Tag: fiction

End of the Month Reflection: Blogging, Writing and Reviews

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Hello Readers ?

This is an end of the month post reflecting on what I’ve done and what I plan on posting on my blog.

Firstly, I have made progress in posting ‘Free Hand‘ poems and a few short stories as well as a ‘Fight Club‘ reflection and ‘T2‘ reflection. I am glad that I have succeeded in posting a good amount of short stories and poems since it is my blogs purpose to present these two particular forms of writing . 

Secondly, I plan on posting a handful of ‘Book Lists‘ and an ‘Introduction’ post that will include a brief summary of the books, movies, and music that I like.

I chose to not do this intro post in the beginning because I wanted to see how the first month would go. I wanted to keep the focus of my blog centered on my writing but I realized from looking at other blogs I want readers to get a feel for the interests I have. 

Coming in May: Booklists, Poetry, Short Stories and More

2-3 Booklists (Fiction, Horror, and Poetry)

Free Hand Poetry Posts ( and revisions)

Launch Party (photos and info on publication release party)

Notebook Excerpts from April 2017

2-3 Short Stories (and/or revisions)

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Book Review: Beautiful City of the Dead

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

‘Books I love’ is a sub part of my ‘Book Lists’ posts. It is a post that contains a review/reflection of one specific book that I have read.

 

Beautiful City of the Dead by [Watts, Leander]

(picture source: amazon.com)

Beautiful City of the Dead by Leander Watts (a.k.a. Th. Metzger) is a young adult novel about a girl named Zee in a band who battles supernatural forces (not entirely sure how to define it, supernatural or sci-fi?). Yes, sounds cheesy I know. But actually this story is written in a style that I recognize now to be closer to prose and poetry. Initially I remember being captivated by the very first chapter which discusses Zee’s obsession with fire (almost a pyromaniac frenzy but not quite) which always led me into binge reading half the book in one sitting (the entire book is only 254 pages). The sentences are often jagged but so clear cut that I can recall certain lines even today.

I think about this book often because of its ability to sear certain images and events (that take place in the story) in my mind. It is a strange synthesis of music appreciation and teen problems meets the unknown (other dimensions? fame? or a bunch of old geezer’s with super powers?). I can never quite put my finger on exactly how to categorize this book and because of this I also love it dearly. I have always wanted a sequel but I know that the book stands alone as a unique piece that needs no continuation, it is only out of my adoration that I’d love to read more about these characters and their extremely weird heavy metal life.

I’d recommend this book to anyone, teen or adult, and especially persons that read poetry on a regular basis. It also has wonderful references to the first ‘Heavy Metal’ bands in RocknRoll. Since I love both poetry, heavy metal music and bands, this book is one in a million for me.

 

If you are reading this, Thank You, for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

Short Story: Mrs. Morrison’s Afternoon

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

This is a short story I wrote for a submission for thefirstline.com. This site gives a prompt called ‘the first line’ which for this particular submission period was, “Mrs.Morrison was too busy to die.” This story was declined but I am very fond of it. I also admire thefirstline.com for their ingenious prompts and amazing stories.

 

word count approx: 900

 

Mrs. Morrison’s Afternoon

by Alina Hansen

 

Mrs. Morrison was too busy to die. She could see a small pool of blood beginning to form on the carpet. The gun heavy in her hand Mrs. Morrison groaned; she needed a drink. What would she tell the kids when they got home?

A glass of scotch in hand, she shrugged off cleaning up the mess. She lit a cigarette while she put on her favorite jazz record. The carpet would have to be replaced. Surprised that no one had come knocking on her door about the gun shot, Mrs. Morrison sat facing the living room window so she could watch for cars.

Mrs. Morrison realized the logical thing to do would have been to call the police beforehand but it had never crossed her mind. It was an accident; she thought it had been a burglar. She poured herself another drink and flipped the record over to side B.

She had good aim though and now that she had a couple drinks, if she had to, she would say she was distraught. Stubbing her cigarette in the ash tray she wondered if anyone had even heard the shot. It had been about a half hour now and not a single car had even driven by.

Mrs. Morrison got up and peaked out the window to look next door. At this hour everyone had already left for work, all she expected was her elderly next door neighbor to be home but to her relief the driveway was empty.

Feeling a little buzzed, she decided she should clean up the mess. Surely there could not be that much blood. The record clicked, the needle swung back to the off position. Mrs. Morrison picked out a couple more jazz records trying to decide what she felt like.

It was a shame and she felt guilty. A catch in her throat, her eyes began to water. She put on another record, sniffling. It wasn’t her fault really when she thought about it. She had just been taken by surprise.

In her mind she went over the events; it was right after she had finished breakfast a door had shut down the hallway. There was no one home except her; she was convinced it was a burglar. Knowing where she kept her gun; she went to her bedroom to retrieve it, safely hidden where the kids would not find it.

