Anne Rouen
I don't think I have any personal mysteries, except in the things and happenings around me. Delving into history, I find many mysteries that cannot be explained, and in thinking about them, I can find myself with a plot for a book, novella or short story.
For example, a few years ago I visited the historic Gore Hill cemetery in North Sydney when I noticed one particular headstone. It stood out because it was inscribed with only a name, an age and a date of death. She was a young woman of only 24. I wondered who she was and what had happened to her so much that it played on my mind and I had to find out.
With the help of my sister, a family historian, I researched what I could find of her life and death. She was married, yet there was no indication of this on her headstone.
This mystery, combined with the wording of her simple funeral notice and the brevity of her inscription, gave me the idea for my short story, The Anniversary.
For example, a few years ago I visited the historic Gore Hill cemetery in North Sydney when I noticed one particular headstone. It stood out because it was inscribed with only a name, an age and a date of death. She was a young woman of only 24. I wondered who she was and what had happened to her so much that it played on my mind and I had to find out.
With the help of my sister, a family historian, I researched what I could find of her life and death. She was married, yet there was no indication of this on her headstone.
This mystery, combined with the wording of her simple funeral notice and the brevity of her inscription, gave me the idea for my short story, The Anniversary.
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