Through a Darkened Pane (page 5)

musky

CoCo, I hope that you are feeling better.Get well soon!

compound complex

Sylvia:

You were way beyond your years!

Musky:

I do appreciate your thoughtfulness. I'm past the worst but still unsteady on the feet. Sure miss my walks!

Thanks much to the both of youse ...

CoCo

ziddina

"CoCo reading the ending of your story actually made me shudder..."

Whadda ya mean, ENDing?? That sounds like a good beginning...

Just read "The Haunting of Hill House". The 1964 (?) movie version - the script - was actually an improvement in some details on the book. I would LOVE to see you, CoCo, take this story further - a LOT further... Make a movie script out of it, at least, if not a book...

I'd buy it and read it...

Zid

compound complex

Dear Ziddina,

Yes, that was a scary movie. I recall, too, that The Haunting, with Julie Harris, was terrifying. Are we speaking of the same story?

Your comments are an encouragement to me. I do hope to add to the story, serial-fashion. My dearest wish is to do scripts for film. I aim high, but who knows ...

Love and best wishes,

CoCo

compound complex

I have made repeated attempts to move on with my life since your flagrant decision to plague my every thought, my every move. I cannot move forward. A change of venue, that of diet, even new clothes have afforded me but a frivolous and temporary elevation of spirits. Accordingly, as I am thus paralyzed by a most profound sense of anguish, I lie in bed, starring at a black sky, and pine anew for what little contentment life once offered up. A mellow and simple contentment I owned before your decision to inhabit my home, my body, my spirit. Whenever will you cease following me about? You have gripped me by the nape of my neck and refuse to release me. My begging for mercy from a hunter lioness would prove an endeavor far more certain of success. You are a wily mistress, one whose cruel hold is that of iron. Between the mind's stabs at my heart and your refusal to disappear from my view, I am losing that steely mastery of self that the Boss pounded into my once unquestioning conscience.

In complete control of all that my eyes now behold, you pull me steadily backward into times past. Times that, I thought, were gone and forgotten. Nearly forgotten but for a brief remembrance triggered, in strange and bitter irony, by that most brief recollection of a fleeting joy. Sorrow forces upon me the certainty of her undeniable existence, her penetrating essence. You are she ...

You have stolen my present, sabotaged my future, yet you say nothing....

You only stare at me ... through your darkened pane....

ziddina

CoCo, yes, "The Haunting" with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, and Russ Tamblyn. Can't remember the name of the actor who played the Doctor...

Your most recent lines are fascinating - in a way, the 'monster' is beginning to sound like Churchill's 'black dog' of depression - a fitting monster, indeed. Verrry scary...

Your words are better than "The Haunting of Hill House" - read it and you'll see what I mean. I actually preferred the 1964 script to the original book... I think you could do a much better job than Shirley Jackson; and I'm absolutely positive you can do better than Stephen King. His books are thick, wordy, but not that effective, imho... And some of his plot premises - ridiculous! I like 'scary' that is a bit more - realistic, I guess. Something subtle and stylish, not - well, green split-pea soup and fake blood-ketchup all over - not a reference to "The Exorcist" but to stories/movies heavy on special effects and gore and thin on plot and character development. And intelligence...

I really think you should 'go for it' - what's the absolute worst that could happen??? Nothing major - you either get a rejection slip (OW!!!) or they accept your work, and you have plenty of other stories to turn into books - I know you're a prolific writer from what I've been able to catch here...

Just remember - Dr. Seuss received 23 rejection slips before someone accepted his "Cat in the Hat" (or whatever his first book was...). I'd love to make a bet with you - or persuade you - to send your writing in... Damn the rejection slips! Full speed ahead!

P.S. I'm writing murder mysteries - just writing, haven't sent anything in yet. But a few years ago I did submit an idea for a cartoon strip to 16 publishers. I received nothing but rejection slips, but some were very kind and indicated they'd be interested in future if I developed my artwork further. [are they kidding??? Have they seen the artwork in the "Cathy" strip???] I decided I didn't want to sketch 365 comic strips a year... But I enjoy writing! My scripts don't come anywhere near your level of skill, however... If I can 'go for it', so can you!

Zid

compound complex

This is wonderful, Ziddina, that you are engaged in the same pursuit and have learned the ins and outs of the business.

Yes, many now famous writers, including Alex Haley, received multiple rejections. Richard Johnson played Dr. John Markway in The Haunting. I'm glad you continue trying and I look forward to one day reading your mysteries. I love mysteries but am stymied regarding plot development. Maybe I just need to study the craft ...

Again, many thanks for the encouragement. I went for a moonlight walk earlier to view "my house" on the hill.

Till later,

CoCo

ziddina

Cool! Moonlight on the spooky house! ....

Say, CoCo, I've come up with a totally bratty idea...

How about ... I submit my book - whichever one I think is closest to completion - to a publisher, and then you have to submit something you wrote to a publisher? Then it's my turn again, then yours, and so on?? And we take turns until we get published??? We - I - would be willing to report my rejection slips - and probably the wording, unless it's too harsh, devastating, or insulting...

Bratty idea - might be a bad idea too, but it would certainly keep my nose to the grindstone... I'd have to actually churn out books until they were published! And continue to do so... Who knows? We might actually make money at this...

Zid

compound complex

Sounds like a worthy challenge, Ziddina.

I'm researching the traditional as well as the non-traditional [self-publishing] methods of getting it out there. A daunting task for one such as I (scattered barely begins to describe my organizational and professional acumen [none]). I have friends who are published authors, and it seems theirs is a trail littered with disappointment. Not that that would stop me. Much.

Perhaps you could PM me with information pertinent to the step-by-step procedure ...

Yes?

Many thanks,

CoCo

compound complex

I try to forget remembrance past, admittedly futile but always worth one more try. I hit the sheets and tell myself, "This time it's going to work. I will sleep ... I will myself to sleep...."

I awake around 2:00 a.m., soaked to the bone. Still some residual fever from the flu, I guess. Dazed, I struggle in slow motion to free myself from a twisted, sodden sheet, grab my lump of a sweat-stained pillow and set feet to floor. Maybe I'll find a little relief sleeping standing up. Clearly, I'm not thinking clearly ...

Stumbling through the debris of many days' inattention to my studio's general health, I pick my way blearily to the airless open window and pose momentarily at the sash. The yellowed, tattered wisps of some ancient lace curtain hang limp and motionless, framing in a view I've come to hate:

Through a Darkened Pane

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