She knew now how foolish it had been of her to not call the police but really it had worked out fine. Remembering that the safety was on she checked it, loaded and safety now off, she crept her way down the hall. Thoughts raced through her head, Was it just one burglar? Was he even a burglar? What if he was a murderer or a rapist? Her heart pounded in her chest but she remained calm enough to convince herself to walk up to the door.

Ear to the door, she made no sound, holding her breath for just a few seconds to listen in silence. She heard a bump and the sound of things falling onto the floor.

Slowly turning the knob until it clicked open, she took a breath and pushed the door open. The window was open; the curtains billowed in the wind. A shadow flinted across the room, Mrs. Morrison pulled the trigger; a shot rang out. Twinkles, the kid’s large fluffy black cat, was on the floor dead.

Mrs. Morrison was relieved it had not been a burglar. It was still horrible, what would she say to her kids? Should she even tell them? The cat had disappeared a few days ago anyway and they thought she had run away. She must have crawled through the open window and accidently shut the door.

It looked like some books had been knocked off the bookshelf that must have been what she had heard. Mrs. Morrison did not even like the damn cat in the first place. It had been a vagrant that just appeared about a year ago. The kids had taken him in and given him that ridiculous name.

END

 

If you are reading this, Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

Latest Finds: Poetry, Fiction, Etc.

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I found some great books recently at the UofU’s book sale. I plan on reading these books over the summer and thought I’d make a list of them for my readers.

Poetry

The POETRY Anthology 1912-1977 (Sixty-Five Years of America’s Most Distinguished Verse Magazine) Edited by Daryl Hine and Joseph Parisi

Poets on Poetry Edited, with an Introduction, by Charles Norman

The Contemporary Poet as Artist and Critic eight symposia Edited by Anthony Ostroff

Critical Analysis

(Twentieth Century Views) Yeats: A collection of Critical Essays Edited by John Unterecker

(Twentieth Century Views) T.S. Eliot: A collection of Critical Essays Edited by Hugh Kenner

Fiction

Loot at the Harlequins! By Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters 1940-1977 Edited by Dmitri Nabokov and Matthew J. Bruccoli

 

I subscribe and get POETRY magazine, and when I found the anthology (listed above) I was elated!

I am a big fan of reading Critical Essays, especially when I am really familiar with most of the writer’s works. The ‘Twentieth Century View’ books in particular are my favorites. I recently read one on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works and it was pretty amazing.

I am a lover of Vladimir Nabokov and have been for a long time now. I always find his books to be kind of pricey in local bookstores so when I found these two books (in brand new condition) for $1 each I was super stoked!

If I finish any of these soon and feel like doing a short response/reflection, I will post one under the ‘Poetry’ tab.

 

If you are reading this Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

My Top Five Favorite Books: Poetry and Fiction

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

These are my top five books that I either (A) think about at least once a day (B) have read multiple times and can’t put down or (B) that I completely love. If I were to put down all the books that can be included within A,B, and C, this would be a huge post! So to keep it short and to the point here are five books that as of right now I feel are indispensable to other writers and lovers of poetry and fiction.

Imaginations by William Carlos Williams

Ulysses by James Joyce

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation Edited by Anne Waldman

The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry Edited by J.D. McClatchy

Firstly, Imaginations is a book with such beautiful language I am left highlighting and underlining almost every part. Williams is one of my favorite poets and when I found this book I was elated. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Now I read and reread certain parts completely obsessed with the structure and imagery that he uses. Love this book.

Ulysses, a book I attempted to read on my own a few years ago but felt overwhelmed and stupid after trying. It was the first book that I ever picked up that made me feel like the content and style was over my head. It wasn’t until I took a Joyce class up at the University of Utah which focused mainly on Ulysses that I was able to understand this bible of language and style. Given the right tools and information required this book exploded before my eyes as one of the greatest novels ever written. I return periodically to reread certain parts of Ulysses whenever I feel inspired to write something dangerous.

Orlando,  not the only Woolf book I’ve read but one of my absolute favorites. When I first began reading Orlando I was thinking about the possibility of creating a character that moves beyond sexuality and gender. Although it is not exactly about this Orlando was close to it and inspirational to read. I fell back into reading  Woolf harder than ever after that and got lost in her work for the next few months.

The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation , this book has the background information and key works by some of the most influential Beat Poets (of course, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac). I usually jump around from chapter to chapter and research more on the Poets that speak to me. Which is difficult because I’ve already ended up researching about half the poets in the book and I’m not done. This is a perfect resource for learning about the Beat Poets and their work.

The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry, contains selections from some of my favorite poets including Adrienne Rich, Elizabeth Bishop, Theodore Roethke, Frank O’ Hara, Galway Kinnell and Gary Snyder just to name a few. I have loved this book for a couple years now and always pick it up when I want to return to my favorites.

I hope this short list helps someone out there that needs more inspiration!

Thank you for reading and taking time out of your day to visit. I hope you return in the future!

Thank you!

-Alina