A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the idea of posting one of my short stories, asking for thoughts from the Fringelings.  The majority opinion was do eeeeet.  I thought about it, and I’m doing it.

This certainly feels like I’ve stripped and opened the bedroom blinds.  Foolish, maybe.  But maybe some fresh air will do me good.

I’ve created a separate page here where the story is, and where any future stories might go, in an attempt to keep this house of Fringe clean and tidy. Perma-link to the page says “Fiction” on top of the home page, next to “About Me” and “Favorites.”

My short stories usually come into my head kind of fully realized as a brief scene, or a snapshot.  No muse, no magic, all the fabulous ideas and mental pictures don’t mean shit without that picture being followed up by BiC. Butt in Chair (or in my case, couch) and doing the work of writing.  Otherwise, I assure you, my imagination is vivid and fabulous, I’d have been on the New York Times Bestseller list three times over already, with at least one Pushcart Prize under my belt.

One afternoon last year I was out walking a dog through Central Park.  I had a moment, in my mind I saw the picture of an old, broken down  Brooklyn fisherman talking to a young girl by the water in the 1980’s, saying the word miserosion, the miseries of life translating into eroding body parts.  At the time I was working on Wanna Bees, so when I got home I wrote down the word, a couple of notes, and left it to be written when I was done with the romance/magical realism of Wanna Bees.

But the idea morphed, as these things sometimes do.  What if the story was hers, the young girl, long after meeting the fisherman, as an adult who has had years of broken souls drawn to her, a lifetime of if-it-wasn’t-for-bad-luck magical realism?  And so started Astonishing, my current WIP.

“Miserosion” is Tommy’s story, back in the 80’s, a snapshot leading up to his meeting with Christina, the young girl who becomes the broken woman of Astonishing.  Yes, it is magical realism.

Fringelings, I hope you read it, I hope you comment.  Most of all, I hope you feel something, whether it’s your kind of story or not.  It’s dark, and won’t be for everyone.

I hope you don’t mind, I left my socks on.  Now I’m getting a draft!