The comedian and writer, Steve Martin once said “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night,” which brings to mind writers’ workshops and their most common bit of advice:

“Tell it like it is.”

“Don’t hide behind platitudes and tropes.”

“Be authentic. Write what you know.”

Such urgent messages are the meat of writers’ workshops. Master authors exhort their acolytes to craft work on known experience, or at least to use verifiable research on subjects that resonate with the writer’s psyche.

When I wrote my first two novels, I created a fantasy world called Dragonwolder. It concerned humans living in an ancient world that willingly or not they shared with dragons, sprites, giants, and assorted beasts. The worst of the latter was named the Malevir. I anticipated I would complete the Malevir series with a third novel, wrapping up the main characters’ stories and finishing off evil monsters.

That manuscript remains unfinished. My recently published book, an anthology of short stories, a novella, and a poem, has pushed that project aside. Titled The Wrong Move and Other Stories, the work rings with authenticity. The inspiration for two of the short stories (“Arbor Vitae” and “Pieces of Stars”) lay in my visits with my incapacitated mother-in-law, a person for whom I felt much affection. Her increasingly limited speech, strength, and attention saddened me greatly but also had me wondering about her interior life.  What was she really thinking? What would she have liked her son and me to do about her when her expiration date materialized? Those thoughts informed the two afore-mentioned stories. They were darkly surreal but compassionate, based on what I knew plus what I imagined.

At quite the opposite end of the spectrum is the last story in the anthology, “Kitchen Magic.” I based it on a Celtic folktale with a happy ending but I made it contemporary. Suspending her disbelief in magic, the reader might see familiar dynamics between a mother and adult daughter, an infatuated boyfriend, and his pretentious mother that feel real, relationships many people have experienced including this writer. Even a fairytale can be authentic.

The work in this anthology most challenging to adherents of authenticity is the eponymous novella, The Wrong Move. It opens with the voice of the main character who relates her story as if recapping a period of strange occurrences to a friend. The story involved characters who act within the constraints of paranormal situations but always in the context of everyday life. Many of the story’s scenes take place in easily recognizable Chicago neighborhoods. The novella is definitely not autobiographical, but I’ve drawn scenes and characters from places and people I’ve known.

The third Malevir novel may never materialize if I do not find a way to make its dynamics authentic, underlying forces based on relatable or common experience. I do know I am happier writing short story/novella-length work, which compels me to define a story quickly, tightly, and richly. With authenticity. A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.