Welcome back to the Glade!

I hope May felt like warm sunshine and the first hints of summertime to you! (Because it felt like rain and a cold chill where I am – brr!)

Welcome back to the Storyfire Glade, friends, where creativity sparks a little magic on the journey of healing.

First, how did your flash fiction go last month? Did you try it? Did a little firefly of an idea bounce around in your head, waiting to be let out of the jar? Hit reply and let me know – I’d love to hear all about it!

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Creativity that Heals

This month, I want to talk for a moment about how we can use fiction to carry us along the healing journey. We’re all healing from something – a bad breakup, a family loss, a tragic past – and there’s a great temptation to stuff our pain, grief, and frustration way down deep inside and never let it see the light of day again. Why feel pain when you can smother it, amirite?

The problem is, pain that isn’t processed is repeated – in a thousand different ways. It nestles down deep in our bones, causing joint problems, or headaches, or chronic illnesses. Or it leaks out sideways, spilling onto those closest to us – our spouse, our kids, our best friends. “Hurt people hurt people,” as the saying goes, and the afterimage of our pain leaves us with souls that crouch and hide, or rage and wail.

So, how can fiction help us deal with our pain? Over the next few months, I’ll share some thoughts. Here’s the first one:

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Fiction helps us see ourselves, just better.

The best fiction offers relatable characters who face and overcome hardship. Inevitably, as we read, we find our own stories mirrored in theirs. When characters we identify with suffer pain, loss, and heartbreak, we feel those emotions right alongside them, but from a safe distance. And when they successfully overcome their own inner and outer demons, a tiny spark of belief ignites in our hearts that maybe we, too, could fight the dragon and win.

Back in 2020, during those first two weeks of the pandemic when the streets were empty and uncertainty reigned, my husband and I were both experiencing life crises. While I’d discovered that the me I thought I was wasn’t really me, he was limping along in a job that fit him about as well as a penguin’s vest on a bear. One afternoon, we decided to watch the Disney version of the Broadway musical, Hamilton.

We were thunderstruck. We sat and stared for three hours, and at the end, as Phillipa Soo melted our faces and our hearts in “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,” I blubbered and sobbed while Michael stilled, the picture of stoicism. When it ended, he stood up and said, “There’s more for us.”

There’s more for us.

We knew it was true. We just didn’t know we knew until Alexander Hamilton gave his all for his country (and, perhaps, himself) and Eliza Hamilton suffered, fell, and rose from the ashes of tragedy. We saw ourselves in these characters, and they propelled us into new lives.

Five years later and we’ve discovered at least some of that “more.” I write professionally, fulfilling a childhood dream of mine. Michael’s in a job that fits him more like a tailored dinner suit. And we’re much better for it.

Of course, Alexander Hamilton’s story is based on his and Eliza’s true lives. But Lin-Manuel Miranda took the raw elements of flawed existence and shaped them into the pristine beauty of a story arc: rise, fall, redemption. It’s what we all crave for our own lives.

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There’s more for you, too.

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Fiction – both the reading and the writing of it – can offer you a mirror into yourself, and into a better, more whole you.

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You just have to let it.

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Story Prompts

The wonderful thing about fiction is that, if you can’t find a story that speaks your heart the way you long to be seen, you can always write it! Here are a few story prompts to get you started this month.

My challenge to you: pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, grab a notebook and a pen, and sit outside (or in your favorite cozy chair by the window). Take one of these story prompts and write yourself in. See where you go.

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1. In “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,” Eliza sings, “And when my time is up / have I done enough? / Who tells your story?” You have an hour before everything ends, and you know it. What do you do? What is enough?
2. In “Helpless,” Eliza sees Hamilton for the first time and sings, “Then you look back at me and suddenly I’m / helpless! / Oh, look at those eyes.” Write your love story. Or your love story, upgraded. What gown are you wearing at the ball?
3. In “Guns and Ships,” Lafayette sings, “I come back with more guns / and ships / and so the balance shifts.” You’re just beginning an adventure on a sailing ship. Where are you going? What’s your purpose? What must you defeat, or obtain, to succeed?
4. In “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” there’s a fascinating stage transformation where the cast literally turns all the set pieces upside down as they dance in slow motion. You wake up one morning to discover your bed on the ceiling – literally or metaphorically. What happened? Who caused this? What do you do now?
5. In “It’s Quiet Uptown,” Hamilton sings, “There are moments that the words don’t reach / There is suffering too terrible to name / You hold your child as tight as you can / and push away the unimaginable.” Write about a character whose world has shattered. What are they facing? What do they do next?

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Writing creates a safe space, a warm glade of firelight, where everything pressed down deep inside of us can finally be poured out. Take a few minutes this month to empty yourself onto the page. Don’t stop, don’t edit – just write.

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Book Review: The Penford Manor Murders

As promised, I’m including a review of Fiona Veitch Smith’s recently published book, The Penford Manor Murders (free on Kindle Unlimited!). This is the fourth book in a series, and although each book reads well on its own, it’s fun to watch the main character, Clara Vale, progress through the storylines of all the books. If you’re interested, grab The Picture House Murders first to begin Clara’s story, and enjoy a little murder alongside your warm beverage of choice.
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And now, The Penford Manor Murders review:

Golden Age detective Clara Vale is at it again in a new, intricate mystery. When an aristocratic matriarch is blackmailed, Clara must uncover the blackmailer before a mysterious secret is revealed. She questions suspects under the guise of attending a weekend celebration, but when a body is discovered, things get complicated.

As with all of Fiona Veitch Smith’s historical mysteries, I thoroughly enjoyed this story – very frequently while I sipped warm tea before “retiring for the evening” and feeling as British as an American can. I love Clara and her sidekick, Bella. Their bravery, tenacity, and willingness to buck cultural norms are always fun to read. The story felt pleasantly immersive: I’d happily return to a sprawling mansion in the English countryside whenever another murder needs to be solved.

I did find the story somewhat complex at times and had difficulty tracking the full cast of characters and their complicated associations with each other. Nevertheless, it was a great story, and I look forward to more mysteries from the author.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Writing style

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Characters

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Premise

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pacing

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Impact
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I hope you’ll pick up a cozy mystery and enjoy it this month!

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Writing Update

So, how’s my writing going? I’m 2/3rds of the way through my scene-by-scene analysis of The Crimson Alchemist before my last big edit. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve learned. I created a spreadsheet to help me systematically analyze each scene. I document what needs to happen so that, when I come back, I can jump right into writing. In June, I’ll start a writing challenge focused on finishing that final draft, all toward my goal of querying in September! (Hey, want to join me on the writing challenge? Let’s do it!)

I also paused edits for a bit this month to write a couple of new short stories. I’ll share the first one next month, so be on the lookout.
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That’s all for May, friends. I hope your June is sunny, warm, and filled with books, writing, and fun!
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Liz

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