Today JL Merrow and Josephine Myles are here to discuss short stories. Love them or hate them? They also brought a giveaway with them 🙂
A warm Love Bytes welcome Jo & Jamie 🙂
photo credit: diannehope via Morguefile
Jo: I think it’s fair to say that short stories traditionally get short shrift in the marketplace, and I’m wondering why. Perhaps it’s because they’re cheap and therefore not valued as much. Or they tend to come bundled together in an anthology, maybe indicating the author doesn’t think enough of them for them to stand alone. What do you reckon, Jamie?
Jamie: I think there’s a perception by some people that short=easy, and that a short story can’t possibly have any depth. And while it’s true a good long novel is a wonderful thing to get lost in, I think a well-written short story can be just as thought-provoking or even more so. In a short story, every single word has to count, which can lead to a much stronger message. I’ve read some short stories which have really stayed with me, and there have been Hollywood blockbusters based on short fiction – Brokeback Mountain, anyone? 😉 One of my personal favourites is EM Forster’s The Machine Stops, which blew my mind with its prediction of the internet in 1909! How about you, Jo?
Jo: Yes, there are some seriously powerful shorts out there. I remember reading The Yellow Wallpaper at uni and that really stuck with me. I think I’m much more likely to read difficult (read traumatic) subject matter in shorts than I am in novels. Stuff like that I can only handle in one sitting, as I won’t go back to them if I have a break.
Jamie: A lot of novelists say they find writing short stories really hard work – and personally I find writing a short story is a lot more work than writing a novel chapter with a similar word count. What about you?
Jo: Actually, I’m not sure that it is for me. In the editing phase I find short stories easier, because it’s possible to hold the whole thing in my head and not have to make copious notes on things. Then again, I suspect if I improve my outlining and planning for novels I might not have such issues while editing. Bad writer *slaps wrist*
I just love the possibilities with short stories. They let me play in a way I don’t feel I can in longer works. I can take more niche (for me) genres and experiment. Like this foray into paranormal–something I haven’t tried out in longer form.
And most of all, I love reading short stories. My life is incredibly busy these days, so I really appreciate books short enough for me to read in half an hour. Otherwise I lose the thread and it seems like too much effort to pick it up again.
Jamie: And for anyone who thinks a short story can’t pack a punch, here, in full, is one often attributed to Hemingway – and it’s only six words long:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
Jo: *Sniffles* Mind you, I did see an eBay ad like this recently, and just assumed they were an unwanted gift. Or a gift that was already too small for the baby, which considering how fast the little buggers grow, isn’t unlikely. *Looks at Gabriel’s feet and adds baby shoes to shopping list*
Readers, what do you think? Are shorts a waste of time and money, or are they little nuggets of literary loveliness?
Josephine Myles & JL Merrow brought a wonderful giveaway with them, one lucky commenter will win a book of their choice from both Jo and Jamie’s backlists!
Leave a comment to enter , Good Luck ! 🙂
Boys Who Go Bump in the Night
A Mad About the Brit Boys collection
When boy meets (supernatural) boy
Buckle up as two queens of British gay romance take you on a whistlestop tour of all things paranormal. Vampires, genies, ghosts, magicians and shifters all get their chance for a bit of boy on boy action, in five erotic stories that span the range from the humorous to the sublime.
Will you seek to make your fortune with magic and ritual, or pin your hopes on a genie’s power to grant wishes? Discover a shifty young man on a Scottish shoreline, meet a hapless garlic farmer who’s been turned into one of the undead–and if you dare to venture into the cellar, gird your loins for a horny ghost!
These stories have all been previously published, but are now available exclusively in this anthology.
Available now from Amazon for a bargain $0.99/£0.99!
JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.
She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy, and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards finalists.
JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.
Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com
on Twitter as @jlmerrow
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
English through and through, Josephine Myles is addicted to tea and busy cultivating a reputation for eccentricity. She writes gay erotica and romance, but finds the erotica keeps cuddling up to the romance, and the romance keeps corrupting the erotica. Jo blames her rebellious muse but he never listens to her anyway, no matter how much she threatens him with a big stick. She’s beginning to suspect he enjoys it.
Jo publishes regularly with Samhain, and now has over ten novels and novellas under her belt. Her novel Stuff won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Bisexual Romance, and her novella Merry Gentlemen won the 2014 Rainbow Award for Best Gay Romantic Comedy. She has also been known to edit anthologies and self-publish on occasion, although she prefers to leave the “boring bits” of the ebook creation process to someone else. She loves to be busy, and is currently having fun trying to work out how she is going to fit in her love of writing, dressmaking and attending cabaret shows in fabulous clothing around the demands of a preteen with special needs and a soon-to-be toddler.
Website and blog: http://josephinemyles.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/josephine.myles.author
Twitter: @JosephineMyles
I think shorts can be incredibly powerful if done well, but I imagine it must be difficult to write a great one…maybe more so than to write a novel. Thanks for the interesting conversations!
A perfect short is a rare and great thing, since the economy of length makes it more memorable!
good shorts are rarely good unless they are done right
Interview was wonderful. The books sounds even better.
Thank you for the interview. I think that short stories can be wonderful. I like having a short story to read in between longer ones or when I have a short time to read.
I think it has to be so difficult to write a really good short. I don’t read them as often as I do long novels, but there are some that I really love.
Great interview. Short stories are great and I’ve found many that have packed a punch. I do think it’s a tad difficult to write a really well rounded one though but it can be done.
I have read some really enjoyable short stories and a few I consider excellent. My biggest problem is being able to connect with a character in a short amount of time. For this reason I tend to like short stories involving characters from other series I have read. I already have a connection to the characters.
I really enjoyed the interview. Thanks for the giveaway.
I well executed short is hard to find, but I have no doubts with these two lovely authors 😉
Great interview! Loved the entire post!
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