I might be waiting, but my alter ego, Heather Pardoe, has a short story out this week! Hurrah!
‘The Apple Orchard’ is in September 3rd’s ‘The People’s Friend’ here in the UK. It wasn’t my usual way of working. Usually, you write the story, and it appears with a picture. For ‘The Apple Orchard’ I was asked if I would write the story for the picture.
I happily agreed to the suggestion, as I’ve done a couple like this before and really enjoyed the challenge. I have to confess, this one was my biggest challenge yet. You see, my usual stories tend to be about families and their dilemmas, along with children and teenagers learning a little about life. Love stories are not really my territory for this particular magazine.
This picture is definitely a love story.
Which was a nice idea, but a bit out of my comfort zone, and – being human – I didn’t want to fail miserably. I would never live it down.
Okay. Panic first. Then make a strong coffee and start with what is there. In the background there is a coastline. That looked like Devon or Cornwall to me. And the apple orchard? Well that came from one tiny detail. The apple in the man’s hand. A quick stint on Google, and I found that Devon is known for its apples. So it was Devon, then.
And the rest? Well that came from the body language. From the moment of two people sharing something, something exciting, maybe life-changing.
One dog walk later (most of my stories, short and long, are brewed during the daily dog walk), and the story had fallen into place. And so I sat down, with only a modest amount of my usual procrastination, and wrote it like the true professional I am.
And here it is.
And forget the Booker (for the moment, at least, ahem), it still gives me a buzz to see myself in print and know that people – lots of people – are reading my stories.
You might say it’s not the same, because it’s not my name. But for the first two weeks of my life, Heather was my name. And Pardoe? Well, that’s my mother’s mother. The one left behind when her husband went off to Australia to find his fortune in the goldmines. One hell of a woman, by all accounts.
But that’s another story…
Will have a look for it tomorrow. Congratulations, looks a great story, hope I’m not too late. Love the picture of your dog on the mountain.
I read the whole excerpt you left here and now I would love to finish the story. I was caught up in this and you are a very good writer. Thank you for showing it, but I’m left in the middle.:)
Oops, forgot about the second page!
Thanks for the lovely comments Barbara. I used to see Heather as a different writer, but now I’m doing a serial for a magazine I can see she’s not that different from me writing as me, after all.
If that makes sense 🙂
Juliet
Congratulations! Really interesting the way they sent you a picture brief to work to… 🙂
Hi Maria!
Thanks! I’d never thought magazines did that until I wrote a few of them. It’s a real challenge because you have such a tight brief anyhow to fit your stories into the requirements of the magazine. But you never get blank page syndrome!
Juliet
Zoomed in and was having fine old time reading – until I reached ‘continued on page 7’! 😉
Enjoyed though – and enjoyed the post – and the photography.
Jen
Tried to leave comment before, but think cyber imps nabbed it…
Enjoyed the post – always do.
Zoomed in on pic from mag and was having fine old time reading
the story – until I reached ‘continued on page’. 😉
Beautiful photography!
Best,
Jen
Thanks, Jen! I’m glad you liked it. I enjoyed the challenge, once I got my head round it. I’ve been busy finishing a novel, but I’m looking forward to doing some more.
And thanks for liking the photos. I live in such a beautiful place it’s impossible to take a dud!
Juliet
Ohhh…I thought that was the whole story. It was so lovely and then there’s more on Page 7? LOL..
Very evocative writing.
Juliet! Great post as always and guess what!? TAG I HAVE NOMINATED YOU FOR THE LIEBSTER AWARD!!!
To find out all about that and to accept-go to my blog
http://samantha-stacia.blogspot.com
You deserve it!
Hi Juliet. I’m a fellow campaigner, stopping by to say hello. I love the way you detail how you wrote this story, and I read a few older posts as well, about how you found your writer’s voice. I love your blog, it feels serene and contented.
Enjoyed the story on the story of the story. By coincidence I’ve done something similar for my contribution to Sepia Saturday this weekend too.
Congratulations on the publication! I have not ever written a story based on a picture before, but I imagine it is a challenge I would enjoy trying. Well done!