Scene from 'Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game'
In 2000 I was living in Sudan, teaching English at a local university. My first child, Kimberly, had just started walking, I was full of new-parent pride, and somewhere along the line I decided to write a children's book. The result was Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game, an Alice in Wonderland-esque tale of a young girl transported to 'Riverland', a mythical land based on places I lived in and visited along the River Nile.
So where do the coincidences come in?
Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game starts off at London Zoo, in the Reptile House. Two year after I wrote the book, whilst I was living in Saudi Arabia, a friend I visited put Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone on the DVD player. Lo and behold, one of the first scenes of the film takes place in the Reptile House of what looks suspiciously like London Zoo.
The strangest coincidence however, is when Kimberly Smith gets to 'Wobbly Stadium', so called because it's made of rubber and loosely based on the old Wembley Stadium which was famous for its Twin Towers. In this chapter of the book, to intimidate the frogs and toads playing a football game, two giants begin kicking the Twin Towers. Ironically, I finished writing up and editing this section of the book on a computer disk in August 2001, less than a month before the other famous Twin Towers were attacked in New York.
Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game saw publication at the end of 2002, serialised in the Saudi Gazette's weekly supplement.
The book's sequel, Kimberly Smith and the Arboreal Castle, also written in 2000 but set in 'Treeland', revolved around the building of a dam which threatens the existence of Treeland's animal inhabitants. Alas, since writing the story, this territory has been extensively covered by the film Madagascar 2 and the Open Season movies.
That's enough coincidences for now. If I think of any more, I'll write them up in a sequel blog.
Below are links to my two Global Short Story Competition winners, my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi, and my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment:
http://coscomentertainment.com/?p=159
http://www.globalshortstories.net/winningstoriesjuly09.pdf
http://www.globalshortstories.net/winningstoriesdec09.pdf
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness
Happy writing!
So where do the coincidences come in?
Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game starts off at London Zoo, in the Reptile House. Two year after I wrote the book, whilst I was living in Saudi Arabia, a friend I visited put Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone on the DVD player. Lo and behold, one of the first scenes of the film takes place in the Reptile House of what looks suspiciously like London Zoo.
The strangest coincidence however, is when Kimberly Smith gets to 'Wobbly Stadium', so called because it's made of rubber and loosely based on the old Wembley Stadium which was famous for its Twin Towers. In this chapter of the book, to intimidate the frogs and toads playing a football game, two giants begin kicking the Twin Towers. Ironically, I finished writing up and editing this section of the book on a computer disk in August 2001, less than a month before the other famous Twin Towers were attacked in New York.
Kimberly Smith and the Pyramid Game saw publication at the end of 2002, serialised in the Saudi Gazette's weekly supplement.
The book's sequel, Kimberly Smith and the Arboreal Castle, also written in 2000 but set in 'Treeland', revolved around the building of a dam which threatens the existence of Treeland's animal inhabitants. Alas, since writing the story, this territory has been extensively covered by the film Madagascar 2 and the Open Season movies.
That's enough coincidences for now. If I think of any more, I'll write them up in a sequel blog.
Below are links to my two Global Short Story Competition winners, my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi, and my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment:
http://coscomentertainment.com/?p=159
http://www.globalshortstories.net/winningstoriesjuly09.pdf
http://www.globalshortstories.net/winningstoriesdec09.pdf
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness
Happy writing!
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