Tuesday Tales 029: Sentimental keepsake

The twenty-ninth prompt from online writing group Tuesday Tales (my twenty-third story for them) was ‘red’ and below is the result.

Tuesday Tales provides a new prompt each week, the members write a story inspired by it and post it on our blogs / websites. Then we email the link and first two or three sentences to Jean Joachim. She then posts them on the Tuesday Tales blog (on a Tuesday ), gives us the link then we go out and shout about it. So, without further ado, here is my 536-worder.

Sentimental keepsake

It was the little girl in the red jacket that Eileen remembered the most from Schindler’s List.

She’d imagined it was her mother, she’d have been about the right age. She didn’t speak German, never had an interest in going there, and certainly wouldn’t watch any war movies, favouring comedies and the lightest of family dramas.

“Life is hard enough than to be reminded of it,” she’d say and Eileen knew she’d had her ups and downs but couldn’t imagine anything would have been as bad as that but understood living that era had been close enough, so didn’t press the matter.

It was too late to ask her now. Eileen wished she could turn the clock back a few months, to when they had their long conversations every other month when Eileen visited from her Scottish home. She should have persevered with the idea of Hilda writing her autobiography, recall those missing years hushed into the corners of her mind. Like an old house, the dust was swept aside, different memories uncovered during each visit. It was only in the last few months of her mother’s life that Eileen started to write things down, the last few weeks recorded on her dictaphone. She would recount previous conversations, to check her facts, only to be met by blank stares as if the events had happened to someone else. Even mention of Frank, who Eileen had been too young to remember, would merit a tilt of the head and the offer of another cup of tea.

Then a few weeks later Eileen had received the call she’d been dreading, travelled the journey long enough to dictate earlier conversations and the jobs ahead.

There followed the paperwork, the funeral, distant relatives giving their condolences to a woman they barely knew. Eileen had put her mother’s house on the market and set to the task of dividing her possessions between charity shop, skip and sentimental keepsakes.

In one of the drawers in the bedroom’s dresser, Eileen found an envelope containing a small silver key, with it a note of the bank and box number. Having lived frugal lives it was the last thing Eileen had expected so drove straight there and asked to see the box. She’d taken her mother’s death certificate and probate documentation and after a phone call and hushed conversation, the bank manager had introduced Eileen to his colleague who would show her the vault.

The man shut the door behind him, leaving Eileen alone surrounded by what felt like her school’s changing room, only the lockers would have held much poorer contents.

Eileen stared at the metal box and turned over the key in her hand. Like the room, it felt alien. Her box was one of the biggest and yet, she guessed, one of the lightest; not light enough to be empty but not containing weighty jewels, bonds or cash that she suspected the others housed.

The key glided into its hole and turned easily. Lifting the lid slowly, it made no noise but as Eileen let it fall backwards she leapt back as it clanked onto the hard counter top and exposed the contents within. Just one item: a child’s red woollen jacket.

The links to the earlier prompts, and resulting stories, and the forthcoming prompts can be found on this blog’s Tuesday Tales page. Do go and check out the Tuesday Tales blog – it’s a wonderful idea supported by talented writers.

So, not only can you read these stories but you could also write your own using the prompts given each week. There’s no word count limit. Single-word prompts are something I regularly give my Monday night workshop and it’s amazing how different our stories can be.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

5PM Fiction 024: Same time tomorrow

Welcome to the twenty-fourth in the series: 5pm Fiction.

Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.

I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story containing an air stewardess, factory worker, park, hayfever, bag of essentials and love, so here is my 587-worder.

Same time tomorrow

“Bless you.”

“Thank you.” Wayne looked over at the woman. Beautiful, and beyond the reach of someone like him but where better, he thought, to be while eating his sandwiches. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“Not at all, I’ll budge up. She was so slim that she took up hardly any space on the old wooden bench but had the largest handbag he’d ever seen. A bag she’d just hauled on to the floor to make room for him.

“That’s sweet,” he said, pointing to the bench.

“Not a problem,” she replied.

“No, I meant the plaque.”

