"
Shadow Unit: "Dexterity" (1.3) and "On Faith" (3.0)
The Virtu, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
The Mirador, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
scenes cut from Corambis
Audio
After the Dragon (read by Sarah Tolbert)
A Light in Troy (read by Ann Leckie)
White Charles (read by Kate Baker)
A Catfish Dreaming of Being . . .: "Darkness, as a Bride," "Elegy for a Demon Lover," "National Geographic on Assignment: Mermaids of the Old West," "Sidhe Tigers," "The Yellow Dressing Gown" (read by me)
Corambis, Chapter 1 (read by me)
Corambis, Chapter 2 (read by me)
I would also like to offer something NOT previously available on the internet, so here is my favorite of all the flash fiction I've written, "Fiddleback Ferns," which was published in Flytrap 9.
FIDDLEBACK FERNS
by Sarah Monette
"Are these fiddleback ferns, Mommy?" Cindy asked.
"Fiddlehead, honey," Marjorie said absently. "Fiddlebacks are nasty spiders." It was only later that she would realize that Cindy, for once in her vacuous Barbie-obsessed life, had been exactly right.
Fiddleback ferns indeed.
Marjorie dismissed them as weeds at first--the plants she cared about bloomed prettily and smelled nice--rooted them out, planted pansies instead. But a week later, the pansies were dead, and those nasty purple-green shoots were visible again.
"Darn it," said Marjorie, who never swore, and dug them out again.
But the more of them she uprooted, the more there seemed to be. Their smell was like something burning rather than something growing, and it was strong. Ron complained of headaches and did even less yardwork than usual. Marjorie consulted her gardening books, consulted Mrs. Higgins next door, even got Daniel to show her how to Google. But she couldn't find anything that looked like the things growing in her yard. Daniel, who watched too much TV, said, "Maybe they're alien spores or something," and Marjorie said, "Do your homework."
Cindy and Daniel were sick more often that spring than Marjorie could ever remember them being. Allergies, the doctors said. Asthma, they said, when Cindy started having trouble breathing. "Will you buy me another Barbie 'cause I'm sick?" was all Cindy cared about.
And then Cindy was in the hospital with a tube in her throat, and Ron was out getting drunk with "the boys," because that was how Ron coped in a crisis. Daniel was supposed to be doing his homework, but he was watching TV. Marjorie stood in her spotless kitchen and thought about the strange plants that had taken over her flowerbeds.
Fiddleback ferns.
Alien spores.
"Fuck," said Marjorie, who never swore.
"Mom?" Daniel said, turning away from the TV.
But Marjorie wasn't there.
She stood on her front lawn in the twilight, staring at them.
"Why?" she said. "Why here? Why us? The most important problem in Cindy's life was that her Barbies were too big to ride her My Little Ponies! If you're going to beam down from outer space and kill some poor little kid, shouldn't it be Einstein or Gandhi or somebody?"
The ugly purple-green fronds ignored her and unfurled another millimeter.
"Ignore this, Audrey," Marjorie muttered.
"Marjorie honey?" said Mrs. Higgins next door. "Is that gasoline?"
Marjorie ignored her, and Mrs. Higgins went inside to call 911. But Marjorie lit the match before the police got there.
Daniel stood on the sidewalk, watching his mother capering like a witch before their burning house, watching the greenish oily smoke rising up from the flowerbeds, and when the policeman asked him why his mother had done it, he said, "An exorcism, like in that movie."
"Too much TV," the policeman said, and went to radio for a fire truck.
And Marjorie went to ask Mrs. Higgins next door if she could borrow some salt.
