From the Booking Desk:
I have been friends with Debra Goldstein for years, even working “for” her when she was heading the Sister In Crime Counting Project a number of years back. So I was delighted when she asked to do a guest post here on the blog. Look for a review of her new short story collection soon, but until then, let’s see what she has to say about writing both novels and short stories with both light and dark tones.
My Joy Writing Long or Short / Dark or Light by Debra H. Goldstein
Eleven years ago, I walked away from my lifetime judicial appointment to follow my passion to write crime fiction novels. My first, IPPY award winning Maze in Blue, was an academic mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus in the 1970’s. When it was orphaned, I was told to write something else. That something else, Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery, was a more traditional mystery, with cozy elements. It, too, was orphaned when Poker’s publisher decided to no longer continue its mystery line.
Convinced I had to again write something new, I realized I wanted to write a pure cozy that by the nature of cozy tropes would include amateur sleuths, small towns, no sex or cursing, crafts, or cooking. Unfortunately, it seemed like my cozy career was going to be over before it began because I don’t like cooking or crafts. For a moment, I was sad. Then, it dawned on me that there had to be readers who felt the same way about crafts and cooking. Hence, the birth of Kensington’s Sarah Blair series about a woman who finds cooking more frightening than murder.
While writing these novels was satisfying, an open story call challenged me to try my hand at writing shorter pieces. Almost fifty published stories later, I embrace the short story form because it allows me to write light, cheerful tales, but also to release a darker side in my writing.
The first short story I wrote, “Malicious Mischief,” included elements of humor, but also the theme of the emotional aftereffects of the Holocaust. The main characters were a group of Mah Jongg players and the son of one the players – a so-so lawyer. The plot involved one of the women keying the car of a man she believed to be a former Nazi commandant, now living under an assumed identity in the same retirement home as the women. When she was arrested for her malicious mischief, the players turned to the lawyer to find a way to resolve the case. How he handled the case blended comedy with the tragic elements behind the story.
After “Malicious Mischief,” I discovered my short story ideas, whether written in response to a specific prompt or open call, are triggered by the combination of two things: a thematic concept of a social issue or event and hearing the first sentence in my head. Yes, I am one of those writers who hear character voices in my head. When they spit out the first sentence, I know the point from which the story will flow.
Other people are influenced by setting or the theme itself, but I must feel the characters. Consequently, my first sentence often is dialogue. If it isn’t, it is a first-person introduction of the character. From that initial sentence, I determine whether the developed theme will be dark, light, or a combination of the two.
Even in my darkest stories, such as “The Night They Burned Ms. Dixie’s Place,” there will be humorous lines because I believe it is impossible for people or characters not to have funny moments in their lives. Therefore, by adding a touch of humor to the most hard-boiled moments, I introduce realism into my tales.
With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying, a recently released collection of eighteen of my early short stories, many of which won awards or were Agatha, Anthony, or Derringer finalists, provides readers a perfect smattering of my dark and light short pieces. The different themes they illustrate all tend to include sinning and, at times, redemption, but the emotional level of the piece dictates whether it is cozy or not. For example, death befalls a would-be-groom in “Thanksgiving in Moderation,” but the events and characters’ behavior are so tongue-in-cheek, that the story entertains in a cozy manner. On the opposite end, death takes a more sinister turn in the story, “So Beautiful, Or So What.”
Because the word count for my short stories is far less than novels, dark moments can become emotional focal points. From that emotion, the other elements, such as setting, become the details, and occasionally a character unto themselves, that fill out the story. How they come together is the essence of writing them and the joy for me.
Find out more about With Our Bellies Full and the Fire Dying (along with links for purchase)
