Dear Fic Corner Scribbler...
Dear Fic Corner Scribbler,
Thank you for writing a story for me! I'm really looking forward to it - and please take these prompts as suggestions only, if there's a different story that you think you'll enjoy writing more, write that one. As you can tell from the prompts, I'm interested in a Gen or Teen story - something that's in the spirit of the original texts is what I'm looking for, whether for characters close to their canon age or grown older. I am Just Peachy with original characters turning up, and prequels and sequels and inbetween scenes; but less interested in AUs and crossovers (although I've seen some that really impressed me, so I'm definitely not hardline about it).
Hairy Maclary and Friends Series by Lynley Dodd
I've been reading a lot of Hairy Maclary books lately (I have a toddler), and they're a lot of fun: very fluid verse that holds up to a lot of rereads, great artwork with precise attention to detail, a real sense of humour in the narrative. For the characters I've asked for (I'm fine with an either/or story as well as and):
Miss Plum - I think that Miss Plum is a bit of alright. She does a lot of cat and dog rescuing and general holding hands and throwing frisbees. I'd love a story where the animals around Donaldson's Dairy do something nice for her in return.
Scarface Claw - Scarface is a real anti-hero to me. He's out there, day after day, night after night, standing up for the cats of the neighbourhood against those pesky dogs, and yet they don't even want him to hang out with them. And when he's in trouble, all the dogs turn up and make a fuss about it. Gloaters. Can he have a chance to come in from the cold? Bonus crossover prompt - if you know the Footrot Flat comics, what would Scarface and Horse think of each other?
Another bonus general prompt - these books have got a very White New Zealand sense of nostalgia about them. If you like writing original characters, how about introducing a Maori or Pacifica or Indian or Chinese family (and associated pets) into the Hairy Maclary universe?
The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
This is just a fun story. It's got a real sense of the ridiculous - this tiger turns up and he's feeling hungry, so _of course_ they invite him into tea. Drinking all the water in the tap? Yeah, sure. And then after the tiger goes away, Sophie's Daddy arrives - so debonnaire with his tartan pants and his hat flung wide - and the trip out to the cafe when it's dark outside with the lights all lit is treated as the really strange and novel adventure.
I'm not really sure what I want as a story, but something that keeps that sense of the absurd would be great. Maybe a story about Sophie meeting the tiger again when she's older? Perhaps another strange visitor?
Derkholm Series by Diana Wynne Jones
This series is a lot of fun, and it's got this incredible juxtaposition of a big scary problem that no one knows how to deal with smash in the middle of teenagers trying to work out who they are as people. It also has that very Diana Wynne Jones trait of wanting the protagonists to acknowledge their actions - to be able to say that maybe they did something for a selfish reason, or knew that they could have acted differently if they'd really wanted to, and *owning* that. I think that's a really powerful thing.
Possible Prompts:
(I've listed four characters, but feel free to write a story about just one or two if you'd like.)
I'd love to see how the relationships between Elda and Flurian, and Claudia and Blade, work out. The books end with this real sense of "I've found the girl I want and nobody else will do, except she's *way* too young right now." I think both Flurian and Blade would care a lot about not being creepy about it - how would they work that out? Would there be benign introductions to other fellows, just to be sure? What kind of feelings do Elda and Claudia have back? Are there good ideas for helping each other out that turn out to be rather more complicated than expected, with hijinks ensuing? Do people fall in love, or do they end up friends, and what has to happen for them to work out what that relationship is going to be? Other prompts - Elda and Claudia having girl time and bonding with each other; Flurian's backstory on the other continent; Blade's got a very old-fashioned magical education from Deucalion - how does he interact with the University trained establishment?
Thank you very much!
Thank you for writing a story for me! I'm really looking forward to it - and please take these prompts as suggestions only, if there's a different story that you think you'll enjoy writing more, write that one. As you can tell from the prompts, I'm interested in a Gen or Teen story - something that's in the spirit of the original texts is what I'm looking for, whether for characters close to their canon age or grown older. I am Just Peachy with original characters turning up, and prequels and sequels and inbetween scenes; but less interested in AUs and crossovers (although I've seen some that really impressed me, so I'm definitely not hardline about it).
Hairy Maclary and Friends Series by Lynley Dodd
I've been reading a lot of Hairy Maclary books lately (I have a toddler), and they're a lot of fun: very fluid verse that holds up to a lot of rereads, great artwork with precise attention to detail, a real sense of humour in the narrative. For the characters I've asked for (I'm fine with an either/or story as well as and):
Miss Plum - I think that Miss Plum is a bit of alright. She does a lot of cat and dog rescuing and general holding hands and throwing frisbees. I'd love a story where the animals around Donaldson's Dairy do something nice for her in return.
Scarface Claw - Scarface is a real anti-hero to me. He's out there, day after day, night after night, standing up for the cats of the neighbourhood against those pesky dogs, and yet they don't even want him to hang out with them. And when he's in trouble, all the dogs turn up and make a fuss about it. Gloaters. Can he have a chance to come in from the cold? Bonus crossover prompt - if you know the Footrot Flat comics, what would Scarface and Horse think of each other?
Another bonus general prompt - these books have got a very White New Zealand sense of nostalgia about them. If you like writing original characters, how about introducing a Maori or Pacifica or Indian or Chinese family (and associated pets) into the Hairy Maclary universe?
The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
This is just a fun story. It's got a real sense of the ridiculous - this tiger turns up and he's feeling hungry, so _of course_ they invite him into tea. Drinking all the water in the tap? Yeah, sure. And then after the tiger goes away, Sophie's Daddy arrives - so debonnaire with his tartan pants and his hat flung wide - and the trip out to the cafe when it's dark outside with the lights all lit is treated as the really strange and novel adventure.
I'm not really sure what I want as a story, but something that keeps that sense of the absurd would be great. Maybe a story about Sophie meeting the tiger again when she's older? Perhaps another strange visitor?
Derkholm Series by Diana Wynne Jones
This series is a lot of fun, and it's got this incredible juxtaposition of a big scary problem that no one knows how to deal with smash in the middle of teenagers trying to work out who they are as people. It also has that very Diana Wynne Jones trait of wanting the protagonists to acknowledge their actions - to be able to say that maybe they did something for a selfish reason, or knew that they could have acted differently if they'd really wanted to, and *owning* that. I think that's a really powerful thing.
Possible Prompts:
(I've listed four characters, but feel free to write a story about just one or two if you'd like.)
I'd love to see how the relationships between Elda and Flurian, and Claudia and Blade, work out. The books end with this real sense of "I've found the girl I want and nobody else will do, except she's *way* too young right now." I think both Flurian and Blade would care a lot about not being creepy about it - how would they work that out? Would there be benign introductions to other fellows, just to be sure? What kind of feelings do Elda and Claudia have back? Are there good ideas for helping each other out that turn out to be rather more complicated than expected, with hijinks ensuing? Do people fall in love, or do they end up friends, and what has to happen for them to work out what that relationship is going to be? Other prompts - Elda and Claudia having girl time and bonding with each other; Flurian's backstory on the other continent; Blade's got a very old-fashioned magical education from Deucalion - how does he interact with the University trained establishment?
Thank you very much!