Ask the Author: Frances Fischer
Answered Questions (2)
Frances Fischer
I would zip right off to the Discworld, Terry Pratchett's fantasy world that swims through the universe on the back of Great A'Tuin, the celestial turtle, through 41 brilliant novels, the funniest I have ever read. But they are so much more than hahas. Sir Terry has no illusions about the failings & foibles of humankind, but he is benevolent. There are fools & egotists aplenty living on the Discworld, but there are no evil villains & that, I want to bring into my own writing. Native speakers have the advantage here, with the puns & names & phrasings throughout. His use of language is my greatest pleasure, but I know several good readers of English as a second or third language who cannot get into Pratchett; he is simply beyond them. My husband Thomas & his younger brother Jean have no such problem. The Discworld & other Pratchett titles - often collaborations with science or science fiction writers like Neil Gaiman - fill several shelves in our library, most sent by Jean when he lived in London, & they have all been read & reread. Among other delights, his love for Shakespeare comes through in several plots & characters, so what I would do on the Discworld is join the 3 witches - Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg & Magrat Garlick (who in their first book marries the king).
Three witches ... Shakespeare ... hmm, does this ring a bell? Their first book, Wyrd Sisters, opens as an eldritch voice screeches, "When shall we three meet again?" A rather more ordinary voice answers, "Well, I can do next Tuesday."
Yeps, I would tog out in black from the thrift shop, pull on my pointy hat, learn to be so still I almost become part of the hedge, learn healing & headology, meet the wizards at Unseen University & learn a few tricks there too. (I have already written the lyrics to Nanny Ogg's ditty, A Wizard's Staff has a Knob on the End.) Mainly, I would learn to fly on a broom so I could be all over the Discworld with Granny & Nanny, wherever a witch is needed. Wish I could go tomorrow.
Three witches ... Shakespeare ... hmm, does this ring a bell? Their first book, Wyrd Sisters, opens as an eldritch voice screeches, "When shall we three meet again?" A rather more ordinary voice answers, "Well, I can do next Tuesday."
Yeps, I would tog out in black from the thrift shop, pull on my pointy hat, learn to be so still I almost become part of the hedge, learn healing & headology, meet the wizards at Unseen University & learn a few tricks there too. (I have already written the lyrics to Nanny Ogg's ditty, A Wizard's Staff has a Knob on the End.) Mainly, I would learn to fly on a broom so I could be all over the Discworld with Granny & Nanny, wherever a witch is needed. Wish I could go tomorrow.
Frances Fischer
Not quite, how about a 4-sentence instead? Here it is:
That noise again – he froze, afraid, ashamed, thinking she was free now, and who knew what that crazy jealous bitch he once loved might think up. Search the dark, shaking, come on, be a man. He took one step forward, darkness lifted from the floor as her fat orange cat slipped from the shadows and looked up at him, apologizing.
“Stupid cat!”
He laughed so hard he never heard the whish of her knife.
That noise again – he froze, afraid, ashamed, thinking she was free now, and who knew what that crazy jealous bitch he once loved might think up. Search the dark, shaking, come on, be a man. He took one step forward, darkness lifted from the floor as her fat orange cat slipped from the shadows and looked up at him, apologizing.
“Stupid cat!”
He laughed so hard he never heard the whish of her knife.
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