mandag den 21. september 2009

The Red Shoes


I know, I know. I should be reading & reviewing. Honestly, I am. 100 pages more, and there will be a review for you.

But look at these delicious shoes – they are simply shouting for a story, aren´t they? (They are my daughter´s, but at least she let me take a picture).

Where might that story take place?
When?
Whom do they belong to?
Who are the main characters?
What is going to happen to them? (characters or shoes – that is entirely up to you)

Write a comment with your ideas for a story called The Red Shoes, and I shall try to include some of them in my next flash fiction story.

23 kommentarer:

Anonym sagde ...

Oh, how intriguing, Dorte!!! The story I imagine for these shoes takes place in modern-day London at a posh hotel where there has been a large convention. The shoes belong to a woman who's attended the convention. The main characters are the woman who owns the shoes, three work colleagues with whom she went to the convention, and the main convention organizer.

The woman who owns the shoes dies mysteriously right after she kicks those shoes off following the official convention dinner. Apparently, she has died of poisoned food, and at first, the hotel kitchen staff is under scrutiny. We find out, though, that the three people who attended the convention with this woman all had motives to want to kill her.

I could go on, but I'd want more time to sort out my ideas, and of course, others will have even better ideas! Thanks for a fascinating post!

Jose Ignacio Escribano sagde ...

Very nice post. Fyi I have just added a new gadget to my blog, google translator. Maybe it can help a little, although I know the translation is still very poor, but at least is something.

Louise sagde ...

I love red shoes and have a couple of pairs myself.

I think they belong to a retired policeman.

Dorte H sagde ...

Margot, I was planning a flash story, not a novel :D
But thanks a lot; there should be plenty of stuff to work on.

Louise, I thought they would appeal to any shoe fetichist :O
Thank you.

Dorte H sagde ...

Jose: I have tried out your google translator, and though it makes one laugh now and then, it does help a lot, thank you.

Anonym sagde ...

Dorte,
What can I say: I'm a writer, and when I get started....; ). Besides, I was just so fascinated by your questions. What a great post today! :)

Dorte H sagde ...

Margot, I WANT to be a writer, and I promise that I´ll do my utmost with the jigsaw pieces people offer me. I am so glad the shoes appeal to my readers; when I saw them, I knew immediadetely that they would come in handy. LOL

Anonym sagde ...

What a great idea to query tidbits for your red shoe flash! Here's mind: red shoes don't show drops of blood to the casual observer.

Dorte H sagde ...

Cathryn: good point :)

Julia Phillips Smith sagde ...

I love Louise's owner for the shoes. I'll add that the price tag is still stuck to the bottom of one of them.

Just a note about the poem over at my place: the author of the story wrote it as prose, and I crafted his words into a found poem. But his prose is highly poetic, all on its own.

Søren sagde ...

I love red shoes too, but don't have a pair (no no, I don't, I swear!).

Red shoes belonging to a retired policeman with invesible bloodstains might turn up a dark, rainy night at the harbour...

Dorte H sagde ...

Julia, thank you :)

I can see it was silly of me not to realize that the poem was yours (my excuse is that I spend my best hours working and begin my blogging round when I grow tired). But I hope you see it as a compliment to you!

Dorte H sagde ...

Søren, if Louise could pick and choose between a retired policeman and you, she might just let you have the shoes ;)

But just go on, everybody, and I won´t have to write much myself.

Maxine Clarke sagde ...

Now here is a shoe comment: jealousy! Ever since being 13 years old, I have had large, flat and wide feet. I could never buy shoes. Imagine my shame when my sisters (I was eldest of 4) could not even fit into my 12-year-old school shoes when they were 18 and in their last year at school (I am quite old so when I was young it was normal to "pass down" school uniform through the family to save money.)
I do have very large feet and though I believe that the world has improved a bit so at least now we can actually buy shoes that are not men's shoes (I remember when "trainers" first came in - what a relief!) I could never wear shoes like those beautiful red shoes. My feet could never fit into anything lovely. Flat, wide and large is a very depressing combination! So whoever owns those shoes, she is a very lucky lady to be able to be so feminine and attractively shod ;-)

Dorte H sagde ...

Maxine: Elisabeth really enjoys all these comments on her wonderful shoes. She loves them and looks gorgeous in them, but the funny thing is they have been really cheap - £ 8. LOL

The women in this family have very broad feet, but as they are also relatively small it is not too bad. A friend of mine also has very large feet, and when her girls were small, she told them to buy women´s shoes when they were 10, because they would not be able to find any when they grew up.

Felicity Grace Terry sagde ...

Well this post certainly got me thinking. The shoes most certainly belong to a woman who leads a double life, a life of mystery, a life of hidden secrets.

pattinase (abbott) sagde ...

The Tess Gallagher poem about how her husband (Raymond Carver) loved her red shoes is enough to make me weep. I would never be without a pair.

Dorte H sagde ...

Petty: a mysterious woman? Yes, I am sure you are onto something :D

Dorte H sagde ...

Patti: I haven´t read that one. Is it "Widow in Red Shoes"? I could imagine it would also make me weep.
And I wonder, what could Raymond Carver have made of a pair of red shoes? His stories are weird but wonderful.

Elizabeth Spann Craig sagde ...

Red shoes always remind me of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. :)

As far as Dan Brown's awful sentences--where were his editors? Wow!

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Dorte H sagde ...

Elizabeth: I have seen the Wizard of Oz, but not in colours! As you probably know, we are a bit backwards in Denmark ;)

Dan Brown´s editors - running after money perhaps?

Unknown sagde ...

I also love red color and I enjoyed reading Raymond Carver loved red shoe. I really feel jealous as my husband never bought red shoe for me.
Large shoes

Dorte H sagde ...

Hi Alexaa.
Nice to meet you. Did you read my story about the red shoes, by the way? I was able to use most of the ideas people came up with.