16 Days and Counting by Judith Ashley
At another time in the not too distant past, I had about 16 days before an original short story was due up at
Free Reads from the Genre-istas and Friends. I was going through my normal process which is to wait until a story idea pops into my head complete with setting and characters who speak to me. In the meantime, I was sitting on my couch waiting for the full moon to appear in the window to the left of my fireplace.
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| Judith Ashley |
I was in an optimistic mood because the sky was clear and I knew I'd be able to see Grandmother Moon as she passed by. Since she isn't a speedy traveler of the night sky, I waited a book in hand. From time to time I glanced down and read a bit but I was much more enchanted with the view out the small window.
Before Grandmother Moon is even visible, her light creeps over the glass and when the angle is right in to the room. That is all part of the magic for me...watching what has been for ages upon ages reveal itself to me time after time (assuming the clouds stay away).
And then There It Was!
The opening scene in
Grandmother Moon replicates what I was doing that night. I was sitting on the couch, snuggled into a corner, comfy throw across my legs, reading a book, waiting for her to appear.
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| My Horsehide Drum |
Of course, living in a metropolitan city, going out and beating my drum (yes, I have one of those too), was not an option. Neither Trey nor Carter appeared except in my imagination. However, both of them - actually all of my characters - interact with each other within my hearing so I can dutifully record what they are saying.
Do not think that everything just flows and I need to do nothing but record what they are saying and doing because there is a lot more to it. This process gives me a first draft, the basics of the story.
Next is to read through again and include such things as description if that isn't there the first go through (and it usually isn't - she has a throw over her legs, not a dark blue one for example), her and his thoughts so the reader better understands the "what" and "why" of the story. I catch typos and punctuation errors here also.
Once I've done what I can, I ask Paty Jager and Sarah Raplee to read it over and then I incorporate their suggestions and corrections.
For
Love and Magic I've added another six thousand or so words and had four more people read it. I see
Grandmother Moon as an introduction in some ways to my series The Sacred Women's Circle . The first three books of that seven book series are due out in early March.
