The first feature in this blog series is going way back to my first attempt at writing a short story.
When I wrote this little book, I had just finished publishing the book of poetry and art from Rick and myself. I had no idea what I wanted to do next, then a short story contest presented itself, and I took advantage of it to try my hand at fiction. While I had written songs that would be considered fiction, I’d never tried writing a story. To my surprise, the book won first place in the contest. That gave me confidence to try more, and the result was to experiment with writing in different genres.
But this is my first attempt. The title of the book came from a dear friend who is a retired schoolteacher from Dallas ISD, Judy Lowe. She is also a children’s book author and we’ve attended numerous conferences and book signings together. At the end of a long day of workshops, she would look at me with a sly smile and say, “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a short snort.” That would always make me giggle, so I included that in the book title, “Two Shorts and a Snort.” The ‘snort’ is a poem.
“Obsessed” was inspired by and loosely based on a song by the late Charlie Robison, Loving County.
How far will one man go to satisfy an obsession? The price could be his life.
“Maggie” is a Christmas type story about miracles.
Is it possible to pray up a baby? Frank and Mary Pyburn are convinced that is what they’ve done.
And the poem, Friends Instead of Lovers was originally a song I wrote, but aren’t all songs just poems?
Sometimes it’s better to remain friends, instead of giving in to desires and crossing a line.
If you haven’t picked up this book, I hope you’ll do so. At 49 pages, it’s a super quick and fun read! The purchase link is above.
Wow, this is really inviting. Got it!
Thank you, Paula!!
Love that title and its origin, Jan. Seems like fate that you won the contest!
True enough, Teri. I don’t know where my writing path would have gone had I not won that contest. Guess, it doesn’t matter. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Great anecdote about where the title came from. Always fun to try something new.
It is always fun to try something new, Pete. I like to think of it as stretching the writing muscle. Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoyed reading those stories! Love how you got the title.
Thank you, Joan!
It’ great to see where you started. I love the title!
Thank you, Darlene! So happy you stopped by!
I love looking back and seeing how one thing added to another and how things developed into something really big that manifested. So glad, you were led that way.
It’s always amazing to look back and see how the journey has unfolded. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Always a pleasure, Jan, and thank you for sharing your journey with us 💖
This was a great read, Jan! So happy you tried writing fiction 🙂
So am I, Denise. While RRBC turned out to be a big disappointment in the end, their short story contests set me on a whole new writing path. Thank you for stopping by!
I could have sworn that I read this book, but I looked over my Amazon account and then didn’t see a review. Well, time to amend that oversight, Jan. I just downloaded and look forward to the read!
Lol, Diana. That sort of thing happens to me all the time. Thank you for downloading!
It felt like I was having a “senior moment,” Lol.
I totally relate, Diana!
I enjoyed this book when you launched it. This is a super rewind promotion.
Thank you, John. It can’t hurt to bring up old titles now and then. 🙂
I agree.
This looks fantastic, Jan!
Thank you, Tim. I appreciate you visiting and leaving a comment!