Life & Writing Thoughts on Gothic Lit
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Writing
Life

I know it's been a while since I've written - the Christmas rush is on! Not only that, Joseph started his "group" on Thurs and Fri and it's from 1030 to 1230 which makes those days very hectic for me. As for Christmas, I did a bulk of my shopping yesterday.  I took Joseph to the mall with me and he was great for being 2! He waved "hi" to everyone and every so often even said "hewlo" in the soft little voice of his.  He was smiling and happy.  I kept him occupied with popcorn and milk which seemed to work. Mind you, I had to know where I was going and what I wanted.  Joseph is not for "browsing," but considering he's two, I thought he did great.  I was able to get the ornaments for our ornament exchange and some and ends stuff.  I went to the "Candleman" with Andrew (he loves to go there) and we sorted through Yankee Candle scents until we settled on "Red Berry and Cider" for our home Christmas scent. I thought at one point they had bayberry but the lady they hadn't carried bayberry in at least 3 years.   After that, we went to Costco to grind the coffee beans I forgot to do last week and when we got home, Andrew and I decorated our Christmas tree.  He had a blast. Joseph was a little impatient with us...
Writing

Now onto the writing thought of the day. I thought I'd tackle the different genres in couple of my upcoming posts and today I thought I'd look at Gothic Lit.  A GREAT book that really captures the flavor of Gothic writing that's very recent is "THE 13TH TALE."



Gothic Lit got it's start in 1764 when Horace Walpole wrote "The Castle of Otranto." Walpole's story contained all the elements to define the gothic genre. Throughout the years, many authors have taken their stab at writing gothic lit, putting their own unique spin on it.

Ann Radcliffe, writing in 1794 gave the genre a sense of legitamcy when she questioned the supernatural elements, explaining them away as natural causes. She also introduced the brooding villain, who by the end of the story, is revealed to be the hero.

Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was definitely influenced by Gothic elements, but her novel is considered one of the first science fiction novels to be written.

I'll have more thoughts on Gothic Lit tomorrow.

Smiles,
Steph