Do sit back and relax for a spell. Three tales from Spirit I have to tell. Moving ahead from lives felt wrong. Finally found—a place to belong.
Words Needed by Regine Allison Claire
Tess: teenager, studious, voracious reader, and in her high school, she couldn’t be more of a misfit. It’s not just a social label; it’s frustrating and isolating. Is she too “weird” to belong anywhere?
When her love of fantasy literature and history collide in an assignment, she gets more answers than she could have ever expected.
With a single word, she will find acceptance.
Power Walking by TJ Burns
When Leda’s recent heartbreak leaves her sleepless and depressed, she begins a new ritual of taking late-night walks. One evening her midnight wanderings reveal a sight that both frightens and intrigues her.
Is the shrouded circle of women a figment of Leda’s exhausted mind, or are they the gatekeepers on her path to empowerment?
Home by Jamie White
Julie has always been curious about her family’s spiritual path, but she’s never been allowed to take part in their traditions because of her age. Now that she’s reached adulthood, she must decide whether to dedicate herself to their path, or forge her own.
Available as an eBook from the following retailers:
Experience three chilling tales of darkness and hidden secrets.
Burden by Regine Allison Claire
Fifteen-year-old Keldie has a terrible secret—her cousin is locked up in her parents’ house.
She’s never seen him but she hears him, frightening her almost as much as the visions of the yellow-eyed bear that haunt her.
After another boy is rescued from a similar situation nearby, Keldie is at the crossroads of truth. Is she a monster for hiding her parents’ secret? Will confession set her guilty heart free?
Everyone Knows My Name by Andrew P Weston
Tony Roberts was a man who, for years, had been forced to suffer the ignominy of ridicule and ostracism because of his outlandish scientific theories.
Shunned by his contemporaries, he sought to justify his methods by any means possible, just so his name would end up on everyone’s lips, where he felt it belonged.
One day, he got his wish. Little did he realize it would be for all the wrong reasons.
An Act of Faith by Ed “CC” Emerson
Imagine the fear.
Fear of being discovered. Fear of being caught. Fear that any one of your neighbors might turn you in. Fear that, at any time, the Secret Police might break down your door and drag you off into the night—never to be seen again.
All simply because of An Act of Faith.
Available as an eBook from the following retailers:
Pagan Writers Press is currently seeking flash fiction stories of 1,000 – 2,500 words for inclusion in promotional eBooks for the press. Authors will receive a share of the royalties.
This call includes these two themed collections:
Paranormal Romance: “These stories focus on relationships, but have a supernatural twist. Characters can be shifters, witches, ghosts, vampires, or a host of other creatures (or be the humans that interact with them). They can be on the darker side, but the focus must be on the relationships.”
Halloween / Samhain: “Celebrate the magic and mystique of this solemn (and fun) holiday with stories that occur on this day or the days leading up to it. All non-erotic genres welcome.”
From the submission guidelines:
“One submission per author per collection is allowed (i.e. you can submit two different stories to two of the anthologies, but not more than one story for each).
Please review our standard guidelines before submitting your work. Failure to follow them will result in the rejection of your work.
All settings/eras/time periods welcome unless designated in the comments above.
All manner of relationships (straight, GBLT, or polyamorous) are welcome. Graphic lovemaking should be restricted to the Erotic submissions only. Submissions featuring pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, rape as titillation, etc. will be rejected.
Royalties from the sale of the individual anthologies will be split between the company and contributors, paid out on a quarterly basis. Each contributor will also receive an author’s copy of the complete anthology, which will exist in electronic format only.
Submit your work for the anthologies through this submission system.
All work submitted must be your own, and you shall retain copyright. We allow reprints, but the work must not have been published within 90 days of submission.
Please direct any questions you may have to angie@paganwriterspress.com.
Deadline for Submissions – March 1, 2015”
It’s an awesome opportunity for anyone who likes to write the itty, bitty stories. So submit today and join the likes of my flash fiction stories, Shift and The Flying Dead.
Happy “Bookversary” to my first publication, Four Sisters.
It has been a full year since the novella was released. And while for some it may not seem like a big thing, it really is for me. Until this point, I had tinkered with short stories, novels, and poetry between classes and jobs but didn’t go forth and publish. To tell the truth, most of it was because I got so caught up in the grind of school-work-volunteer-family-school-work-school-life. What very little time I had left was not spent writing, even though I wanted it to be. I found myself becoming a 9-to-5 schedule zombie, scraping together minutes for creativity. Often the outlet was sewing (by hand, to boot) or random things here-and-there, but the writing was lacking. Big mistake. Apparently I get very grouchy and the void lurking within makes itself known.
