Right Heat, Wrong Event

When Wade and I started Black Coffee Fiction, our short story blog, we had a backlog of stories to fall back on.  Because I am much older and have been at this longer, I had more fiction laying around than he did.

This week, Wade finally used up his stash and had to write a new story from scratch in one week. He rose to the challenge brilliantly in his story "Right Heat, Wrong Event". (See http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com )    I think he feels more secure as a writer because now he knows he is capable of getting a story out there under pressure.

Next week, it's my turn to get something out, but it's no problem because I have a few Christmas stories in folders.

Some years ago, returning from church late on Christmas Eve, I paused to look up and down the street.  Some houses were brightly lit with cars parked on the street. Other windows were dark.  Perhaps the children had been sent to bed to have an early morning after Santa came.  Some of the parties were getting raucous and I knew the beer was flowing.

I began to wonder how each of my neighbors were celebrating Christmas. That led to other questions.  How does a battered woman spend the night. A pedophile?  A family with a child in the military?

I love Christmas, the music, the lights, the food, the family, the snow, all of it.  But I know that the majority of people get depressed at least once during the holiday season.  It is more difficult because they know they are expected to have that perfect Norman Rockwell Christmas.

I began scribbling.  In time, I had a series of what I call extremely depressing Christmas stories.  These stories are for those people, to let them know they are not alone.  

I've already posted "The Rapture," and "A Candle in the Window" in the blog.  Now three more of those stories will show up starting the day after Thanksgiving, followed by two more on December 9 and December 23.  In time, I intend to have a very unhappy yule collection, under the title "Christmas on Lincoln Street".

Come the New Year, I will be in Wade's shoes, writing frantically, searching for ideas.  It's not easy writing 26 stories a year!