Fuchsia is a purplish-red color, but it’s also the name of a character in two of my favorite books. Lady Fuchsia is the daughter of the Lord of Gormenghast in Mervyn Peake’s TITUS GROAN and GORMENGHAST. The third book of the trilogy, TITUS ALONE, doesn’t take place in Gormenghast, so who cares?

Fuchsia had the most AWESOME get-away place EVER. Bad taste in men, but you can’t have everything.

But that’s not the point. The point is, I had this dress when I was in middle/high school that my grandmother loved because it didn’t bag on me. I preferred baggy clothes, but I loved this dress, too. It was washable, but it was the color of raw silk and had fuchsia (here’s where fuchsia comes into it) piping up each side. I thought it was the bee’s knees and the cat’s elbow.

No, I wasn’t drunk when the picture was taken, even though I do look distinctly gormless. I was probably thinking about some story I was making up or something. Or possibly I was thinking, “Why does my hair look like hedgehogs have been rolling in it?”

But I did love that dress.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character has a piece of clothing they fancy themselves in.

MA