Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Two Sentence Tuesday

I received an early Christmas present... Alfred Hitchcock’s 1961 anthology, Stories For Late At Night, which contains contributions from the likes of John Collier, Roald Dahl, Brett Halliday, Robert Arthur etc. It’s the venerable Ray Bradbury’s work I will highlight. From "The Whole Town’s Sleeping":
Lavinia felt her heart going loudly within her and she was cold, too, with a February cold. There were bits of sudden snow all over her flesh and the moon washed her brittle fingers whiter, and she remembered doing all the talking while Francine just sobbed.
Very rarely am I disappointed by this master, nothing short of excellence. Now my humble little rough lines still in progress:
Stir in some falsified but damning evidence, like videotape, a sobbing hysterical daughter on the witness stand and a next door neighbor with a knack for telling stories. As I sit in my cell, I am reminded of an old saying, "You can bend it and twist it, you can misuse and abuse it, but even God cannot change the truth," unless, of course, you have enough money.
Now for some more great lines check out the ladies at Women of Mystery.

4 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I so loved the early Bradbury. I've not been enamored of his later writings that much, but he was such a huge influence on my early urge to write, even though he didn't influence my style much because no one else can write like Bradbury.

Barbara Martin said...

I'm inspired to order a subscription to Alfred Hitchcock's magazine before the end of the year for a resolution to read more mystery stories.

Videotape evidence works every time. I wonder when this wonderful story will be revealed to the public.

Reb said...

I used to read AHM back when I had more time. I think I am going to have to make more time again. I also enjoy Bradburys works a lot.

Your lines have me hooked already.

David Cranmer said...

Yes, early Bradbury is some of the finest writing of the 20th century.

Barbara, I would also grab Ellery Queen. I can't live a month without either. As far as my story it's not close to being done. My next story online will be in the April issue of Yellow Mama.

Thanks Reb!

Naval, Happy Holidays!