Tragedy & the (Re)birth of the Self
And then it hit me: my mother’s very sudden, very shocking, very depressing death. In the middle of June 2012, I remember waving goodbye to her and my father from the concrete walk of the train station. I had spent several days with them as I usually would, but needed to get home to my work. At the time, one of the projects my colleagues and I had worked diligently on had just hit the fan and we were feeling grief from losing individuals we were trying to help. I was not in the best of moods.
Then in the middle of the night on June 30, 2012, my partner and I received the dreaded phone call. Mom had passed that morning in her sleep. Her heart just stopped. No warning. No chance to say goodbye. Just… stopped.
Everything that was important at the time went out the window. Family became the everything. And mourning took over. I found I couldn’t focus. It was really apparent when I received a very simple, straightforward email from a colleague and read the first sentence 15 times before realizing I had no idea what it said. The email was in perfect English. It was a simple sentence. My eyes saw everything; my brain processed nothing.
And that’s when I turned to writing. Why?
It was the only thing I could actually do.
Reading emails, news articles, reports — all of it went over my head. But the creative writing thing stuck. It’s funny, almost as if when I’m stripped down to my most basic parts, the storytelling is at the core. And to tell the truth, it isn’t a huge surprise. This isn’t the first time writing has been associated with death in my life. It’s the second, at least. The first was when I was 6 years old and wrote my very first story (or so I remember). It was a story about a boy who lost his mitten. I wrote it because I was killing time at my babysitter’s house, waiting for my parents to pick us up. The day just got longer and longer; the night darker and darker. By the time my parents arrived, the story was done.
Then I found out my grandfather died earlier that day.
Now the story, his death, and the birth of my writing are forever linked. Incidentally, it’s the same story that my 1st grade teacher submitted to the regional Literary Guild program, then I was chosen to read the story to my peers at the event.
Bringing Life to Death
At the time of dealing with my grief, I just wanted to be productive, not curl up into a ball every day and let time pass. So I left the work behind and focused on writing. I spent most of my time on an adult novel I had started years before, letting my subconscious take the story to the next level.
Somewhere along the way, I decided to branch out and see what else the world had to offer.
Peddling back a bit: by the time I was twelve, I knew I wanted to be a published author. One of my schoolmates swears I knew this way before then and, now that I think about it, she’s probably right. Maybe I was 9 or 10. In any event, I spent so much time speed-reading and writing as a kid that I wanted to be like those people I admired. I had ideas, too, and an active imagination. When I was about 14, I gave publishers a go. My mother, bless her heart, helped me prepare proposal packages and we sent them to a few publishers I had pulled from my copy of Writer’s Market. They were all rejected, but nicely. After that, I put the queries aside and focused on improving my skills in school.
But then jump to the more recent past of 2013, where I was toiling in thoughts and my head felt like I was stuck in a snow globe someone had shaken over and over, blocking out everything from my sight. I was checking out agents and publishers and what 2013 had to offer. So much had changed since 1997! Now things were at my fingertips in a matter of kb/s.
That’s when I discovered submission calls that caught my interest.
Two novellas: one adult romance and one that said simply “12 Days of Solstice”. It could have gone anywhere, but something about the Solstice call screamed YA to me. I also loved the idea of writing something for a publishing house called Pagan Writers Press. The calls were for shorter stories — not novels — so I dove right on in and worked on both at the same time. I hadn’t written a short story in a long while and had been working on a novel up until that point. I thought it would be a great time to do something new. Spread my wings. Get some experience in this new, technological, eBook-devouring, Indie and small-publishing world.
How It Begins Isn’t Necessarily How It Ends
The solstice story didn’t come as easily as I had hoped. The original idea I had for it didn’t work out in my soul as much as my head thought it would. The premise was about a girl who discovered her Norse spirituality while on vacation with her parents, a trip she didn’t want to take. There was something about her leaving the cabin and getting lost, then getting found by… something. I don’t what anymore. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t happening. The days dwindled. The deadline crept up.
