How I Devised a Short Story

For those of you who love Science Fiction and Fantasy I'd like to tell you about Happiness Guaranteed and how I devised this short story.

I woke one morning, determined to write something. While still in bed, stalling to get up, contemplating how one must  never open a story with the main character waking up, or with the weather, I did both.

First line: Bianca’s bed swayed in gentle rhythm with her floating condominium.

and, I let the sun stream in. Why is it we reinforce the don'ts we hear about rather than the do's?

'Write what you know' is a 'do' so I focused on that. The Formula 1 GP was an obsession of mine at the time. I knew about F1. This, coupled with a paragraph I'd picked up in a science article about an 'ancestral memory gene' excited my imagination.

Since my previous story had a young man as its main character, I wanted to write this story from a woman's pov, and I wanted her to have an idealic life. I can't remember, but someone's birthday must have been on my mind because I needed to give my heroine a birthday present and, to me, 'happiness' seemed like the best one at the time.  Of course, I had to figure out a conflict, give her a problem because 'problem' is the backbone of all stories, and the need to overcome that problem would provide her with a realistic goal.

This character directed the plot...to a point. She was a beautiful brunette and her husband was a handsome blond.  However, she was already content in her ideal world, so really didn't need 'happiness' for a gift. How could I switch things around to give the story some oomph?
                           

Ah, simple!

Swap their appearances.

      
She became the blonde, Bianca, and he became Derek with the swarthy good looks. And, if Bianca was to receive the gift of happiness then she'd need to lack contentment.

Blonde v. Brunette, Innocence v. Experience.  Naiveté v. Worldliness. Happiness v. Discontentment. This  led me to think of other opposites -- Guilt and Suspicion v. Trust, Honesty V. Deceit. Old Ways v. New, Us and Them, Perfection v. Imperfection.

Ah!
Bianca couldn't be perfect in her ideal world.  She needed a flaw.  In fact she'd need a life threatening flaw.

Then Bianca and Derek's sweet romance became quite scary and much more exciting to write. :)

In one way or another, I used all of those opposites as well as my passion for speed and F1 Ferraris. I reseached that memory gene and settled on a futuristic setting, mainly because I belonged to a science fiction critique group.

In that group, a critiquer told me my story broke all the rules of writing, but it had something he couldn't put his finger on and suggested I send it to a new print magazine he'd just come across, in Australia,
the  Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.  So I did.  I called it Bianca's Birthday Present.

  

My manuscript went through three stages of assessment and I was notified each time I reached the next level. Naturally I was thrilled when ASIM accepted  Bianca's Birthday Present, for their 5th issue.  I expected to be directed to fix those 'broken rules', but the editor asked me to change one phrase, only. 

Years later, when the magazine allowed me my rights back, I submitted the story to MuseItUp as Happiness Guaranteed. It was accepted on the proviso I should work with my editors Anne Duguid and Nancy Bell , to 'flesh it out'. This I did and had a lot of fun revising my much loved story. It has increased by 1,000 words and now has a more obviously ambiguous ending.  :)

I wish my grandfathers were here to read it.

cover designer: Tiger Matthews

Happiness Guaranteed  (5,325 words)  is available from the MuseItUp Bookstore ;  Amazon Kindle

 My website My Imagination - Here you can read the book blurb and an excerpt.

IN CONVERSATION WITH NANCY M BELL

On this most auspicious occasion, the launch of

her beautiful novel, Laurel's Miracle, let us  welcome  our guest of honour, Nancy Bell.

Hi Wendy, thank you so much for having me as

 your guest.

hands over hostess gift of home baked gingersnaps to Wendy

 Yum, perfect for the party table, thanks.

Cover artist: Kaytalin Platt

So, Nancy, what prompted you to start this story about Laurel’s Miracle?

 That’s a long story for sure. I suffered a life changing injury in August of 2005. Actually, it was 6.01 pm MST August 2, 2005. I know the time because I looked at my watch a nanosecond before I caught my leg on a piece of farm equipment in the corral. I spent the next four months on crutches and mostly in bed, so I had tons of time to think.

Going from a million miles an hour to zero in a minute is a very humbling experience. I took the time to start studying and researching some things I just hadn’t gotten around to. One of the things was the earth energy lines which cross southern England. I have always been fascinated by Glastonbury/Avalon and the Arthur legends. I read anything I could get my hands on to stave off the boredom and became engrossed in it.

I spent quite a bit of time going to physical therapy at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary and was quite moved by a fellow patient whom I never really met, I don’t even know her name. She was quite young and fighting cancer.  The germ of the idea for Laurel comes from there. I just wove the story in my own way and gave her the miracle I hope really came true. 

 That is lovely, so touching, Nancy, but I'm sorry about your poor leg.

Yes, well I broke my pelvis and did nerve and ligament damage to my spine.

Trotting horse, immobile farm equpment and me, I lose. :~) Upside is it gave me the time to write.

Oh, that was a bad accident. I admire your spirit 'to get on with it.' Having a passion for writing must have helped. Can you tell us a little about Laurel’s background?

Laurel is a thirteen year old southern Alberta girl who lives on the family ranch near Pincher Creek, Alberta. She’s a bit of a loner and likes the company of her horse more than most people. She does have two friends who live on the next ranch, Chance and Carlene. They spend a lot of time together helping out on the ranch and just riding on the prairie. Her mom is a special woman who is open to the magic of the natural world around her. Laurel’s dad, however, doesn’t hold with such nonsense, although he’s not sure why he feels so strongly about it. 

