Author: susanbassmarcus1

In my life I have worked in museums, on stage as a puppeteer, in studio as a puppet sculptor, in schools as an art teacher, and, for one summer in my teens, as a supermarket cashier. Now I am writing, writing, writing, and occasionally cartooning.
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Channel Islands Intrigue

susanbassmarcus1

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (deceased) and finished by Annie Barrows is a strangely light-hearted interpretation of the the travails besetting Guernsey island residents during the Nazi German occupation of WWII. Although the narrative does describe the occupiers’ cruel and draconian measures against Guernsey’s residents, its epistolary form focusing on the career and romantic entanglements of its protagonist, Juliet Ashton almost trivializes the hard times and terrors her Guernsey correspondents suffered. Nevertheless, many of the characters in this entertaining novel (a feat, making Nazi occupation entertaining a la Hagan’s Heroes) are well drawn and … Continue reading Channel Islands Intrigue

A Writer's Progress/ProcessLeave a comment

What I Write

susanbassmarcus1

Nnylf, one of the adolescent protagonists of the novel, has entered a ruined castle tower during a raging storm. His dragon, off to battle, has left him there, hoping his rider will find shelter.

With each cautious footstep, Nnylf felt the stair treads bounce and sag. He slid one hand along a gritty wall to steady himself. When he reached the bottom step, he stopped. He pressed one hand to his chest; his rapidly beating heart pounded in his ears. An arm’s length in front of him stretched a dark curtain. As Nnylf touched it with a shaking finger, it crumbled, and a coat of fine black dust covered the floor in front of him. Beyond lay a broad chamber.

The light that had guided him down the stairway began to fade. Nnylf held his breath. Deepening shadows in each corner of the chamber were moving. They glided toward him, and he felt enveloped by a growing chill penetrating his armor and seeping into his bones. Continue reading What I Write

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Diverging from Philip K. Dick

susanbassmarcus1

After bingeing on at least four novels by Philip K. Dick [hereafter, PKD] and being discomfited by the future he envisioned—dark, wet, cold, and lacking many conventional comforts—I picked up Bruce Sterling’s Holy Fire and William Gibson’s Neuromancer. I wanted to compare their versions of dystopia with PKD’s and see if the inevitability of death and the determination to avoid it run like leitmotifs through their novels, too. Nora Ephron said it best, in the title of one of her last non-fiction books, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman: at a certain point, … Continue reading Diverging from Philip K. Dick

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Divergences–Thoughts on the Writings of Philip K. Dick–Part Two

susanbassmarcus1

“Cataclysm.” First definition: a large-scale violent event in the natural world. Second definition: a sudden violent upheaval, especially in a political or social context. These are the definitions that fuel many science fiction narratives. Couched within them is a persistent … Continue reading Divergences–Thoughts on the Writings of Philip K. Dick–Part Two