My goals for 2024 included producing and distributing three short stories. By God’s grace two were completed. The Christmas season and construction on a new house took their toll on the third story. The two stories that crossed the finished line are:
- Will It Ever Be Well? Following his father’s death, eighteen-year-old Thomas is left wrestling with grief and an uncertain future. As he stands on the brink of adulthood, will he choose faith to guide him, or leave his life to chance?
- A Father’s Heart An irresponsible father with an angry wife and sick child must learn to rise to the occasion or live as a broken man.
The third, A Home For Rodney, didn’t make it, but I’m not going to beat myself up over it (I set this goal for three stories late in 2024). They say if you don’t aim at something, you’ll hit it every time. So two out of three ain’t bad.
Here’s a brief description for A Home For Rodney:
Time is ticking for a boy in social services. He can let go of his fears and find a loving family or shuffle in and out of households.
I sent A Home For Rodney to Writer’s Digest, a magazine and website for writers that has a critique service called 2nd Draft. Here’s a few things Jessica Berg, a writer/editor, said:
I found so much to appreciate in A Home For Rodney. We see a powerful sense of character and atmosphere on the page. You’ve done well to capture Rodney’s journey with depth and authenticity. His voice is distinct, full of rawness and vulnerability that resonates on a deep level. I also appreciate that his dialect and inner thoughts reveal a mix of innocence and emotional scars. This makes him incredibly relatable.
The pacing is generally well-structured, but I wanted to linger more on Rodney’s final moments with the Thomases. This would better help elevate the stakes and give a more satisfying arc. His decision to “surrender” to family number seven seems to happen so quickly. Drawing out this moment by showing us how this choice is manifesting/affecting him physically or mentally can best reinforce his vulnerability.
So clearly, there’s some work to do. But with the Christmas season here and our new house under construction, it was delayed. In the mean time, I continue to write one-sentence summaries for 24 stories. I hope to select around 15 of them for a collection of short stories. A possible title for the collection could be Behold All Things Become New based 2 Corinthians 5:17. The stories are about folks muddling through their broken existence until conflict drives them to grace and transformation.
Stay tuned!
