Category: Writing

Review – Self-Review – A True Believer in Skepticism

So the concept for A True Believer in Skepticism came from a few stray thoughts which ended up coming together rather nicely. It was at this time that I was actively trying to write every single day. Hence, I needed to find inspiration anywhere I could.

And in this case, it was the Home Depot. No lie.

Background

When I wrote True Believer… my husband and I had just come back from ordering flooring from the Home Depot. We had met a very pleasant and knowledgeable salesman named Reynaldo.

And I loved that name, because, to me, it evoked mystery. Hence the story started to come together.

Plot

Denise lives an ordinary life in a dull, ordinary town. But when a fair comes to town, she eventually goes to it. But she scarcely knows why.

While there, she meets the Great Reynaldo, who tells her fortune. Denise is skeptical, feeling that fortune tellers are only so much hokum. And she isn’t fully convinced that the Great Reynaldo can do what he claims he can.

It’s not until she leaves the fair that the first part of his predictions start to come true….

Characters in A True Believer in Skepticism

The characters are Denise and the Great Reynaldo. While there are other people at the fair. While the story refers to them, they don’t have names. And those other people don’t speak, either.

Denise, of course, is the True Believer.

Memorable Quotes

There was a booth which she had not noticed amidst the crowds. A fellow was seated on a stool, wearing a turban. There was a banner at the front top of the booth which said, ‘The Great Reynaldo Will Tell Your Fortune.’

Denise laughed a little. Fortune tellers were just so much hokum, the product of willing believers who were so chatty they would give their secrets away willingly. A scam artist merely needed to be good at reading body language, asking leading questions, following up on the answers, and convincingly recover from unexpected or out and out wrong answers.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

A True Believer in Skepticism: the Upshot

I really love the title of this one, and am particularly happy that it found an audience. It is to be published by Mythic Magazine, which also published Three Minutes Back in Time.

Are YOU a true believer in skepticism?

Review – Gentrification

Gentrification is about an extremely controversial topic—abortion. When I wrote it, Roe v Wade was still fairly secure. I didn’t intend to write a prophecy.

Background

The story idea originally came to me because house flippers are a pretty large segment of the customers for the company where I work. And then the peeling away of the layers of ownership turned into something far different. But I did not intend to write about much. But it just … happened.

Plot

While peeling wallpaper from an old house’s walls, the narrator comes across a mural, painted in pastels. So, it’s clearly for a child.

She traces down the ownership of the house, finally finding one woman who was probably around when the mural was painted.

Yet Hazel Prentice Morse wasn’t just around. She was in the thick of it.

Characters in Gentrification

The characters are the unnamed narrative, a woman who is a retired lawyer. Also, Hazel Morse, the storyteller, who was twelve at the time of the events. In addition, Hazel’s Aunt Martha and Martha’s boyfriend, Chet. Also, Hazel’s parents and her grandparents.

Memorable Quotes

That woman, Hazel Prentice Morse, agreed to meet with me. We met at a café in her much nicer neighborhood, where she was reserved and somewhat skeptical, even after seeing numerous pictures. Then I drove her to the brownstone. The four flights we had to walk up weren’t too kind to our old knees.

When we were in the room and she saw the mural in the flesh as it were, she started to cry. I didn’t really have much of a place to sit during renovations, so I went downstairs to give her some privacy and find the one folding chair I always bring so I can have a place to eat my lunch.

I brought the chair up. She sat down as I leaned against the windowsill. “What is it?” I asked. “What do you remember, Mrs. Morse? Do you know who the artist was?” When I was still practicing law, I took a ton of depositions. I know how to gently get information out of frightened witnesses. You never forget how to do that.

“Yes, I know who it was.” She stared off into the distance.

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” She was no witness. I didn’t have to indulge my morbid curiosity.

“I do, actually. Woman to woman. It’s funny. But I’m the only person alive who remembers. I imagine the statute has run by now.”

“Statute?”

“The Statute of Limitations—you know—how long you can be charged with a crime.”

Rating

The story has a PG-13 rating. There are some rather upsetting parts of it, and I depict deaths but not in detail.

However, I tell about the deaths via the conceit of having a character relate them decades later. So, the reader is even further removed from them.

But they’re still not the kind of thing most people like to talk about, or ever think about.

Gentrification: the Upshot

I have workshopped this story more than once and I have submitted it for publication. So for a publisher with the cojones to take it on, I think it’s a story to tell. Particularly these days.

But I have been getting the feeling that publishers are just too afraid to rock the boat right now.

Gentrification, a story that we need to tell. #amwriting

Review – Darkness into Light

One of the best parts of Darkness into Light is that it’s just a catch phrase. Hence, just like ‘good morning’ or ‘hello’, the characters say ‘darkness into light’ all the time. They repeat it continuously within the story.

So, I wanted ‘darkness into light’ to be almost like ‘Hello, Comrade’. I needed for it to take on a sinister tone.

And boy, did it ever.

Background for Darkness into Light

With a 1984/Brave New World vibe, the catchphrase turned evil very, very quickly.

The idea behind it was that in a future which might not be so far-fetched, the price of equality is a ton of sameness. And that sameness means going along with the majority in every possible way. Nothing matters but full unanimity.

So for this society, there can be no deviations, no exceptions, and no delays.

Because you’ve got to be equal. And not necessarily voluntarily.

Or else.

I wrote this story during February of 2017.

Plot

Minor government functionary Susan has but one job – to make sure that all of the babies born in the Smith Hospital are the exact same color.

But then she finds a pair of faces which don’t fit the approved color scheme. And that’s got to change, fast.

Or else.

Characters

The characters are Susan, a minor government functionary.

So there is also the young couple she needs to convert from the dark into the light. Whether they want that to happen, or not.

Because in this world, you are not truly equal unless you’re identical to everyone else.

Memorable Quotes

There were dozens of people in Smith County in Smith State who were all expecting children, and the projection on the wall told the tale. She glanced at the faces briefly. Nearly all of them were already the correct, uniform shade and shape, dimensions perfectly aligned and proportioned as per the law.

Rating

The story has a K rating. Well, kinda, sorta.

But it should still be quite disturbing. So, I do caution readers.

Takeaways – Darkness Into Light, Indeed

I really love how quickly and easily I was able to turn Susan into something utterly sinister. Beneath a cheerful, allegedly helpful and caring façade, there is a nasty drive to make every single person conform perfectly. Whether they like it or not.

I am so glad that this story found an audience. You can find it on the Corner Bar Magazine website. And this site also published Killing Us Softly.

Darkness into Light. If I’ve done my job right, this phrase should make you shudder. #amediting

Short Stories

And finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to also check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.