The woman looked over her left shoulder. “Oh yes. In memory of Richard Denby. Beloved father of Thomas, grandfather to Jack. No women.”

“Sorry?”

“Three generations of men but no women.”

“Oh.”

“You wanted to sit?”

“Yes, thank you.” He sat down and took out a sandwich.

“Why do you think there are no women?” the woman continued.

“Perhaps they just weren’t around?

“The grandchild being male is fair enough but no grandmother, no mother.”

“Maybe they’re dead too, something hereditary perhaps… you know, before Richard Denby.”

“That’s morbid and too sad.”

“Not enough room on the plaque?”

“They could have had a bigger one.”

“I guess, although it’s a small bench.” Wayne patted the bench’s arm to his left.

“True but…”

“Maybe the three of them had a special bond?”

“Like a boys club.”

Wayne nodded. “Exactly.”

“That would be nice.”

“Maybe there’s another bench with the women on.”

“Not in this park, I’ve sat on them all.”

“All? How many are there?”

“Eleven… including this one.”

“With inscriptions?”

“No. Only three… well, four, this one’s new. I usually sit nearer the lake but…”

“But?”

“It’s silly really.”

“Go on.”

“The schools are off and there are loads of people feeding the ducks.”

“You don’t like ducks?”

“They’re OK. It’s the geese really. They can be really nasty.”

“It would be the children for me,” Wayne said without thinking.

The woman threw her head back and laughed. Her teeth were immaculate and Wayne bit on his lip as he suddenly became conscious of his tobacco-stained ones.

“Do you have children?” Wayne asked hoping he’d not put his foot in it.

“God, no,” she replied. “I had a narrow escape once.”

Wayne waited, hoping she’d elaborate but she changed the subject.

“What are your sandwiches?”

“Coronation Chicken.”

“My favourite.”

“I have two, would you like…”

“No, you’re fine. I’ve just eaten, thank you.”

“What did you have?” Wayne asked, then blushed as he realised how small their small talk had become.

“Cheese wrap, more boring than it sounds but it’s all I had in the fridge that was still edible.”

“Been away?”

“Bali.”

“Wow.”

“Again very boring.”

“It’s always looked lovely on the TV.”

“It is but not when you only see it from an aeroplane.”

The woman seeing Wayne’s puzzled expression added, “Air stewardess, all flying or hotels. The occasional stop-over but even then it’s all shop talk and well, after 20 years it gets a bit…”

Wayne didn’t think she looked old enough to have working that long but was relieved that it made them similar ages.

She held out a hand. “Rachel.”

“Wayne,” he said and blushed again.

“Lovely to meet you Wayne. I should go actually, sorry,” she said. “Nothing in the house. Same time tomorrow?”

Wayne nodded. “Look forward to it,” he said and watched her leave before finishing his sandwich and heading to the chemist to buy some stain-removing toothpaste and nicotine gum.

***

Photography courtesy of morguefile.com. You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Author interview no.410 with multi-genre writer Lev Raphael

Welcome to the four hundred and tenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with prolific multi-genre author Lev Raphael. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Lev. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Lev: I’ve been in love with storytelling of all kinds since I was in second grade when I discovered science fiction and The Three Musketeers.  I live in Michigan, though I grew up in New York City, which means I never hanker for big city life.

Morgen: Me neither (sort of), I started in a small town and moved to a larger one. I’ve spent enough time in London to appreciate not being there all the time. I described you as ‘multi-genre’, what does that cover?

Lev: I’ve published historical fiction, mysteries, psychology, biography, self-help, memoir, essay collections, short fiction, novels and am about to publish my first vampyre novella and a guide for writers.

Morgen: Wow, what a mixture. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Lev: There are twenty-two of my books out there, many available on Kindle and Nook.  I write under my own name.  It’s euphonious enough, don’t you think?

Morgen: I certainly do, it’s great. If you’re self-published, what lead to you going your own way?

Lev: I went indie after publishing nineteen books with publishers of all sizes.  I wanted more control over my covers and also, frankly, to make more money off my e-books.  Writing is an art, but we’re foolish if we forget it’s a business, too.

