I really don't know how to say this so I'm just going to admit my guilt here and let things fall as they may.
Pretty much every anthology series that I see posting for submission has one thing in common in their things they do not want and that is violence against children and/or animals.
Um, at this point I'm guilty of both quite a few children in these Tales and there has been a healthy toll taken on the imaginary animal kingdom as well. All such victims in these Tales are of story necessity and none lingering of glory. I mean, if the story is about a boy running from bullies into a place he shouldn't have or a tragic accident at a church camp outing, that is what the story is about. Same as goes for animals in these stories. A gopher hole will do wonders on a horse's leg and what the heck do you think is going to happen to a mule tethered to a tree and forgotten? Hey, it's not like I write this... oh wait, I do.
Well, it is only in the service of the Tale and werewolves don't tiptoe quietly past nurseries nor do monsters under the bed exist only to tickle toes.
Then one day that December of 2018 I saw a call from a publisher I had worked with before under the theme "Creatures" and I got really messed up there for about a day. See, it became imperative that this was the next story to write and it wanted hard to be written. The problem was is, I was having serious trouble of interpreting the role of the "creature" in question.
Now I realize looking back on it that the decision should have been an obvious one with the answer being some sort of creature that does horrible things. There were a couple of problems with this though. I was at this point 34 stories into these collected Tales. and while there were creatures of import showing up, to this point, there were no horrific, monstrous creatures of a beastly as opposed to undead quality known to be running around the Bajazid. Thus there was this absence leaving me in a quandary... the notion that the concept of a creature should be significant as well as unique.
On the other hand, I could not get the idea of the story being about a creature.. and that is where I contemplated first my crime. See, if I were writing in any of the multiple genres which could allow a learning experience or a happy moment to finish a story, then no doubt the idea of the primary character being that creature sought, an innocent animal of no special merit, is a damn good one. Thing is, I write Weird with, yes, a pretty heavy emphasis on the old Horror... which is not a very good starting point to come from when considering a faithful companion, a beloved friend, a dear doggie of everyday means and endless capacity for love. The possibility of such a joyous, or even slightly sad outcome registers as a big, huge NOPE.
Yeah, uh, what the heck was I going to do? Now I must give credit here for though I remember not the details, I know that at the end of the exchange I knew who that "creature" was and what those "creatures" were. I've mentioned before a wonderful woman who has put up with my stream of consciousness constant recitation of these details working themselves out. Serious trooper on that! Again, I don't remember exactly how it washed out, but I knew I'd met that dog that had been chasing its tail in the dim light of my early confusion and it was true. By the end of that conversation, I realized I'd seen those birds before too... only they were looking a bit more ragged than last time I saw them. That injustice was twisted with her help.
One of the Sultans appearing briefly, a Mr. Sam Arn, had a dog and that dog is mentioned, not by name, but just as existing in "The Woman in the Tree". The submission call which I was obsessing over was from the same press who published that story earlier in the year. It kinda all seemed to fit together there all of a sudden and before I knew it, "What it Feels Like to be Hunted" was off in the email where those little electronic mailmen (and mailwomen) work through sleet and snow and poor connections and trolls (I am getting this right, yes?) to ensure safe delivery.
Yes, the 7th story I sold was one which featured a dog being hunted, from the dog's point of view, by things that shouldn't be able to hunt and it is not a happy story, which makes me all the more proud of it. Seriously, this was a fun write as soon as I found the voice. It was almost as if I was playing fetch with ideas and suddenly Punch leapt up and grabbed it, and even though he had to spit it out again, that brief taste got me going. In a matter of just a few frantic days, it was the holiday week, I was able to chew out 3,472 words bringing me to 16 Tales finished so for the year, four above my goal with three so far finished that month.
This press closed and while I have a copy of the very beautifully done book, as do other contributors, these are all that exist. I do not know where this story will show up next, but it is theme linked. It is part of, due to the origins of this little love story to our four-legged friends, the events that took place on Christmas Eve 1871. This is a pleasant little side adventure off of that fortuitous night, a reminder that up here on the Bajazid, it is not just the end that matters, but all the small bites that get you there.
No comments:
Post a Comment