When I was in grade school, my teachers used to read stories
I’d written to the class. I got so nervous and freaked out about hearing my
stories read out loud that I’d have to leave the room. The teacher would
sometimes plan to have me run errands to other classes while she read so I
wouldn’t sit there and be all freaked out.
Now, mumble mumble years and one fantastic Zoloft
prescription later, I’ve had the amazing experience of having one of my stories
read by a skilled performer on stage in front of, wow, kind of a lot of people.
I didn’t have to leave the room, although I was kind of nervous. (“You were
nervous, Mom,” my daughter told me. “I could FEEL you being nervous. It was
making ME nervous. It was kind of annoying.”) But once
Evan Weissman of
Buntport Theater Company started reading my story, I was bowled over.
The saga began some time ago when I read a prompt that said,
“Write a steampunk story.” So I wrote about five hundred words about a little
clockwork cat and its relationship with the man who created it. I called it
“Clockwork,” stuck it online where it made me maybe a dime in six months, and
didn’t think much about it.
A few weeks ago, I heard that
Stories on Stage was looking
for submissions for local authors for their second Flash Fiction show,
Very
VERY Short Stories: the Sequel. I thought about “Clockwork.” I sent it in. And
a few weeks after that, I received notification that it had been chosen for the
performance.
Fast forward to this past Saturday afternoon. The Buntport
Theater Company performed eleven fabulous stories on a bare stage, creating the
world of each piece with their reading. Several of the stories were from a
collection by
Fast Forward Press, which specializes in flash fiction. Others
were from the contest. All were beautifully written and beautifully performed.
My story was in the second half of the show, and when Evan
started reading I was amazed at what he did with my words. Everything about the
story came to life in a way I’d never imagined. It seemed like an entirely
different story—one so much better than what I had written. I got a chance to
talk to Evan after the show to tell him how much I enjoyed and appreciated his
performance. It was obvious from the first words that “Clockwork” was in good
hands.
I’d like to say thank you to Evan, to the Buntport Theater
Company, and to Stories on Stage for making this experience possible. I’d also
like to thank
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers for providing a forum where the
news of the submissions call was able to make its way to me. (I know, I know, I sound like I'm accepting an Oscar. A girl can dream, right?) It was seriously
one of the coolest things that has ever happened in my writing career.
And the cookies and milk after were pretty awesome, too.
