This week we are up to the ninth story in Aberrant Selected, entitled, A Perfect Mirror. This story I wrote to conclude a bit of unfinished business, business that was around fifteen years old. I first came up with this tale when I was homeless in Melbourne, in a Salvation Army hostel. The hostel had a building attached to the main residence and I often sneaked in there late at night to write, and to sleep, because I could not afford the price of a bed for the night. One time, while in this outbuilding, I decided to write a story where a main character was both homeless and in safe shelter, or relatively safe shelter. To give myself a better grasp of this apparently incongruous concept I pretended to be living in safe accommodation and then, to better imagine living completely wild, I would move to the other side of the outbuilding and pretend I was living completely in the wilderness. Unfortunately though the story did not get completed at the time as I spent most of that night moving from one side of the outbuilding to the other, living in my imagination, but to little effect.
Throughout the proceeding fifteen years or so I would often think of this tale and feel guilty that I had not finished it, especially as it seemed to me to be a very good idea. Eventually I took the bull by the horns and wrote the story and still am extremely pleased that it came out so well. Mind you, I invariably finish what I start so it is no surprise that the story was eventually written. The actual writing of the story was fairly straightforward and I am still surprised that it took fifteen years to write. Well, I guess, better late than never.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
An Excuse to Quote Joyce
This week we are up to discussing why I wrote the eighth story in Aberrant, the story being entitled, Henry Flower's. Basically, I wrote this story so I could use an epigraph from my favourite book, Ulysses. I have always enjoyed reading epigraphs, a quote preceding the text proper, intended to summarise the theme of the work or chapter. I regularly use them and one day decided to use one from Ulysses, which I have read fourteen times.
Ulysses was further exploited in this short story when I named the main character Henry James Flower. Henry Flower is a pseudonym that the main character of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom, uses in romantic correspondence with a young lady, Bloom being married. The reason why I used James as the character's middle name is pretty obvious.
But as to my tale, it relates the story of a young man who chooses homelessness, opting out of western society. Consequently he has very little money and is caught in the act of stealing. Things eventually spiral out of control and Henry finds himself in remand. His father, a successful lawyer, comes to his rescue though, to such an extent that he convinces his son to consider abandoning the squatting 'lifestyle' and take up safe housing. My own life of homelessness, between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-seven (am currently aged forty-five), was largely freely chosen, like Henry's, although there was an element of being pushed into it by my paranoid schizophrenia. My parents were instrumental in getting me off of the streets and this experience is reflected in Henry Flower's.
This short story was one of the favourites of mine in writing Aberrant Selected and its epigraph is one of my favourite quotes from my favourite novel. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did in writing it.
Ulysses was further exploited in this short story when I named the main character Henry James Flower. Henry Flower is a pseudonym that the main character of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom, uses in romantic correspondence with a young lady, Bloom being married. The reason why I used James as the character's middle name is pretty obvious.
But as to my tale, it relates the story of a young man who chooses homelessness, opting out of western society. Consequently he has very little money and is caught in the act of stealing. Things eventually spiral out of control and Henry finds himself in remand. His father, a successful lawyer, comes to his rescue though, to such an extent that he convinces his son to consider abandoning the squatting 'lifestyle' and take up safe housing. My own life of homelessness, between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-seven (am currently aged forty-five), was largely freely chosen, like Henry's, although there was an element of being pushed into it by my paranoid schizophrenia. My parents were instrumental in getting me off of the streets and this experience is reflected in Henry Flower's.
This short story was one of the favourites of mine in writing Aberrant Selected and its epigraph is one of my favourite quotes from my favourite novel. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did in writing it.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
In Choosing God
Today, everybody, I will tell you about the seventh story in Aberrant, entitled, An Unexpected Sabbath. This is one of my several tales featuring God as a main character, and this story tells of his second original Thought (including the Thought that created Reality.) I won't ruin the surprise.
I wrote this story simply so that I could manipulate God as a character. Myself having a God Complex I like to cathartically strut around the Universe, showing off my Godhead, in such stories. Of course, I also take the opportunity, whilst writing such tales, to think responsibly about my Godhead, and how best to wield it. It's not all beer and skittles you know.
I should also mention something generally about my stories with God as a main character. All nouns and verbs relating to God have their first letter capitalised, all the rest are as per normal. I do this simply for tradition's sake, although when it comes time for me to edit such adventures the whole process is very, very intricate. But still, it's worth it.