Then something hit me. I don’t remember exactly what, but it smacked me in the head. Something about a fairytale-like story. A myth. Fantastical, which is my default genre; my home. I started thinking about this boy who ran into elementals and had a problem.
This is what my notes looked like:
Then I just kept going. I pulled out photos I had found while browsing social media and other websites and started pulling together characters.
Fun fact #1: Originally, Fallow’s name came from thinking about one of my friends, Fallon. Her name is fabulous and fits her so well. I didn’t want to totally steal it, though. Then the “ow” end came to mind. I’m pretty sure it came from the recesses of memory, after I’d heard it in passing or came across it in a story. I was certain it was a real word. When I looked it up, I nearly fell over laughing. The name suit perfectly in its own way. So it stuck. Thanks for being an inspiration, Fallon. The first time but not the last.
Fun fact #2: The appearance of all of the sisters in the story are derived from photos I particularly loved. I can’t share them because of copyright, but they’re from photo shoots, costumers, stock… wherever. I scoured my options and threw collages together for each family, setting up sister after sister. They came together pretty easily. Even their names weren’t a far stretch. Then again, I love the naming process.
Let the Nail-biting Begin
The story did not start with ease. It took me a little while. I had to switch rooms, positions, and approach just to get it. Then a creepy image took over. Once I got through the first few paragraphs, the rest of the scene flowed. Then the rest of the story. It took some patience, believe me. But by the end, I was confident and thought I had pulled something fun together.
The editing process didn’t kill me half as much as I thought it would, and I’m still learning even now. But I did the best I could and submitted it.
The waiting was worse. Would the publisher hate it? I was no stranger to rejection, but I’d hoped for something positive. I finished the other novella at around the same time. Ugh x2.
The next month, I checked my email late at night.
Hello acceptance.
I freaked out. Blinked. Blinked some more. Checked the submission manager. Sure enough, I wasn’t going blind or delusional. The first thing was to email the publisher back. And call my partner with an “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God”.
After so long of being out of the game, and scrambling to catch up, it couldn’t have made me happier. A complete stranger took something of mine on.
Then the edits came around. I hadn’t dealt with an editor in the professional capacity before so it was a new experience. Not as painful as I thought. Then the proofreading. Again, not as painful. I think waiting for the cover art was the scariest part. I put my faith in the lovely Angie Mroczka (owns PWP) that she’d come up with something amazing. The ideas I had for the cover weren’t as helpful as I’m sure they could’ve been. I’d never had to worry about cover art. Plus, visual art isn’t my strong suit. Neither was sifting through stock photography for something that’s awesome. Though I’m trying to get better.
So when Angie sent me the file, I didn’t know what to expect. Opening the file, I held my breath…
Gorgeous. Loved the cover from the first moment. So much better than I originally had in my head.
Then Release Day happened.
Again, another first. Of course, it was December 20. And I was supposed to be traveling by train that day, visiting family. Needless to say, it was a very busy day. I couldn’t stop checking social media sites and the internet in general. Or Amazon. I can’t even begin to count how many of the hits that day were from one of my computers. It’s no better now.
It was alive.
And so was Regine Allison Claire.
Where Does It Go from Here?
That was how I said farewell to 2013. This was the very first, traditionally published story of mine to be picked up and put out into the world. Since then, I’ve had other novellas and short stories picked up for this pseudonym and my two others.
But this — this — is the one that started it all. The one that gave me that boost of confidence. The one that suggested complete strangers who owed me absolutely nothing could be willing to take a shot on something I wrote. I wouldn’t say that I’ve had a major struggle with confidence and self-esteem, but I won’t say that I’ve been a stranger to them. We meet somewhere in the middle. I was always that annoying kid in school who the teachers praised for the great work, but that didn’t go to my head. I’ve always wondered what the rest of the world would think. I still do. Each new story is another test of my nerves and hope.
So, when something like this — after being out of the storytelling thing for so long — gets picked up after what I considered a long shot, it does some pretty cool things. And I’m sure so many of my fellow writers know exactly what I mean.
This is a good time for us to give life a smile and pat ourselves on the back. Just because we need to celebrate the firsts. Our little steps in the big world. Our risks and those times we doubted ourselves meanwhile someone else was willing to take it on, no matter what they saw in it.
But there’s just one thing… now that the foot’s in the door, you either yank it back out or inch the rest of your body through.
Inch is right. Though even shorter since I’m Canadian. It’s more like centimetres. But I can’t make a verb out of that.
