Behind the Scenes of 'Among the Stray' Stories

In this blog post, I'll take you behind the scenes of 'Among the Stray' Stories, exploring the inspiration for each story.

The Inspiration Behind 'Among the Stray' Stories

Every story begins with a spark. For 'Among the Stray,' the ideas emerged from a combination of personal experiences, music, unanswered questions, and observations of the world around me. From there, the stories delve into themes of belonging, isolation, and the search for identity. Let's start at the beginning.

Story 1: A Certain Type of Prey

This story came from a song. Specifically a single line of lyrics about taking a man in sheets to the river (can you name the song?) That line conjured an image of a corpse, wrapped in white, being thrown into the cold, rushing water. The intense music that followed brought the feel of a chase, perhaps by the police, as the panicked murderer fled through the winding woods.

At that point, I had to back track to see who the victim had been and what transpired to bring them to this outcome. Eventually, I found my lead characters, discovered how lonely they were and why they were drawn to one another. From there, they took the initial idea and ran with it.

Did a man in sheets ever end up getting tossed in the river? Or was that idea only the flick of a lighter that led to the blaze? You'll have to read to find out.

Story 2: The Pulse

What do you do when you're stuck on a world with a dying Sun? You look out for one another, that's what. And that is precisely what Brannie does for her little brother, Bennie. The kids in this story are not my kids, not directly. But their diction, cadence, and mannerisms were all but copy and pasted from my little (at the time of writing) boys. However, the initial spark that lit this story was a star. Out in my hot tub one night, whiskey at hand, I was stargazing and I noticed a single star that seemed to be pulsating. I wondered, what would life be like on a planet whose sun was flashing like a pulsar, but still catered to living planets? The answer came as a quiet story, centered not on the grand scheme of saving the world, but on a young girl reaching out for the most important thing in the world, her little brother.

Story 3: If You Truly Love

The challenge-write a story where 90% of the word count contains nothing more than two men sitting in chairs and talking to one another, and KEEP IT INTERESTING. This began as an effort to improve my dialog in respect to individuals unique characteristics of speech. The result-one of my favorite short stories I've ever written.

It all begins with a knock on the door, a stranger who is not a stranger at all, and the most critical piece of information the MC has ever learned. By the end of the story, these men became real to me. I pitied them both. I understood them both. And I came to realized that conflict is not always as clean as good vs bad, but can sometimes happen when two good people, who both want to do good things, disagree in which is the best way to steer the world.

Story 4: Against a Small Night

I used to deal blackjack at a bar. The experience hardened me to seeing fights, dealing with intoxicated people, being yelled at, accused, and all manner of the darker side of night life. Since then, my tolerance to violence and difficult situations has only increased as I went through Paramedic training, then Nursing, and worked years on the ambulance and in the Emergency Department. However, more difficult than witnessing violence, was witnessing isolation in public. The number of lonely, old men was something of a surprise to me. Sometimes they'd bunch together, but interact little. More often they'd sit alone, watching the world move. How many of them had told themselves 'Tomorrow things will get better' and saw a thousand tomorrows come and go with no change? I'd never know, but I had to explore. I stepped inside the life of one of those men, then asked 'what if he met someone who made him realize loneliness wasn't so bad?'

Story 5: Back From Where You Came

Loss changes people. Or does it free them to become who they are? I asked myself that one night as I was about to pull into my driveway. At the end of the block, standing on the curb near a dark street lamp, was a lone man wearing an ill-fitting long coat. There was no cars, but he didn't cross the street. He wasn't looking around like he was expecting someone. Didn't check his watch. Didn't have his phone out. He only stood there.

My take was that he had lost someone. His purpose had been taken away, and without it (without her?) he was clueless what to do with himself. That void wouldn't stay empty for long, though. Because in the absence of love we are left open to the influence of hate.

Endless Inspiration

I've heard so many people say "I don't know what to write". I've never had that problem, and I feel blessed for that. I think the real difference between myself and those who are unsure of where to begin is the difference between spending time staring at a blank page and time spent watching the people around you. Never stare at the page. The answer isn't there, I promise. The answer is in the five minutes of conversation you overhear at a restaurant. It's in the car ahead of you with no license plate and a bumper sticker that says 'If you're reading this, it's too late'. It's in the jogger who keeps looking behind them, the woman on the park bench wiping silent tears, the pale kid staring out the window. Mostly, though, it's in the ability to ask questions, even of the ordinary. Why? What if? How come? Then each answer opens a door, and you peek inside to see what you can see. Sometimes there's some cool stuff in there. Sometimes there's at least a string to pull on. Next thing you know, you've got a steaming cup next to your computer, your knuckles are freshly cracked, and you're wiggling your fingers over the keys, ready to create something new.