Mom's Story

I've started the story that is a dedication to my mom. It's a hard piece to write, for a number of reasons: A) The theme is cliche (alien falls in love with lovely old woman) B) The alien is supposed to be a form of vampire C) She had myriad visions ofr the story, but she only expressed a limited few D) It's all based on a vague memory from a decade ago.

After a long period of wondering how-the-hell-am-I-going-to-do-this, I determined that the heart of the story lay in the dynamic between the old lady and her faithful friend. The friend was more of a live-in-nurse type in the original tale. I beat my head against the wall trying to find a way to fit all the elements that I could remember into something cohesive (and wasn't a copy of Starman). Eventually, I came to the decision that I would have to add my spin on things; I promisd to write the story, not write it true to her vision.

So, I took her outline as a trigger. I determined that they dynamic would be best shown in racial differences and in a specific milieu: Civil War era. Research on a couple of battles of the Civil War led me to another story, one that some southerners have not entirely recovered from. I just hope I can do it justice. My main goal is to get this story published. Yeah, I know that should be most writers' goals in everything they commit to words, but most of what I've written has been with the purpose of learning. I have a few ideas about the alien element, but nothing set in stone, yet.

A few friends friends have opined against my withdrawal from the writers workshops I frequent. Duly noted. I'll give it a bit longer. That's just to show I can take advice too. It's still a hard time, but I'm forging through it. This story is my way of getting some closure and remember my mother for who she was.