Unfortunately, this year hasn’t been about YA. I have several ideas for new YA stories, and a few NA, but it’s mostly been adult stories that have won out. Except there are 2 things that are true about my next steps:
1. I have 4 YA flash fiction stories being published in 2015, all in anthologies through Pagan Writers Press (PWP). That’s another post for the new year.
2. I will be working on a trilogy. The first book, Family Secret, is semi-outlined. It needs work, as much as the rest of the trilogy does. The ideas were flying out of my head in 2014, and they made it to paper. They just haven’t come out in story form yet. But in the spring, I intend to get on it. I know enough about the characters get started and their school will be based off my alma mater. At this moment, it is called the Within series. Book #2 is Possession and book #3 is facing an identity crisis. Though it seems to have been seriously pondering Unbound for a title. The titles are significant, but again… another post for another day.
And that’s how we celebrate around here, with thanks to Angie, PWP, both my parents, my partner for putting up with the long nights and crazy creative moments, and most of all everyone who takes the time to read and review my work.
Pagan Writers Press is having a huge sale for Cyber Monday! Almost all the books in the catalog have been discounted. Here are just a few of the Young Adult (or YA/NA friendly) selections, though there are titles available in almost every genre!
4 flash fiction stories down, each significantly different from the next and all within the 1,000 to 2,500 word count. Boom, baby!
So let’s back it on up. In May, I wrote about diving into writing flash fiction despite not having done it for 14 years or so. Kind of intimidating but I was willing to meet the challenge. I suppose it’s like getting back on that bike, once you get the wibbly-wobbly part out of the way and the body goes, “Oh, yeah, THAT.”
Out of the five anthologies presented to our group of authors, I thought I’d whip up a little something for four – the more YA-friendly themes. Almost immediately, the ideas began to flow which was great. Even better, they seemed like small ideas that could be expressed in a teensy space. Two ideas came more easily than the rest; the other two eventually came around after some deep thought and random bits of fluff in the middle of the night.
The first week of June was a bit of a bust on the writing front, unfortunately. Something about not getting much sleep and feeling tapped. There’s a good reason but that’s a different story and a completely different pen name.
On the other hand, the next week was kinder and allowed me to catch up. I finished them on a Saturday night. I spent the following Sunday night and Monday morning taking the ever unkind and never sorry “red pen” to the pages. Choppity chop chop. Submitted by Monday 10am then I threw the red pen out the window and dragged my zombie-brained body off to bed. Oddly exciting even if overly tiring. And that’s not the craziest thing writers do. Oh, no.
(And if any fellow writers have crazier stories, feel free to share! We’re all in the same boat.)
Now that I’ve had sleep and some recovery time from the intense focus, I thought I’d share a tiny little bit about each since I love talking about what I’ve been working on. But no spoilers! 😀
Shift
This was the first one to be written, mostly because it was the first, fully-formed concept that came to me thanks to musical inspiration. Most of the story was written to 2 versions of the same song by Conjure One, “Center of the Sun”: the album version and Solarstone’s Chilled Out Remix from the compilation album, “Relax Music”.
I gushed in the previous post about how brilliant I think the song is, so I won’t this time. Let’s just say that it helped immensely, keeping everything on track. Not just because of the delicious, dark sound but the lyrics tipped me off to the original concept: the idea of being in a dark market where the girl is poorly treated and there’s a boy who cares about her.
So how did that translate? Almost literally, actually. There’s a dark market, catering to the needs of the thirsty patrons of the paranormal world, and a human teenage girl who needs rescuing. There’s the shifter boy who loves her, desperate to free her by the means available to him as a teenager. And then there’s the man standing between them: the Head of Human Resources … except not the type of HR we’re used to.
One of my favourite things about this story is the title, which I had a bit of a time with until the word “shift” got stuck in my head. I wasn’t sure about it but grabbed my paperback dictionary and did some looking. Jackpot. Almost every definition works. Double-checked with The Free Dictionary (my favourite go-to site for wordsmithing!) and made up my mind. It feels so awesome when a story has a title.
Burden
This one I’m equally happy with and it’s a bit creepy, at least in my head. Hey, it says “dark” in the anthology theme so I went there. It’s thanks to a matter of timing, really. In the previous post, I talked about the boy locked up in a bedroom for up to 2 years. That’s pretty dark stuff. I was taken with the story – which isn’t the first, by all means, nor the last, sadly – and was intrigued with the concept that this couple would allow their daughter freedom and not their nephew. My inspiration was pulled to it.
