The Story Behind The Story: Ann Karasinski’s A Level Playing Field

Author Ann Karasinski
“A Level Playing Field”

Several years ago in our now defunct local newspaper, I read about a woman, a wife and mother, who had died in a tragic accident. Over time the her story began to haunt me.  The newspaper described the woman’s community involvement and named her surviving family members, including a teenaged son.  I wondered how her son actually would survive, how he would remember his mother and see his dad, and how he would see himself.  Eventually, this son took up residence in my imagination and spoke to me through my own secrets and experiences and became Jason O’Donnell.

The Story Behind The Story: Allie Brennan’s Dark Angel

About a year ago, I had just finished another book about an impossibly sexy angel guy and his weak (and clueless) human soul-mate. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the book, but it made me think; what if the roles were reversed. What would happen if there was a strong kick-ass and sexy female angel and her weak and plain human lover boy. And to really twist it up, what if she was the bad guy? Or supposed to be the bad guy?

To get my novels straight in my head, I sometimes write short stories about them to work out voice, character traits, tone, etc. Well, that’s what I did here (minus lover boy), and I blew through this story so fast I barely breathed. I immediately fell in love with my feisty DARK ANGEL, Lucy, and her jerk of a brother, Damon.

The Story Behind The Story: Kelly Samuels’ Do You Remember Fred?

KELLY SAMUELS, author of “Do You Remember Fred?”

http://www.KellySamuels.com

A few years back, I went to UCLA to investigate their Extension’s decorating program.  And now I’m a writer.  Somehow I ended up at the Writer’s Fair, sat in on a lecture and listened to an author talk about all the characters she has swimming around in her head.  I thought, Hallelujah, I don’t have a multiple personality disorder; I just have characters searching for a plot. (Some characters I’ve had with me since childhood!)

The Story Behind The Story: Claudia Snow Classon’s Angels and Serendipity

Claudia Snow Classon, author of “Angels and Serendipity”
http://wordprowler.blogspot.com/

Last summer I learned that having a second story accepted by SUCKER entitles an author to a whole new level of editorial support. While most literary magazines merely offer a perfunctory assessment of one’s latest blood, sweat, and tears opus, SUCKER ups the ante by providing en suite one-on-one overnight collaboration.

Story behind the story: Paul Heinz’s The Missing Ingredient

The story behind the story “The Missing Ingredient”

PAUL HEINZ
http://www.paulheinz.com

A transcription of a conversation with my therapist, July 2012

Therapist: So in summary, what you seem to be saying is that you’re still holding onto the humiliation you felt as a teenager.

Me:  Well, duh. Isn’t everyone?

The story behind the story: Kathleen Ingraham

Kathleen Ingraham, author of “A Little Bit of Sunshine”
http://www.seekathleenwrite.com

My story, “A Little Bit of Sunshine” began while I was attending the Solstice MFA Program at Pine Manor College. I was taking a class from the amazing David Yoo about beginnings.  One of our assignments was to write the first sentence of a story. The opening sentence to my piece is what I wrote.