Morgen: Absolutely. I gave up my job in March and have certainly become more conscious of that. Your books are available as eBooks, do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Lev: They are, yes.  I read in both formats.  If I want a book quickly, I download it.  I love having the choice.

Morgen: Isn’t it great, and having so many with you when you go out. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Lev: I’d like Michael Fassbender to play any character of mine he wants.  I hope he’s reading this interview.

Morgen: I’d love it if he was. He played a great baddy in the recent X-Men film. Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Lev: Covers are absolutely vital, more so even than titles. I’ve had great input, but input isn’t the same as making your own decisions, and I don’t think a publisher would have come up with as lovely I cover as I did for my Gilded Age novel Rosedale in Love. The artwork is original to the period, and I own it.

Morgen: It is lovely. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Lev: Packing for a reading from Rosedale in Love–in Florence. And writing another mystery, plus a vampyre short story, and a memoir.

Morgen: Maybe you could do a guest blog on your trip. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Lev: Writer’s block is bunk, and I recently blogged on that for The Huffington Post.

I do write every day, one way or another.

Morgen: ‘bunk’, I love that. Mark Billingham said the same thing (well, different word but felt the same about it). Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Lev: Plot and story underline everything I write in one way or another, though the mysteries need more attention to the structure.  That being said, I wrote the first part of my new mystery knowing only what I wanted to set up in those pages, and what I wanted to point to.

Morgen: And I’m sure it goes along on it’s own accord to a certain degree either way. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Lev: I troll the title credits of movies for intriguing first and last names and combine wildly different ones, like for my character Juno Dromgoole, who is a foul-mouthed professor in my mystery series.

Morgen: She sounds like fun. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Lev: I edit constantly.  I edit as I go along, re-edit, edit again, and never stop editing until I’m ready to let go.  Even a 500-word blog deserves that kind of attention.

Morgen: It does indeed. I strive to put out quality and quantity. Do you have to do much research?

Lev: It depends on the book.  For Rosedale in Love, I read for about two years, especially books written in the period.  I wanted to hear the voices of the time, not just hear about them.

Morgen: Two years, wow, that’s perseverance. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Lev: I think Bright Lights, Big City is such a triumph of voice, I’d never want to try second person.  Otherwise, I use whichever person or style feels right for the project in question.  I’m writing my new memoir in present tense, something I don’t usually do.

Morgen: I have the book and am part-way through (despite it being a small novella). I love second person and found Jay’s book really gritty. I should pick it up again. Do you write any poetry, non-fiction or short stories?

Lev: I used to write poetry when I hung out with a poet.  We even did a reading together.  And then we split up and that was the end of my poetry career.

Morgen: Oh dear. I dabble but prose is where my heart is, as I guess is yours. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Lev: Michigan State University bought my literary papers, present and future, for their archives and there are plenty of unfinished novels and stories in there.

Morgen: I watched a film (The Five-Year Anniversary) at the cinema yesterday where the main female protagonist worked at the MSU… what a coincidence. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Lev: Hundreds.  I went five years between publishing my first and second short stories.  I was in despair and more than once contemplated giving up writing as a career.  But I’m stubborn, and have good friends and a loving spouse, so I kept at it.

Morgen: I’m just as stubborn, although I like to think determined (but probably more the latter) and am rubbish at submitting but loved the eBook process. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Lev: I’ve had seven, and not one advanced my career any further than I could have on my own.  The business has changed so much, I don’t know if they’re vital or not.  They certainly haven’t had any impact on my success.

Morgen: It’s funny (well, not funny but…), you’re one of a string of authors who have said that, and it seems to be the way it’s going, with some becoming publishers. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Lev: For my memoir My Germany, I spent weeks contacting places where I might be invited to speak and ended up with sixty invitations, a Jewish Book Council tour, and two tours in Germany.  My publisher helped, but I led the way.  You have to.

Morgen: We certainly do and with the wonderful social networks available it’s easier (although more of us doing the same) than ever before. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Lev: Reviews by people who utterly miss the point of your book, or haven’t read it accurately.  I’m a reviewer myself, so I can tell when people are faking it.

