Saturday Mix – January 14, 2016

Hello all!  Here’s Bastet again and I’m trying to figure out where we’ll be going on Saturdays!

First of all, I’d like to thank Lorraine for covering the holiday season for us, I really appreciated it so much!

Secondly, for Saturdays, I’ve been thinking we could do a mix day,  poetry and one of the various forms of flash fiction or perhaps a dabble into a specific genre a sort of potpourri.

To start things off with our new series  (and I hope to have your input so I know what you think) we’ll look into a form of flash fiction called power shorts.  Let me quote myself from a post I wrote in 2013:

I came across a wonderful blog yesterday that I really liked very much.  It’s owned by a man called Rick Mallery who is an aspiring young writer.  One of the techniques he uses in his study of the short story is to compress them into the smallest possible structure, in his words: 

“As I study aspects of story, I find it helpful to try to write complete short stories as short as possible. They should have a beginning, middle, and end, showing some change in a character due to an apparent or implied conflict.” Rick Mallery

To round it up a story in 100 words (better if less) with a conflict or ambiguity which creates a surprise ending.

Now for a sample:

Virtuality

Her Skype was be bo beeping, she answered breathlessly.
“Hello dearest heart!
“Oh! You’ve changed your hair style, I really like it!”
“Thanks and I added some blue too!”

After a short while, their passion flowed through cyberspace.  Finally they fixed an appointment for their next “date”.

“Good night, my fair love!” He sighed.
“Good night, my bonny lad!” She blew him a kiss.

Coming out of their studies, they smiled blissfully.

“Thank you for a splendid evening.” She said and they went to bed.

Power Short: Virtuality Bastet June 19, 2013

At this point we need a bit of inspiration ….

Tracks

In the place of a power short for those of you who prefer poetry I’d like you to write a shadorma or a sijo (this is a traditional Korean poem composed of three lines, 14-16 syllables each totalling between 44-46 syllables.  A pause breaks each line approximately in the middle; it is not based on metrics).

The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.
I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears.

U T’ak (1262-1342)

Once you’ve finish your composition, tag your work: Mindlovesmisery’s Menagerie and Saturday Mix then place your link into our Mr. Linky app.  Have fun!

See you next week, Bastet.