Except I wanted to explore a little more than that, leaning into a bit of further darkness. I can’t get into it without spoilers but I took it into a new direction from the real, live story. It revolves around Keldie, a young girl in high school who has a family secret she’s too scared to keep. The story is about her struggle to do the right thing … even though the result is far from what she expects.
My thanks to Conjure One and Poe, again, though there were two other songs which provided great inspiration for what ended up on “paper”: Florence + the Machine’s “Heavy In Your Arms” and Within Temptation’s “Dog Days“. Without these, the feel wouldn’t have been quite the same. Rawr.
The Flying Dead
This story took a while to come around. I had originally kicked around a more somber idea, catering to the serious side of Samhain as the Celtic celebration of our dead.
Yeah, no. Wrote that idea off. Instead, I wanted to write something fun. And funny. Shift and Burden are dark so I wanted something amusing!
The idea came around when I was trying to get back to sleep one morning: the concept of the Ouija board. I’ve been around one once and we had an interesting experience for the rest of the day, so I’ve got something personal to work from and not just TV shows like Charmed. Except I wanted it to be about something more than that.
Enter fantasy; my love, my sanity.
There always has to be something that happens in the story which the main character has to resolve. I dipped into the fantastical world for this one to give it some spunk. The protagonist is Kurt and his family is different: they’re pledged to protect the dead. Samhain is a huge to-do for them with all the dead who cross the Veil and this Samhain isn’t any exception.
I also gave Kurt a bit of something special to make him even more amazing: he’s a transgender youth. He knows who he is and has courage, throwing off the mantle of “Katie” to be himself. This is important to me, not just because I love diversity of all sorts, but because it’s real and something worth putting out there in a way that isn’t derogatory or unkind. There are a lot of kids (not just adults, like those I know and love) who go through this and aren’t as supported as he is, but they need it. I believe gender shouldn’t determine whether you’re a hero or not, just like it doesn’t determine whether you’re a good person or maybe need some help in that department.
It’s not a long, in-depth story but this one’s for all of you. You know who you are. ♥
Words Needed
And the fourth flash fic. Arg. This one gave me a right good run around. To tell the truth, I don’t find as much inspiration in writing “real world” stuff, unless it’s urban something-or-other where magic, other dimensions, or something spices it up. (I’m so completely about speculative fiction!) But this one had to stay real.
Best remedy? Personal life.
I was thinking about one thing, which led to another, and then another. Finally, I gave into the concept of a girl discovering paganism very much in the same way I did. Some of the details changed but the essence remains the same. So you’d think it was easy, right, writing from precisely what I know because I lived it?
Nope. Not even close.
This was the most difficult of the four to write! The editing went a bit more smoothly. Still, laying it down … not as easy as I thought. I couldn’t even get the soundtrack right for it – and that’s strange, considering I always manage to find something to play over and over. It’s also the shortest of the bunch. I tried not to ramble. We’ll see how it fares.
And that’s how my journey into flash fiction has fared. Right now, they’re in queue for consideration and I’m busy doing some other things. It’s been a thrill, though. I’ll have to try this again sometime. New worlds to explore and all.
What lay within the bounds of human knowledge and was relatively familiar could be reasonably and comfortably accommodated, no matter what its size. But that which lay outside the bounds of human knowledge was monstrous and awesome. Explanations for the chaotic, precreation nature of the world and the universe, the vast fissures, the threatening geographical features of the earth, the unexplored regions, and the disappearance or transformation of those who ventured into the unknown were accommodated in the concepts of the monstrous. Those beings that existed beyond the human realms of order were the constant threat that challenged the human world and had to be appeased, controlled, banished, or defeated.
– Carol Rose, “Giants, Monsters, and Dragons” (2000), pg xxv
I can’t remember when exactly I got this book, or from where, but it’s been sitting on my shelf for a few years. My partner says I received it as part of my Children’s Literature class when I was in university, which isn’t impossible since I received a huge box of books for that one class alone!
In any event, I finally pulled it out to consult it. Originally, I was looking to get some ideas for one of the flash fiction stories I’m working on, Shift. The intention was to obtain a little extra information on werewolves. While I found it, there was more. I came out with the idea to explore the ideas of a were-bear in another flash fiction story, Burden.