That last sentence has just added another dimension to the story for me. Did you let the dad discover what was holding him to his reaction?

I don’t include him in the story other than the fact Laurel refers to him sometimes, but if you read Laurel’s Miracle you’ll find out what the secret is. There is more to find out in Arabella’s Secret which I haven’t finished yet. Arabella is Laurel’s grandmother.


 Why did you choose the YA genre to tell her story?

Honestly, it wasn’t a conscious decision, Laurel just presented herself to me and off we went on the wild ride of telling her story. Her name was inspired by a horse I owned for 19 years, her name was actually 

photo: Michelle Kannenberg

Laura’s Miracle. She was a foal from a nurse mare at  a huge thoroughbred farm, when an expensive TB mare died Laura’s mom was given to the orphan TB foal. That’s why big farms keep a nurse mare band, Laura wasn’t doing well and a friend of mine who worked there told me about the little black foal. So long story short, the foal came to me. My friend’s name was Laura which is why we called the horse Laura’s Miracle because it was a miracle the foal survived. 

Did you write the story from beginning to end? 

Laurel’s Miracle is the only thing I have ever written out of sequence. I actually wrote the ending in one eight hour stint (thought I was going to die I was so sore) but it had me by the throat and I had to finish it. So I had to map out a plan, I knew where I wanted her to go and in what order I just had to figure out how to get her there and still keep the story interesting and fresh.

In the process I read Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst’s The Sun and The Serpent and it helped me show Laurel the way to her Miracle. I also made a wonderful friend in Hamish Miller, although I only ever corresponded with him by email. He was an exceptional man.

That is pretty special. Had it not been for your research, this novel, the young patient, your leg injury, that instant of inattention you wouldn’t have had experienced this wonderful friendship.

The patient wasn’t that young, she had small children at home which made it worse. She was a very brave woman from what I observed.

Being a MuseItUp editor as well as an author, do you find it difficult to turn off your internal editor during the first draft?

I can’t seem to turn it off <laughs> I edit my stupid email for heaven’s sake.

Well, that must really hurt. Hahaha.
What do you like about writing?

Photo: Frances Watt

I love the magic of it, the thoughts and actions flowing from my fingers and so often surprising me because I didn’t think that was where the story was going at all. I love research, it’s addicting and I have to be careful I don’t get so caught up in following one lead to the next that I forget I have a story to tell and I need to get to it.   

What don't you like about writing?

When my editor tells me I have too many uses of ‘that’ and I have to go weed them out before she comes after me with a whip. Honestly, I love the creative process. I don’t know how NOT to write.

My editor has a thing about 'that' too, and 'had' ;~)

Is there anything about the writing process you found surprising?

How addicting research is. My characters constantly surprise me with their thoughts and actions. They seem to grow and mature without any direction from me which I find a bit unsettling at times. I mean, am I just a conduit for them to tell their stories through?

If you are just a conduit, then you are truly blessed as a writer.

Thanks, that’s so sweet of you to say that.

Apart from the impact of the brave patient on you and the foal’s name, are any story lines based on things that have happened to you or you have heard about?

I would have to say, no, not directly. However, everything we see or hear or experience is grist for the writer’s mill. So in that respect, I do pull emotions and thoughts and sometimes ideas from my own experiences.

Well, the dog in Christmas Storm which releases in March of 2012 is based on a foster dog I cared for. Lily was quite the character, the peacock incident is a gift from her of sorts. I still miss her, but she is very happy with her new family out on Vancouver Island.

What advice would you have for other authors?

 Believe in yourself and your work. There are so many naysayers out there, “You’re not a writer because you not published”, “Oh, you write , that’s not really writing” and the list goes on. Never be afraid to take constructive criticism and implement it. Talk to people, go to writers' conferences and talk to editors and publishers, learn all the aspects of your craft.

What are you passionate about?

This will sound hoakey, but Truth and Love. Anyone who knows me knows I am an animal lover. I believe each life is sacred and deserves respect, my concept of ‘life’ includes flowers, trees, bugs, the land, in short everything which exists in all worlds on all planes of existence. Learning and growing and having the courage to look my own faults in the face, acknowledge them and then strive to change them to something closer to my idea of what I should be. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a warrior in me who wants to take a few heads when cruelty is perpetrated on innocents; I am of Celtic ancestry after all. 

That doesn’t sound hoakey. If more people thought like you do, there’d be harmony on our planet. And your charity . . .?

Yes, $1 from every copy of Laurel’s Miracle sold between September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2011 will be donated to Dare to Dream Horse Rescue in Dalemead, Alberta. They buy horses at auction which would normally go to the meat buyers and end up at the packing plant. They work with these animals and rehome them; they also incorporate a youth ministry into the mix. This is a wonderful cause and one I support whole heartedly.

Where can we get to know you better, Nancy?

 You can visit my website -

Nancy M. Bell    the m is because there is another author writing as Nancy Bell and I want people to find me.

 Twitter@emilypikkasso

Facebook  -- AuthorNancyMBell  and Nancy Rafter Bell

Nancy Bell Author Page  at MuseItUp Publishing

Laurel's Miracle Book Page 

BOOK VIDEO   this is a lovely book trailer

Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog, Wendy and best of luck with your own writing. I understand The Unhewn Stone was released recently from MuseItUp Publishing. Congratulations.
 
Thank you. Now the PARTY begins via the comments. One lucky guest will WIN a copy of Laurel’s Miracle. So welcome EVERYONE! Come and feast on Nancy’s special day!