I enjoy the annual NYCMidnight short story competition. Writers are assigned a genre, a subject and a character, and have 2,500 words and a week to craft their effort. Only once have I been assigned a genre I’m comfortable with—historical fiction—but that’s the point. Writing sci-fi, a ghost story, horror, political satire, or romance challenges me, keeps me on my writing toes, and provides a welcome break from slogging away at the Work In Progress.

A few years ago, my assignment was “crime caper.” Think Oceans Eleven or The Italian Job. The characters are the criminals and the tone is light. I found inspiration from some new acquaintances at an assisted living facility in town. I’d been invited to lead a book club discussion of Daughters of Riga. That session led to a writing workshop that evolved into story-telling. Often, wry humor permeated these tales. The ostensible focus might be hardship or loss endured, but the perspective acquired by age and experience added a twinkle to the telling.

I now had a setting and a cast for my crime caper. Next, I had to weave in the assigned subject—video gaming—and the assigned character—a dog walker. As a daily dog walk has been part of my routine for decades, the character would not be a problem. But I knew zero about video games. I had to find an expert to review my efforts to make sure I hadn’t made a fool of myself. Grandchildren come in handy when you need to cross the generational divide!

Recently feeling overwhelmed by the cruelty and violence that surrounds us these days, I revisited my cozy creation, Silver Beeches. Three residents of an assisted living facility plot to bring comfort to their dying friend who misses her dog. I hope you will find this lighthearted story of elderly outlaws entertaining, and enjoy some welcome diversion from the national chaos.

The post Silver Beeches: escaping into cozy appeared first on Marian Exall.