Author commentary on stories featured on my Freely Written podcast in October 2024: Is That Me?, Local News and Black Cat.
At the end of each month, I’ll shed some light on my writing adventures.
If you’re new to Freely Written, this podcast offers very short stories written from a chosen prompt with no planning and very little editing. These stories are an exercise in letting go of perfection and embracing spontaneous creativity. You may even be inspired to write a story of your own!
Episodes are released every other Tuesday and are around 10 minutes long. Listen with your favorite podcast app or from the links below!
Ep. 125 – Is That Me? – October 2, 2024
Listen first to avoid spoilers! Find the story here: Is That Me?
At Blend Book Fest, my friend Gretchen told me a funny story that included a run-in with a stranger behaving in such a familiar way that Gretchen found herself thinking, Is That Me? Is that what I sound like? We laughed and a prompt was found! Of course, I didn’t want to write a story that copied Gretchen’s experience. So, I set my story around a scientist studying a window that would let her see glimpses of herself in alternate universes.
The idea of a window into alternate selves came to me as soon as I sat down to write. Maybe it was partially inspired by an old Stargate SG-1 episode where they had a mirror that could transport them into alternate worlds (or something like that). I may have also drawn from the movie Arrival, in the sense of having a phenomenon blocked off by the military and a special team of scientists. Though the movie was about aliens and this story is about a strange window into other worlds.
It’s hard to explore too much in such a short story, but I like the way I pulled it together at the end with Margo having trouble recognizing herself in a mirror after seeing different versions of herself in the window. In a way, I would love to see the different paths my life might have taken. Yet, I can’t imagine how mind-scrambling it would be to see glimpses of those lives without raising some pretty intense identity questions. Alternate world theories are so amazing!
Ep. 126 – Local News – October 16, 2024
Listen first to avoid spoilers! Find the story here: Local News
This story’s prompt came from a moment during our recent vacation in the Shenandoah Valley. Peter and I had stopped at a scenic overlook, and gotten out of our car, when we noticed a car with a Local News logo parked nearby. Turning, we saw a woman being interviewed and realized we were likely being caught on camera behind her. We were far enough away that we couldn’t hear what they were saying, and we didn’t see anything on TV later, but we might be in the background of a TV interview!
Of course, that made us think of Jim Carrey’s old In Living Color sketches where he’d do crazy antics in the background of local news crews. I was tempted to write a story about that, but it felt too close to both reality and those skits. Instead, I went the the grandparent well to make up a sweet family story, this time with a grandmother relating a time when she was written up in the local news. It’s a simple story. And it’s not the first time I’ve written interactions with kids and their grandparents. While I didn’t have those grandparent moments when I was growing up, it’s nice to imagine them in my stories from time to time.
Ep. 127 – Black Cat – October 30, 2024
Listen first to avoid spoilers! Find the story here: Black Cat
This year, there were three Wednesdays in October, which means three stories instead of two! Since it was the day before Halloween, a holiday-inspired story seemed appropriate. I went with Black Cat because it’s an image I associate with Halloween. As a sidenote, there are a lot of superstitions around black cats, which sadly makes it harder for them to be adopted at shelters. If you’re adopting, please consider a black cat!
For a brief moment, I thought about writing about the plight of black cats in this story, but I wanted more of a Halloween theme. I started with some witches and worked my way toward adding a black cat. Not knowing how I would get to the cat, until I stumbled into a moment where one of the women was speechless and the phrase cat has your tongue came to mind. I really love moments like that. With that phrase, I immediately thought, if the cat has her tongue, another cat can give it back, which led to a spell using a black cat to solve their problem. It’s a lightly witchy story that was very fun to write!
With 3 stories, October has some decent variety in tone and style. Hopefully, you enjoyed the stories and were maybe inspired to write your own!
Have a suggestion for a future writing prompt? Let me know! If your prompt is chosen, I will give you credit in the episode.