I expect to write future stories featuring God, simply because it's a very fun thing to do. Another thing about using God as a character is that, being eternal, He's always around and up to Shenanigans. He really is a top Bloke.
I wrote this story simply so that I could manipulate God as a character. Myself having a God Complex I like to cathartically strut around the Universe, showing off my Godhead, in such stories. Of course, I also take the opportunity, whilst writing such tales, to think responsibly about my Godhead, and how best to wield it. It's not all beer and skittles you know.
I should also mention something generally about my stories with God as a main character. All nouns and verbs relating to God have their first letter capitalised, all the rest are as per normal. I do this simply for tradition's sake, although when it comes time for me to edit such adventures the whole process is very, very intricate. But still, it's worth it.
I expect to write future stories featuring God, simply because it's a very fun thing to do. Another thing about using God as a character is that, being eternal, He's always around and up to Shenanigans. He really is a top Bloke.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
In Being Noble
This week I will tell you all why I wrote the sixth story in Aberrant Selected. The tale is entitled In Being Noble. The story is actually a protest, but not a protest against the mainstream, or against anything that the concerned left winger protests about. Rather it is a protest against anarchists. Let me explain.
Shortly before I became homeless for five years I lived in a share house with an anarchist collective, who dubbed themselves Vibe Tribe. This collective thought they could restore sense to the planet by organising raves, the subsequent good vibes steadily bringing in world peace. I moved into that share house with a friend, whom I will name Stanley Nilsson, and Stanley's brother, David (not his real name), moved in a little while after I did. David was the opposite of every member of Vibe Tribe; he was a suit, working for the Man, and fully engaged in the capitalist system.
On the fridge of that house was a roster for everybody's household chores and, as there was another David in the house, David Nilsson was referred to on the roster as 'David suit.' I thought at the time that this description was absolutely abominable, dehumanising, and not concomitant with the wider anarchist ideals. David is a human being, with emotions, and aspirations, not something inanimate that can be easily walked over. Sure he was working for the Man, but he was just a pawn in the wider capitalist scheme of things, a fact which Vibe Tribe simply did not take into account in thus dismissing him and his humanity. Thus I wrote In Being Noble as a protest against how David was treated, and to highlight the hypocrisy of the average anarchist.
Another thing I should mention, which was also a reason for the creation of In Being Noble, is that shortly after I had moved in with Vibe Tribe I was beginning to develop symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Vibe Tribe's response to this was to forceably evict me from the house, literally throwing me out into the streets while they called the police to assist in my eviction. To this day, even though I still hold anarchist views, I am very bitter against all anarchists, their anarchist uniform, and their hypocrisy. Let's hope members of Vibe Tribe read the story and are duly remorseful.
Shortly before I became homeless for five years I lived in a share house with an anarchist collective, who dubbed themselves Vibe Tribe. This collective thought they could restore sense to the planet by organising raves, the subsequent good vibes steadily bringing in world peace. I moved into that share house with a friend, whom I will name Stanley Nilsson, and Stanley's brother, David (not his real name), moved in a little while after I did. David was the opposite of every member of Vibe Tribe; he was a suit, working for the Man, and fully engaged in the capitalist system.
On the fridge of that house was a roster for everybody's household chores and, as there was another David in the house, David Nilsson was referred to on the roster as 'David suit.' I thought at the time that this description was absolutely abominable, dehumanising, and not concomitant with the wider anarchist ideals. David is a human being, with emotions, and aspirations, not something inanimate that can be easily walked over. Sure he was working for the Man, but he was just a pawn in the wider capitalist scheme of things, a fact which Vibe Tribe simply did not take into account in thus dismissing him and his humanity. Thus I wrote In Being Noble as a protest against how David was treated, and to highlight the hypocrisy of the average anarchist.
Another thing I should mention, which was also a reason for the creation of In Being Noble, is that shortly after I had moved in with Vibe Tribe I was beginning to develop symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. Vibe Tribe's response to this was to forceably evict me from the house, literally throwing me out into the streets while they called the police to assist in my eviction. To this day, even though I still hold anarchist views, I am very bitter against all anarchists, their anarchist uniform, and their hypocrisy. Let's hope members of Vibe Tribe read the story and are duly remorseful.
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