Wednesday, November 3, 2010

WIP Wednesday: In Which I Leave My Body

Ever have one of those moments when you feel like you're living in another person's body?

I read a snippet from Geoff Willmetts brief mention of Triangulation: End of the Rainbow at Stephen Hunt's SF Crowsnest and had just such an experience:

‘The World In Rubber, Soft And Malleable’ by Aaron Polson has a title you have to love. A small town has a population that is slowly vanishing and one of the local graffiti painting teens remaining decides to celebrate their lives. This story wouldn’t have been out of place under the auspices of Ray Bradbury.

Ray effing Bradbury? Knock me over with a feather.

Speaking of out of body experiences, it seems I've won the Whidbey Writers Workshop Students' Choice Award for October with my magical realism flash, "Different Strings". You can read "Different Strings" online. You can also read some curious comments about one of Mercedes M. Yardley's previous entries. Thanks, Mercedes. I wouldn't have entered without your prompting.

Okay, enough of that astral traveling. Here's a piece of my as-yet-untitled WIP:


Here’s the truth about growing up in a small town: you tell lies to survive.

I worked in a grocery store in high school, part time on the evenings and weekends. I saw plenty of strange things there: avocados stuffed in a barrel of fresh popcorn left to rot, a co-worker who used an awl to punch holes in the caps of beer bottles, pies marked “Verda’s own home-baked” which came frozen on pallets with the Sunday dairy truck. I found a body in the trash bin once, but nobody can prove who put it there.

17 comments:

Barry Napier said...

It is becoming a habit of coming by your blog and having to offer a congrats.

You should consider just having it as an optional field beneath the comments section.

Aaron Polson said...

Ha ha, Barry. (but thanks)

Alan W. Davidson said...

Woah, Bradbury...high praise,indeed, Mr. Polson. Very nice snippet, BTW. Small town, but with a mystery to offer...or more?

Danielle Birch said...

Most impressive, and having read some of your work, completely worthy. Well done.

Corinne said...

Wow - talk about high praise. That's wonderful, Aaron. Congratulations!

I love that snippet, too. It makes me really curious about the rest.

Aaron Polson said...

Alan - Let's just say we're playing with reality a bit, eh?

Thanks, Danielle.

Corinne - I was a bit surprised. I hope Bradbury doesn't find out...he might be embarrassed. ;)

Cate Gardner said...

Congrats, Aaron. I've printed the story out to read later.

Aaron Polson said...

I hope you enjoy, Cate. Poor Owen almost cried when I read it to him.

Anonymous said...

Ray Bradbury? I can see it. How fantastic! :D

I also loved "Different Strings". Slightly creepy but mostly heartbreaking. I wanted to leave a comment on the site and tell you how much I enjoyed it, but, um, the comments are obviously a bit screwed up. Beautiful story. Congratulations on the win! :D

-Mercedes

Cate Gardner said...

I get that, it was quite heartbreaking. Poor Owen indeed.

Aaron Polson said...

Mercedes - Thanks. I owe it to you, of course.

Cate - My wife made me read it. I swear. She even asked if it was kid safe...

Fox Lee said...

Fantastic! Enjoy the time in another person's body, whoever it is ; )

Anonymous said...

I remember reading this one at A Fly in Amber and thinking, "This guy's going places." Glad I was right!

K.C. Shaw said...

Wow! Congrats on the awesome review (which is totally deserved)!

I love the story snippet you posted. Very intriguing.

Katey said...

Congratulations on EVERYTHING, Aaron. So, so well deserved. You're about the only one who could be knocked over with an F (as Bertie Wooster says)--we all feel just the same as your reviewer :D

Daniel Powell said...

Word up to that story! Looking forward to reading this, Aaron...

Aaron Polson said...

Natalie - That just might be fun, for a while.

Thanks, Milo.

K.C. - I hope I can generate momentum. My last few "longer" projects have fizzled.

Katey - Awwww...

Thanks, Daniel.