Another piece of the Me Puzzle *eyeroll* is the writing I do over at 100 Words.  I LOVE writing, and I HATE writing.  Those of you who do it will surely understand.  As The Master said, “Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.”  

I have stories upon stories spinning around in my brain, most of which pretty much never end up on paper the way I envision them.  But I keep slinging.  If any of you enjoy writing flash fiction, join us over there.  We post a theme every Monday through Friday, and our readers may contribute their own 100 word stories in the comment section of the theme post. 

Speaking of writing, we hit a bookstore the morning before heading off to the beach last weekend, where I regrettably picked up this utter piece of tripe.  

Twenty-two of today’s most talented writers (and comics fans) unite in Who Can Save Us Now?, an anthology featuring brand-new superheroes equipped for the threats and challenges of the twenty-first century — with a few supervillains thrown in for good measure. Edited and with contributions by Owen King(We’re All in This Together) and John McNally (America’s Report Card), Who Can Save Us Now? enriches the superhero canon immeasurably.

With mutations stranger than the X-Men and with even more baggage than the Hulk, this next generation of superheroes is a far cry from your run-of-the-mill caped crusader. From the image-conscious and not-very-mysterious masked meathead who swoops in and sweeps the tough girl reporter off her feet; to the Meerkat, who overcomes his species’ cute and cuddly image to become the resident hero in a small Midwestern city; to the Silverfish, “the creepy superhero,” who fights crime while maintaining the slipperiest of identities; to Manna Man, who manipulates the minds of televangelists to serve his own righteous mission, these protectors (and in some cases antagonizers) of the innocent and the virtuous will delight literary enthusiasts and comic fans alike.

It sounds good, doesn’t it?  But seeing as how I found it in the FICTION section (instead of in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section, where people tell Actual Stories) it is instead filled with inane scribblings the likes of which you might expect to find in a battered spiral notebook decorated with skulls and Hello Kitties, left forgotten in the school bathroom by the 8th grade’s lone, miserable goth chick.  

Seriously, I’m three stories into this thing and I already long to toss it into our non-existent fireplace.  Story one had some potential, sort of a Superman as told by a jaded/cynical/envious/horny Lois Lane.  The second was more something that might come out during court-ordered psychiatric visits.  And the third was straight from some pre-teen’s nightstand dream diary. 

Look, people…when they say “write what you know” the implication is “oh, and tell a fucking story, you moron.”  A vignette from your nightmares, a half-recalled childhood fantasy…these do not adequate stories make, not even SHORT stories.  They’re rather like spiderwebs:  no substance and certainly no flavor.  

I’m going to finish reading the thing, mainly because I have nothing else to read until the new Harry Dresden arrives, but I fully expect to need a freaking Bat Signal before I’m done.

Posted in Ephemera
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