Diamond-April 2013

Diamond photo from Tumblr. Design done with Phoster.

"There was a room where the solid, soft gold of the walls yielded to the

pressure of his hand, and a room that was like a platonic conception

of the ultimate prison--ceiling, floor, and all, it was lined with an

unbroken mass of diamonds, diamonds of every size and shape, until,

lit with tail violet lamps in the corners, it dazzled the eyes with a

whiteness that could be compared only with itself, beyond human wish,

or dream." --- The Diamond as big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The toughest, most beautiful and expensive gem there is, is April's theme for The Pool Collective. I am pretty excited to see what our writers have in store for us.

An object of desire, love and a testament to the power and beauty of nature, the diamond is probably the closest we could get to having stars in and on Earth. To me, it's the closest and best any human could attain of putting a star on a ring, on a necklace, an earring and many more. But of course, there is a darker touch to it: blood diamonds, child labor, smuggling, drugs, the whole lot that fall into this category.

While TPC can't give real diamonds for inspiration, I know that the object itself will pluck from our writers plenty of stories to weave this month. 

The same rules apply. English short stories that use the theme in any way that the writer pleases. Rules will change through the course of the next months, but for April, there are no changes.

Soon our stories will be up and as we all wait for the shining short stories to come, here are some recommendations written by classic heroes for your reading pleasure: Guy De Maupassant's The Diamond Necklace, Fitz-James O'Brien's The Diamond Lens and my personal favorite (definitely an F. Scott fan) F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Diamond as big as the Ritz.

Keep reading. Keep writing.

Gerard