Tall Tales & Short Stories
‘Ultra Phenom’ came to me in a flash. I was riding in a truck and passed by the window of a thrift store that had old TVs playing in their storefront window. Some teenage kids were standing on the sidewalk looking at the TVs. I grabbed a pencil and a notebook I keep in the … Read more ›
What was the inspiration for your story ‘Shades Hole’ and how was it to write? I’d just been reading Stephen King’s The Outsider, which features scariness in a scary cave, and I was thinking about other scary caves. I have a touch of claustrophobia and don’t like caves all that much, though I am fascinated … Read more ›
What was the inspiration for ‘Red’? “Red”, my story that features in this anthology, is my response to the dehumanisation in the world of surrogacy in India. I first glimpsed this in the 2012 BBC documentary Womb for Rent (something I would urge everyone reading this to watch!). I later found the topic in fiction; … Read more ›
I have been writing pretty much all of my life, but it was only about three years ago that I had the opportunity to completely retire from real life and focus on fantasy full time. “Skipper,” is the name of my story in Tall Tales & Short Stories, and the story idea came to me … Read more ›
What was the inspiration for your piece, ‘Fold and Hang’? This character came to me while I was doing laundry. I was interested in how regular, routine moments carry the weight of our inner thoughts, our past, our state of mind. “Fold and Hang” started out a bit longer and I whittled it down and … Read more ›
2250 is my story; it was inspired, in part, by legalised euthanasia in countries like the Netherlands. I thought it might be a more pleasant experience (if that’s the correct word to use) if one was able to savour their last moments of life as activities or memories or time periods that they enjoyed. I … Read more ›
Two Old Souls was inspired by the birth of a very special little girl, the first child of family friends. I hadn’t intended on writing a story on her behalf, because like most of my stories, inspiration was a spur-of-the-moment event. The method of which it was written is something that I have been experimenting … Read more ›
What inspired your story ‘The Price of Freedom’? Sadly, it was the repeated stories of overreactions to minor crimes by some parts of the US police force. Members of the public videoing them has been a major way to strike back, and my story is a play on that. Have you written characters based on … Read more ›
My story, The New Kid, is a fictionalized version of something that happened during my junior high school years (grades 7-9). The wisdom I gained from that time stayed with me, becoming one of those story ideas that would not go away. (even after 40 years!) The first version had to be just 100 words, so tweaking … Read more ›
You have two pieces included in Tall Tales & Short Stories Volume One: ‘Eyes for Gold’ and ‘A Cowbot Comes to Town’ — what was your inspiration for those pieces? I follow the mantra that if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. Since the call for Tall Tales & Short Stories was so open-ended, I went … Read more ›
