Story Ideas

Short story ideas rattling around:

• Ice fishing. Suppose a couple was arguing in their ice-fishing shack. What if one stuffs the other down the fishing hole. Is it big enough? Would the body migrate away from the site?
• Polyamory. The Boston Globe had an article about followers of this practice: having intimate relationships with more than one person. Suppose a couple had married with the agreement to follow this, then one became dissatisfied with it. What if she kills him (how?) and leaves the body in a snowstorm so it isn't discovered until spring?
• The body in the server room. Oh -- that one I finished and submitted to a contest. Stand by!
• The high-powered female corporate titan and her three greedy sons. This one brainstormed by Allan on our way home from Montreal last weekend. On the model of King Lear but modernized and gender reversed.
• Snowmobile patrol finds a body. Possibly involving a border crossing. Another family brainstorm. Can you tell we were driving through snowy winter scenes? We even filled up with gas Friday after dark at a tiny gas station near the border where all other pumps were being utilized by snowmobiles. Two cats sat in the lit windows of the mini-mart. Intriguing scene almost pleading to be written about.

Other ideas out there you'd like to contribute? Bring them on!

First Lines and the Birth of a Story

Writers know the importance of first lines. We have to hook the reader from the very first words. And not just the first words in the story or book, but the first lines of each scene, each chapter. The last lines of scenes and chapters are pretty important, too. We want the reader to have no choice but to turn the page and keep reading, no matter how late it is.

I came across a journal called The First Line. It was a freebie in my Crime Bake tote bag. It took me a month or two, but when I gave it a closer look and then found the journal's web site, I realized how intriguing the premise was: they publish stories from all genres, and all must start with the same first line. Hmm. So what was the line for the next deadline, which turned out to be February 1? "Sam was a loyal employee."

I had just had an experience arriving at work that was kind of creepy. I wanted to use it in a story. I now had the first line. The deadline, several weeks away, was my opportunity. I drafted a bit more than half the story and ran it by a friend while I was on vacation. She gave me some ideas for several endings. I finished the story. Asked a fellow author to critique. Revised. Read it in my writers' group. Revised some more. Sent it in this afternoon. I came in 100 words under the 3000-word limit and with three days to spare on the deadline.

My second sentence in the story is, "She always came to work hours before anyone else." Yes, Sam is a she. Why not? I'm hoping that will help to hook readers in, make them want to keep reading. The journal says they let submitters know within a few weeks. And if they don't want it? I'll be fine. There are other contests, other journals. And more stories to give birth to.

What about you? Would you like the structure of an assigned first line? What would your second sentence be?

Short Story Acceptance

Late-breaking news: I'm delighted to report that my short story, "Reduction in Force," has been accepted for publication in Thin Ice, this year's anthology of crime fiction by New England writers, published by Level Best Books.

"Reduction in Force" tells a timely tale of conflict and revenge when a software company lays off employees.

The anthology will be out by early November.