My prize-winner writing friend Fenja Hill, who has published some excellent collections of stories which you can find on Amazon (link at the end) has been undertaking an intriguing project. It all started some time ago when the writing group as usual was set a challenge – which to be honest, I can’t now remember. Her story was set in a small shop, the sort of local place where people pop in for random stuff and there’s usually something which meets their needs. In a way our local village shop – which we still call the paper shop but also sells food and household goods and almost anything you might randomly need. The shop-keeper in Fenja’s story, however, is no ordinary shop-keeper, and the shop is no ordinary shop. The customers don’t always know what they need, even though they might think they do. However, what the shop-keeper – or the shop itself, gives is very different which changes their lives in ways they could never have imagined.
Fenja shared the story with the group, and as ever we were all impressed and enjoyed it greatly. She herself had enjoyed writing it, and just as we, her listeners, had wanted to know what else the shop unexpectedly delivered to its customers, so did she, So what did she do? She began to write another story, for herself, about the next customer who came into the shop – and what they wanted (thought they wanted) and what they got. Of course, as she was writing she began to think there were other stories which could fit into this idea. If and when she has written her tales and gathered them into a published collection, I will update you with details.
I’ve mentioned that the next writing group challenge is to write something surreal, and also mentioned that I’ve been pondering and had various different but not really concrete ideas. An idea came to me today based on the jottings I shared a couple of days ago about moss gathering and talking dogs. Well, what could be more surreal than a moss gatherer and a talking dog? Of course, I’d have to be careful not to slip into a different genre – fantasy or weird fiction, but if I did I’m sure the writing group would be very understanding. It’s past midnight now, so I will set to in the morning and see what happens! Fenja had the idea of a series of stories about her unusual shop – well, I’ve also had more ideas about moss and dogs, so who knows, at some point there might be something new in print from me too!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Fenja-Hill/author/B07DJQCC8D
Lois Elsden 