---
copyright 2008 Sarah Monette
Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd'rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows, yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 129
Today is also Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch day, so here are pointers to all of my fiction you can find online for free:
Text
"Absent from Felicity" (Hamlet slash)
"After the Dragon"
"Draco campestris"
"The Half-Sister"
"Letter from a Teddy Bear on Veterans' Day"
"A Light in Troy"
"Meta"
"A Night in Electric Squidland"
"Queen of Swords"
"The Replacement"
"Requiem for Prey"
"Straw"
"Sundered"
"Under the Beansidhe's Pillow"
"Wait for Me"
"The Watcher in the Corners"
"White Charles"
Shadow Unit: "Dexterity" (1.3) and "On Faith" (3.0)
The Virtu, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
The Mirador, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
scenes cut from Corambis
Audio
After the Dragon (read by Sarah Tolbert)
A Light in Troy (read by Ann Leckie)
White Charles (read by Kate Baker)
A Catfish Dreaming of Being . . .: "Darkness, as a Bride," "Elegy for a Demon Lover," "National Geographic on Assignment: Mermaids of the Old West," "Sidhe Tigers," "The Yellow Dressing Gown" (read by me)
Corambis, Chapter 1 (read by me)
Corambis, Chapter 2 (read by me)
I would also like to offer something NOT previously available on the internet, so here is my favorite of all the flash fiction I've written, "Fiddleback Ferns," which was published in Flytrap 9.
by Sarah Monette
"Are these fiddleback ferns, Mommy?" Cindy asked.
"Fiddlehead, honey," Marjorie said absently. "Fiddlebacks are nasty spiders." It was only later that she would realize that Cindy, for once in her vacuous Barbie-obsessed life, had been exactly right.
Fiddleback ferns indeed.
Marjorie dismissed them as weeds at first--the plants she cared about bloomed prettily and smelled nice--rooted them out, planted pansies instead. But a week later, the pansies were dead, and those nasty purple-green shoots were visible again.
"Darn it," said Marjorie, who never swore, and dug them out again.
But the more of them she uprooted, the more there seemed to be. Their smell was like something burning rather than something growing, and it was strong. Ron complained of headaches and did even less yardwork than usual. Marjorie consulted her gardening books, consulted Mrs. Higgins next door, even got Daniel to show her how to Google. But she couldn't find anything that looked like the things growing in her yard. Daniel, who watched too much TV, said, "Maybe they're alien spores or something," and Marjorie said, "Do your homework."
Cindy and Daniel were sick more often that spring than Marjorie could ever remember them being. Allergies, the doctors said. Asthma, they said, when Cindy started having trouble breathing. "Will you buy me another Barbie 'cause I'm sick?" was all Cindy cared about.
And then Cindy was in the hospital with a tube in her throat, and Ron was out getting drunk with "the boys," because that was how Ron coped in a crisis. Daniel was supposed to be doing his homework, but he was watching TV. Marjorie stood in her spotless kitchen and thought about the strange plants that had taken over her flowerbeds.
Fiddleback ferns.
Alien spores.
"Fuck," said Marjorie, who never swore.
"Mom?" Daniel said, turning away from the TV.
But Marjorie wasn't there.
She stood on her front lawn in the twilight, staring at them.
"Why?" she said. "Why here? Why us? The most important problem in Cindy's life was that her Barbies were too big to ride her My Little Ponies! If you're going to beam down from outer space and kill some poor little kid, shouldn't it be Einstein or Gandhi or somebody?"
The ugly purple-green fronds ignored her and unfurled another millimeter.
"Ignore this, Audrey," Marjorie muttered.
"Marjorie honey?" said Mrs. Higgins next door. "Is that gasoline?"
Marjorie ignored her, and Mrs. Higgins went inside to call 911. But Marjorie lit the match before the police got there.
Daniel stood on the sidewalk, watching his mother capering like a witch before their burning house, watching the greenish oily smoke rising up from the flowerbeds, and when the policeman asked him why his mother had done it, he said, "An exorcism, like in that movie."
"Too much TV," the policeman said, and went to radio for a fire truck.
And Marjorie went to ask Mrs. Higgins next door if she could borrow some salt.
---
copyright 2008 Sarah Monette
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 07:46 pm (UTC)Also, I believe you're missing the link to "The Half-Sister." (http://truepenny.livejournal.com/709584.html/)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 07:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-23 10:22 pm (UTC)The Shakespeare Sonnet also demands a lot from the reader (which is probably why I like it so much.) Is the lover cynical? bitter? desperate? demanding pity? All of the above? It makes me think of the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' episodes when she sleeps with Angel and everything goes horribly wrong - love turning sour.
Isn't it exciting when one can _engage_ with good writing? Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 02:11 am (UTC)BTW, it's also Alexander Dumas' birthday.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 06:35 pm (UTC)Although I think you're also missing "Absent From Felicity"?
no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 06:45 pm (UTC)Thank you--I had forgotten about that one.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-24 07:16 pm (UTC)