February Short Stories and More!
Okay, this is a weird little thing I wrote once. It started off as a children’s story, until I reached the last sentence, at which point it became something else.
Noir? Well, maybe. :)
It’s … no, I can’t tell you. You just have to read it.
So here goes …
“Betty and the Blister”
by Debbi Mack
One day, Betty woke up and found the strangest thing on her hand. It was like a little sac of jelly or liquid . When she touched it, the bulge felt slightly squishy.
So, she went to her mom and said, “What is this weird thing on my hand?” And her mother said, “Don’t worry. It’s just a blister. It will go away.”
“When will it go away, Mom?” Betty asked.
Her mom sat her down with Betty and took her hand. “The blister formed because your skin somehow got irritated.” She paused, then said, “Think, Betty. Has anything rubbed against her fingers lately?”
Betty thought hard. “Maybe the brake handle on my bike?” Betty realized that she’d been squeezing hard on her bike’s brakes, because there were so many hills in her neighborhood and she didn’t want to lose control of her bike going downhill.
Her mom said, “That could explain it. We should pad the brake handle on your bike, so it doesn’t rub your finger like that. In the meantime, we need to treat and protect the blister, so you can heal.”
Betty’s mother got some ointment from the bathroom cabinet and applied it to the blister. She also brought a box of small bandages and applied a small one to the blister.
“There,” she said. “Now it’s protected.” Then she lightly kissed the bandage and added, “Sealed with a kiss.”
Betty rode her bike the next day and was hit by a bus.
THE END
Now, there are numerous things I haven’t told you about Betty. How old is she? What does she look like? Where do these people live? But I think a lot can be inferred in my word usage and understood in context. So I’ve managed to make my point (if there was one) without excessive verbiage.
One question: Would the story end better with these words?
TO BE CONTINUED
If Betty died, how would the story go? If Betty lived, how would it go then?
Think about it.
I could continue the story. Or leave it as is … open to interpretation. :)
Onward …
NEW RELEASES FOR FEBRUARY
A Q&A with Gary L. Stuart
Thriller author Gary L. Stuart talks about his writing and his latest books Hide and Be and My Brother, Myself.
1. What caused you to transition from being a lawyer to writing full time? What was that journey like?
Once a lawyer, always a lawyer. I discovered that practicing law was not as much fun as writing about it. Courtrooms are theaters and success in trial calls for dramatizing the case in ways that judges and juries like and respect. My courtroom skills work when I’m creating crime fiction. I know what it takes to win and how awful it feels to lose in court, or at a bookstore.
2. Why do you write both fiction and nonfiction, and how are you able to write in both genres simultaneously?
The law is real. Fiction is not. Balancing imagination and ingenuity in fiction with citing case law and statutory law is a balance that keeps me sane and on course. I found over the years that the law is pliable but crime fiction is more fun.
3. How do your experiences as a trial lawyer inspire or inform your books?
When you try a case, especially a jury trial, you have to be mentally aware of a dozen things at once; the judge, jury, opposing counsel, clients, witnesses, court clerks and bailiffs, timing, how sound works, movement away from the podium, and maintaining a connection with the jury. All of that is an art form, as well as an acquired talent. It’s very similar to creating all of that inside a novel.
4. What sparked your interest in writing about twin relationships and “twin telepathy”?
The most important element of fiction writing is creating original characters that are believable and fully developed. Creating two characters who look and act alike is a great way to advance your hold on the reader. If the twins are interesting and fascinating at the same time, their personalities, flaws, hopes, dreams and mendacity ooze out, one droplet at a time. The reader stays with you as long as you don’t bore them.
5. How have you worked to write about a mentally ill serial killer without stigmatizing those with mental illness?
Stigmatizing mental illness is a stupid way to write a novel. But explaining when, how, and how often people suffer mental illness is interesting to readers everywhere. Malignant twins are exceedingly rare. My twins in the book are not malignant. They are what life gave them–deeply wounded and incapable of handling separation. That’s what makes them fascinating characters.
*****
Gary Stuart is a retired lawyer and a recently retired Adjunct Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law at ASU. He is a former member of the Arizona Board of Regents and is a member of the Maricopa Bar Association’s Hall of Fame. He has published scores of law review articles, op-ed pieces, essays, magazine articles, short stories, CLE booklets, and eighteen books. He blogs about the ethics of writing at https://ethicsofwriting.com/. His book and writing site is https://garylstuart.com/.
Find Gary Stuart online:
www.garylstuart.com
www.ethicsofwriting.com
www.gunsoncampus.com
Follow Gary Stuart on social media:
Facebook: Gary Stuart's Books | Twitter: @garylesterstuart
LINKS TO SHORT STORIES ONLINE
”Val Has a Math Problem”, fiction by Casey Stegman. Via Tough Blogazine.
“Fake It Until You Make It”: A Cozy Mystery Short Fiction. Via Mystery Tribune.
“Twelve Theories” by Joan Zimmermann. Via The Galway Review.
“Tiring the Ghosts” by Ella Mei Yon Harris. Via River Teeth.
CRIME FICTION LOVER PRESENTS
The Last Word by Elly Griffiths.
This one’s on my TBR list.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF DETECTIVE FICTION - BOOK REVIEWS
Recipes for Murder: 66 Dishes That Celebrate the Mysteries of Agatha Christie by Karen Pierce (2023).
The Green Mummy by Fergus Hume (1908).
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart (2015).
COMING TO THE CRIME CAFE IN MARCH
Season 9:
March 3 - Episode 23: Faye Snowden
March 17 - Episode 24: Amanda Lamb
MY BOOK REVIEW ARCHIVES
‘Dogtown’ a Downright Delight for Hardboiled Mystery Fans
(originally posted on September 2, 2007)
I love a hardboiled detective story with a female protagonist, but when the protagonist is also an attorney, it really gets my attention. DOGTOWN was the first in a series by Mercedes Lambert about Los Angeles lawyer Whitney Logan, “a young attorney who can count her billable hours on one hand,” to quote the cover blurb. When a client comes to her about finding her missing Guatemalan maid, Whitney’s not sure about taking the case–until her client lays ten crisp hundred dollar bills out on her desk.
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