And then I couldn’t stop looking. It’s been hanging around my desk while I’ve been working on these short stories and every couple of days, I can’t help but pick it up and skim over it.
I love this book.
Other than discovering that “were-bears” are a thing (despite the fact that I giggle because it’s way too close to sounding like Care Bears), this book is packed with useful information, names, geographical references, and other info. In the introduction, Rose reveals that material was drawn from a variety of sources: encyclopedias, dictionaries (of mythology), ancient and medieval texts, classic literature, folktales and folklore, chronicles and annals of historic events, fables, chapbooks, nursery rhymes, and surveys (genealogical, heraldic, anthropological, topographical). Way cool. It makes me want to have been there writing it with her. Then again, I’m a sucker for research projects … especially any that include ancient texts. YAY!
Reading it reminds me of watching the TV show, Charmed, or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (the Robert Tapert/Sam Raimi version with Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hirst Hurst) – which is cool because I enjoy those shows. And there’s gorgeous artwork included, taken from a variety of sources, just to give your eyes a break from the text. It’s also easy-to-read and accessible, good for everyone.
It’s a big book and offers a little on everything, including monsters like Champ, a cryptid who is said to live in Lake Champlain between Québec, Canada and Vermont, USA. (A fun little tidbit for me, since I live in the province next door.) And I’m happy to see the likes of Grendel (and Grendel’s Mother) from the ancient tale Beowulf included. Tolkien‘s Ents and Shelob are in it, too, along with Lewis Carroll‘s Jabberwocky!
In the back are a “Selected Bibliography” for further reference and Appendixes categorizing the beings, including “Beings associated with weather”, “Beings from literature”, “Heraldic beasts”, “Beings by country, realm, or people”, and a long list of others. Useful.
Though I think my favourite thing is how it touches on so many different areas of interest and subjects. History, anthropology, linguistics, geography, religion, spirituality, mythology, literature … it’s a little bit of a lot of things rolled up in one nice, pretty, neatly bound volume that fits well on any shelf without feeling like a brick. It has an international feel, taking the reader on a journey to peek inside all of the different human cultures. This book is one that ties us all together; for as different as we may seem, our monsters aren’t all that different. Dragons, giants, shifters, and similar creatures are everywhere! They might have different names but they share a lot in common. It’s a gentle reminder that while we fight each other and believe we’re completely different, we’re actually very much the same.
Now, I might be terribly biased because I fell in love with cryptozoology as a teenager, but I’d recommend this book to anyone – everyone – in the speculative fiction world who writes about creatures and beings, whether you pen fantasy, horror, paranormal, science fiction … whatever. You know, just in case you need a little help or inspiration. Or if you just like looking at the pictures and awesome names.
I read these words and the warning alarms, bells, and whistles start to go off in my head. Probably because writing teensy stories has not been my forté – well, maybe just not my default. Once upon a time, I used to write really short stories … and that was when I was a kid. But when I was about 13, I got it in my head that I wanted to write novels, inspired by one of my favourite authors at the time: Carolyn Keene, responsible for the Nancy Drew mystery series (with warmest thanks to a long list of ghostwriters and publisher, Edward Stratemeyer of Stratemeyer Syndicate). The last time I remember writing something considered flash fiction was when I was 15. Again, for class. Amazingly, these stories were 500 words or less. Except I think that was thanks mostly due to the amount of time we had to craft said stories, which wasn’t very long. It was kind of like pop story-writing: sit down, shut up, and write until told to stop. And I loved it.
But now I find myself knocking on that door again. A new submission call came out this week from my beloved publisher for a few flash fiction anthologies and I’m ready to pounce on them like a strawberry trifle topped with Belgian chocolate. Why? New challenge, that’s why! Well, you know, other than my obsession with writing … but that’s always to be implied.
Yes, I love the challenge. In the last 14 years, I’ve leaned towards writing novels and poetry though I’ve also discovered the joy of novellas. Recently, I’ve been reintroduced to short stories (we’re talking 8,000+ words) and found I haven’t completely lost the ability to write them, either. So, next stop: flash fiction.
In a way, it’s liberating. More than that, it’s a fantastic exercise to keep the writing mind sharp and cleanse the mental palette before launching into longer works (because brace yourselves … there’s a trilogy coming once I get through some smaller projects!)