The biggest surprises have been getting invited to speak in places I’d never imagined visiting: Vienna, Oxford University, The Library of Congress.  My competition that afternoon at the latter was a talk by President Obama—yet thirty-five people came to hear me.  I was delighted.

Morgen: Republicans perhaps? I like Obama but given the choice I would have been one of the thirty-five. I live and breathe writing as you can probably tell from this blog. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Lev: Be patient with yourself; read, read, read; work hard; get used to luck not always working in your favour—and have a full rich life outside of your writing.  And make sure you have plenty of friends who are not writers.

Morgen: “full rich life outside of your writing” oops. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Lev: I’d love to dine with Edith Wharton, Henry James, and Teddy Roosevelt.  They’d all do the talking, and I could just bask in their intelligence and wit.  I would cater a meal like that!

Morgen: Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Lev: I love Anita Brookner’s pet word “rebarbative”, but have never felt I could use it with aplomb.  And here I’ve done it!  Many thanks.

Morgen: You’re very welcome, at your service. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Lev: I teach creative writing at the university level as a guest author; I do workshops at writing conferences; I blog on writing for The Huffington Post.

Morgen: How lovely. I’d love to be invited to talk, although I did recently do a 2-hour on eBooks at one of my local writing groups which was really fun, and I am doing a talk (on blogging and eBooks) at a new literature festival here in Northampton in September which I’m really looking forward to. What do you do when you’re not writing?

Lev: I work out, walk the dogs, listen to music of all kinds, from Fatboy Slim to Gregorian chant, cook, travel, read, read about places I’d love to travel to.  I used to know a big chunk of the Canterbury Tales in Middle English, but I’m rusty.  It usually only impressed former English majors.

Morgen: I’m sure it would impress a lot of my fellow Brits. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?

Lev: I love Behlerblog, seeing publishing from a publisher’s POV.

Morgen: I’ve interviewed a handful of publishers here (more welcome if any are reading this) and, as you say, I love the fact that we get what it’s like from the other side of the table. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Lev: I’m on Dorothyl and find the discussions of mysteries and thrillers sometimes intriguing.  Facebook seems to bring me a lot of fans, and sometimes interviews.

Morgen: I love mysteries and have some of her (Dorothy L Sayers) short stories. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Lev: In the words of “Six Degrees of Separation”: “Chaos, control, chaos, control.”

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your writing?

Lev: My web site is http://www.levraphael.com.  I write for http://www.bibliobuffet.com as well as blogging for Huffington Post.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Lev: I have four grandchildren, a fifth on the way, and am the proud companion of two West Highland White Terriers.

Morgen: Cute (I have a Jack Russell / Cairn-cross). Thank you very much, Lev.

I then invited Lev to include a synopsis of his latest book…

In the glittering world of money-mad 1905 New York City, Jewish financier Simon Rosedale plans to force his way into high society through marriage and has his eye on Lily Bart. One of the most beautiful women in the city, Lily is a down-at-heels aristocrat plagued by gossip and might be vulnerable to his proposal. With his money and her style and connections, he can rise to the top—but will she lower herself to marry a Jew? Could such a marriage heal Rosedale’s secret shame, and will Florence Goodhart, the cousin who adores Rosedale, help or hinder his plans? Written in a period voice, Rosedale in Love audaciously revisions Edith Wharton’s beloved classic The House of Mirth, offering readers a timeless story of greed, envy, scandal, love and revenge.

Lev Raphael is the author of twenty-two books that have been translated into nearly a dozen languages.

He’s been a radio talk show host, a newspaper columnist, and an academic. Widely anthologized in the U.S. and England, he’s done hundreds of talks and readings from his work on three continents.

His writing is taught at colleges and universities across North America, which means he’s become homework.  He grew up in New York, but got over it and has made Michigan his home for more than half his life.

November 2012: I invited Lev to provide an update to this interview and he said, “It’s now 24 books, and I’ve launched into a new genre for me, supernatural: http://www.levraphael.com/vampyre.html“. Wow! Thank you and congratulations, Lev.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

• http://nonfictionwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/335526669896374

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

• http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

• http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

• http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

• http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445

We look forward to reading your comments.