A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this quote from Stephen King:
"A short story is a different thing altogether-a short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger."
I copied the quote into my journal and a light-bulb went off in my head. A very short story roared through my brain about the lights going out and girl getting kissed in the dark by a stranger.
When I got home from work that night, I sat down and wrote the story. It was around 1,500 words and I thought (at the time) it was done.
But, no. No, it was not. The girl wanted to know who kissed her. She wanted him to kiss her again. She wouldn't shut up in my head.
So I wrote another part. And another. And another. She still didn't know who the stranger was and demanded some resolution.
And that's how my new story "Stranger in the Dark" came into being. It's still considered a short story, but it's somewhere between 15,000 and 16,000 words now. It's in six parts and completely written. I'll be posting two parts each week for the next three weeks.
You can expect to see the first part tomorrow (Wednesday, February 21st). I hope you enjoy your time in the dark with Tessa. I know I did.
Friday