On further reflection, I think it’s one of the suggestions I’d pass along to aspiring authors and fellow writers: write across the spectrum of length, or at least give it a solid shot. As in 3 times or so before packing it in and deciding what works and what doesn’t. Every length has its own challenges and blessings, with poetry at one end and novel series at the other. Poetry demands brevity and clever word play around imagery, emotions, and other things that draw in the reader. Flash fiction equally demands brevity, though it’s a tad bit more forgiving around the word play but still, you can’t go running off in every direction but pick and choose and cram. Longer short stories and novellas allow for more words, assuming they’re used well, and are great for delving more into characters and landscape. Novels, too, which are perhaps the most forgiving of all – or so I’d say. They still require clear focus and well-pruned language, but there’s a lot to work within the length. Although it’s the length which is one of the most challenging aspects because of the little R word that’s imperative to all storytelling: restraint.
Rest-whaaaaat? I know. It can be a scary word, especially when our characters run off and insist we follow them down the rabbit hole (thanks Lewis Carroll). It’s easy to get carried away when we see “90,000+ words” and the potential it holds. And you know, it’s true for novel series, too. So is the fact that a novel series, while the longest on the spectrum and certainly great fun, is so utterly challenging. It has the added fun of keeping everything straight from one novel to the next which isn’t always easy, as well as making sure it keeps going (but not for the sake of going) while always being fresh and exciting instead of blah and ugh and “Whyyyy?”
(And as I’m writing this line and staring at the blog platform, I’m thinking that in our 21st century, all of this is applicable to the art of blog writing. Also a valuable exercise for any author.)
Time to Play in the Pool
So, here I go. This week (also known as “from now to whenever this week apparently ends”) I’m jumping into the flash fiction scene. Of the 5 specific anthologies in the submission call, I’m planning on going for 4: paranormal romance, Hallowe’en/Samhain, Pagan Contemporary, and dark/urban fiction. So far I’ve got ideas for 3 which have been slowly creeping into my head since they were announced.
Thanks to Conjure One‘s “Center of the Sun“, the paranormal romance was the first to pop up. I LOVE that song so, so, so bad; partially because Rhys Fulber is amazing and mostly because Poe (aka Anne Danielewski; aka Jane) is a unique brand of awesomesauce that I’d serve with any meal. I managed to outline the story early this morning between naps so now it’s just a matter of putting the fingers to the keyboard and watching the letters fly. Shape shifter, werewolf, and a human girl. Could be interesting.
The Hallowe’en/Samhain anthology is a bit up in the air right now. My original idea, inspired by the song “A Thousand Years, Pt. 2” by Christina Perri, is bittersweet. To be honest, it’s channeling some of my emotions from losing my mum, who was born on Hallowe’en. Not sure if it’ll stick or not. A bit somber but that’s part of Samhain – not all just fun and games.
Still haven’t figured out the contemporary pagan story yet. Feels like a mental 404 HTTP error (you might recognize this as the “not found” error you get sometimes when trying to access a webpage).
And thanks to catching the first few minutes of the local news last night, I think I’ve got a lead on the dark urban fiction. A terrible story about a boy here in my city: 10 years old, locked up in the master bedroom by his aunt and uncle for an estimated 18 to 24 months (read: 2 years), living on 2 servings of fast food a day in a room with nothing but furniture and access to the bathroom (though there was still bodily waste found in the room). Apparently their kitchen was filthy and they have a 9 year old daughter who went to school, enjoyed freedom, and basically got to be a kid.
It’s one of those moments where I think the Tom Clancy quote can be aptly applied:
The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.
Because, at this point, this real-life story doesn’t make ANY sense. The poor kid. Though there’s hope for him. He apparently had two requests: real food and to go to school, even though he’s never been. Something tells me he’ll pull through this yet.
I have to admit I’m interested to see what happens as police and media question the aunt and uncle and trot them out for their trial. Just what possible reason could they have for locking him up for 2 years, while letting their own daughter run around without the same treatment? There’s always a motive, an impetus, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense on the surface.
I don’t know exactly where this little tidbit of inspiration is going to lead, but I’m feeling a pull towards telling a story from this type of darkness, possibly from the POV of a girl in the same situation of the daughter. We’ll see what happens.
But then again, that’s the way of all things, isn’t it?
Regine Allison Claire: Author of YA Fiction 