1002

He slipped a rufie in my drink. Idiot me, I was already tipsy—it was New Years, and the club was packed. Going out alone like that? Yeah, not my best idea.

Now it was September 27th, more than two years later. Or so said my nightstand alarm clock's calendar. December 31st would mark the third year he'd kept me here.

Wherever this was. The Mojave, maybe? Something told me that despite the dry air and golden sand all around his stone fortress, I was still on American soil. I hoped. That was all I had left, you know?

“Scheherezade, my love.”

I gritted my teeth and looked away as he wrapped me in his arms. That was the price for having hippie parents. “I’ve told you a thousand times. It’s Sherry.”

See, Stockholm syndrome? Not really my thing.

He shook his head at me. “No, dearest. Tonight is our thousand-and-first.”

I suppressed a snort. His gaze cooled, reminding me of the torture tools in the dungeon.

“Y-yes, darling,” I simpered. “And what tale would you hear from me tonight?”

Once I was a children’s librarian. Now I tell this nutjob stories.

“Your namesake,” he breathed, clasping my hands tight. “Please.”

Nodding, I guided him to the bed. Our bed, unfortunately. Seated between him and the clock, I began:

“Once there was a sultan whose first wife betrayed him. In anger, he took a new wife to bed every night, then had them beheaded the next morning. Until Scheherazade. Each night, she told him tales, but she never finished before sunrise. Each morning, he would let her live so that he could hear the story’s end. When on the thousand-and-first night she ran out of tales, she expected him to kill her, but the sultan realized he’d fallen in love instead. They were happy to the end of their days.”

“And you, love?”

I blushed. “Of course.”

At that, he fell to nuzzling my neck, so passionate, so sure of himself. So foolish. I smashed the alarm clock against his skull.

Damned if I’d live with him another night.

* * *
This was my entry for Yearning For Wonderland's Once Upon A Time flash fiction contest. Be sure to check out other entries below, and feel free to join in!

Mythology and Folklore (ConCarolinas Writing Panel)

The pages in my journal stuck together; that's why I didn't notice this set of notes until just before posting the last set. But here we are, with the final panel I attended. If you have any questions, please ask and I will elaborate. These were, after all, my own attempted transcription of what was said.

* * *

Mythology and Folklore

Authors: Stuart Jaffe, Jana Oliver, Natania Barron, Gail Z. Martin, Kalayna Price, Wendy S. Delmater

Moderator: Mason Lavin

Creating a mythology:
- Draw from another culture
- Study old cultures
- Trace myths back to their roots
- Don't just mine it halfhazardly for stories - know the myths
- It helps to absorb and process a lot of old myths.
- Look at how each culture views evil as a concept, how it is real to them.
- Read extensively.
- The reason myths have been able to last for so long is that something in them resonates with people.
- Be respectful to the original myth.

Things not to mess with:
- Nothing? We can take things and make it our own.
- Remember that myths stem from religion, and be respectful of that.
- It is possible to reinvent with respect.
- Our job as writers is to lie for a living.
- Do it well, and the readers won't care; do it poorly and they might care a *lot*.

Remember, it's fiction:
- Things can be changed in popular myth. Example: Vampires weren't originally allergic to sunlight.
- Tropes can be bent; just don't break it.
(Trope: an accepted standard in a genre/subgenre - usually what's listed on the back of a novel is mostly tropes, because readers can understand the story's subject matter quickly).
- Can take tropes and put them in a different setting, but it might be difficult.
- Myths can be used at the structural level.

Even Christianity is a Myth:
- The mythology is so complex and has many different traditions.
- Have to consider it all.
- The Church has evolved and changed, too, along with its myths and traditions; this goes back to its historical roots.
- Words change over time.
- The original Christian myth was not written in English.

Borrowing vs. cultural appropriation:
- Use care
- Research what you're borrowing
- Do it *well*.
- If using something real, get it right.
- Be respectful.

* * *

So, that's it for my ConCarolinas 2011 notes. I hope you've enjoyed them. Now the year is winding toward two other big events for me: Penny Arcade Expo at the end of August, and the Surrey International Writer's Conference. I have a few notes from SiWC that I wouldn't mind sharing, and I'll probably have a thing or two to say about PAX, too.

Watch this space for a post about swordfighting, too. ;)

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to this Saturday! I've been asked to give a talk on the basics of writing. This will be my first - wish me luck!