A Thousand Words is Worth One Picture
“Where do you get your inspiration?” is possibly the second most dreaded question for writers.*
Most of the time it’s a nearly impossible question to answer. The daily olio of miscellany that my brain turns into story ideas is complex, to say the least. But my recent short story DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE LIGHT has a simpler answer.
I love painting almost as much as writing, though I think I’m better at writing. And as a former boat kid, I’ve always had an affinity for sea creatures. There is a large octopus, its legs each a different color of the rainbow, that hangs above my tv—and notable for these times of working-from-home, it is a prominent background feature for Zoom calls. Nearby is a golden manatee with a sea bird balancing on its back. And over by the entrance hangs a gruesome but colorful angler fish with its light on.
My angler fish does not get the Zoom background treatment.
I’m particularly proud of this angler fish painting. So much so that at the time it was painted—about five years ago—I was offered real American dollars for it, and declined. Another reason that I’ll never make it as a painter.
There is a world deep below the sea that we know less about than the surface of the moon, or Mars, I think. Not knowing is a delicious mystery. And as a decidedly more creative person than a scientist, I am far more likely to plumb these depths with my imagination than ever get invited to join some billionaire’s submarine expedition down to the Mariana Trench.
Of the things we do know, the angler fish use the lack of light to lure prey into their violent jaws. This face illuminated is the last thing you’ll ever see. What delicious horror! But beyond the violence, I’ve always been fascinated that male angler fish attach to the bellies of the females, where they stay until they die.
Now I’ve been in my share of relationships, with lovely and interesting people. Several were nice and a couple were less so. But even the sweetest, kindest, gentlest boyfriend of my wildest dreams would be violently removed from my torso with a bread knife immediately, should such literally fusion ever occur. Imagine!
So, that’s what I did. I imagined.
Off to write my follow up story about humans who become attached like angler fish! ;)
Tell me, where do YOU get your inspiration?
*I maintain that the very worst is something along the lines of “Oh, are you still writing?” which implies that perhaps you should have given up this silly dream a long time ago and adopted a more reasonable hobby. Like bow hunting or blackmail.
