Back in January of this year, I made a pledge with myself
that I would put a short story online on the last day of each month for the entirety
of the year. If all went to plan, by New Year’s Eve 2013 I would have 12 short
stories on my website, which would be totally free. I didn’t quite keep to the
last day of the month part (life is busy) but I am writing consistently.
I started the Short-Story-Project
for two reasons. Firstly, to keep my fingers busy. The Spirit Broker is
finished and just needs to have art work done for its cover. But before I
delved into another novel, I really wanted to know if I had it in me to keep
writing anyway. So by making the promise to myself to produce one short story a
month, I was testing my creativity and dedication.
Secondly, I think short stories are great. They don’t take
long to read, they don’t (often) take long to write, and you can explore new
things in them that you may not be able to in a novel. To me, a novel should
have no more than 3 flavours. I.e. A romantic, fantasy horror novel could work;
but a romantic, fantasy, horror, mystery, crime novel may be a bit too much (or
maybe not if written by the right person).
Short stories enable me to focus on horror, and then fantasy
in another, and then romance etc, without feeling like I need to balance out a
fusion of genres.
Anyway; it’s beyond halfway through the year now, and I have
six short stories online so far. This series of blog entries will focus on the
messages behind each of the stories – spoiler-free.
This tale has a simple message. I
touched upon it in an earlier post, but I will expand. Through my experiences
and observations, I’ve noticed that humans are very good at sharing their
emotions with others. If someone is in a great mood, and life is going well,
the chances are that the people around them will also feel good. It will be
pleasant to be in this person’s company, and their positive attitude become
infectious.
On the flipside; when people are in
very dark moods, they often (consciously or sub-consciously) have a tendency to
make others feel like crap too. I’m sure we’ve all had “that person” in the
workplace who often comes into the office with a terrible attitude, and makes
everyone feel like crap. As my mother says “misery loves company”.
The Jeweller and the Witch is a tale
in which our main character, the Jeweller, has the opportunity to transfer the
way he feels onto others; and in doing so certain consequences arise.
The next “short tales explained”
post will explain the thoughts behind Lady of the Snow, February’s tale.
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