Fantastical Literary Inspiration 3
I’ve been thinking lately about the ‘intrepid and prolific’ Margaret Wise Brown (the implied author of last month’s Fantastical Literary Inspiration), apparently, once famously said, “I don’t particularly like children.” How’s that for author integrity? The very thought crossed my mind when I sacrificed my ‘writing time’ to clear shelf-room with my daughter (now aged 9) and reluctantly packed away The Runaway Bunny because she doesn’t even pretend to read it to her teddies anymore. The irony of me writing about how children can paradoxically be both an inspiration and a drain on emotional energy isn’t lost on me. Do we need to like – or even have our own – children to be able to write words that appeal to them? Or do we need to keep liking, loving and nurturing the child deep inside ourselves?
On that note, here’s …
FANTASTICAL LITERARY INSPIRATION No.3
I’d barely picked up my pen when it started again next door. Such terrible roaring, like a wolf! Walls paper thin, I could hear every word.“Leave the dog alone! Get to your room!” then “I ‘ate you!”
SLAM.
In and out of weeks, it carries on. I tell you, if they keep denying that boy supper, I’m calling social services.
If I get 338 words done today, it’ll be a miracle.
It’s no good, I need an aspirin.
(Remember, you need to guess the author and the book but I’m afraid - in the true spirit of an occupation with few extrinsic rewards - there’s no prize for the correct answer.)
Twitter: @edge_am
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