The Daily Grind

The Friday Philosopher, 15 Nov 24

"Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen."

~ WILLA CATHER

         Good day, all, and I hope it finds you writing! Welcome to the gateway of another weekend, and may it be memorable for all the right reasons. Today I'm going to talk about my newest series, "Tales from the Beach" . These stories are the product of my "new" muse whom I'm only just getting to know, and is feeding me material that I'm learning my way around. The stories themselves come from my own childhood in the form of personal experiences, those of close friends, or stories I heard but cannot confirm. What? Fiction is fiction, after all!
         I've set the time as '67-'68, a time of social upheaval rarely seen in human history. The war in Viet Nam was ramping up, Lyndon Johnson, who wanted to be a social reformer but found himself distracted by the war, had declined to run for another term, but Richard Nixon hadn't yet come to power. The characters in the stories are on the cusp of adulthood, old enough to do things, yet lacking the experience to know whether they should or not. The boys, the ones who can't afford or can't qualify for college, are looking down the barrel of being drafted to fight in what might be America's first unpopular war. These are dangerous times, as anyone who lived through them knows, and the cast of rotating groups of friends are making dangerous decisions that they may not be ready to make. Decisions that are nonetheless forced upon them by circumstances moving too quickly to step back and ponder.
         The stories are populated by little groups of friends, some in their last year of high school, some just out and working their first menial jobs. Parents don't figure into these stories much. The parents aren't what's interesting. They've completed school, they served in the Second World War, their careers are mostly established. They're kept in the background because the principal actors are the kids, and in any case, that's the way I experienced it. They were, in a very real sense, simpler times, and you didn't have to worry about Chester the Molester scooping up your kid the minute he or she left your sight. Most of us were pushed out the door after breakfast and they didn't expect to see us again until the street lights came on... bedtime, for the older teenagers.
         So consider this your invitation to check out the stories. Actually, there is only one story posted at the moment, but two more are finished, and I plan to post one every fourth week. The next one is scheduled to go up on the 30th. I'm hoping that at that rate I can keep the writing ahead of the publishing, and carry this on indefinitely. Doesn't mean I don't want to do other things from time to time, but this is the primary. Whether you're an old git like me and want to wallow in a pool of nostalgia or you're a young whipper snapper that harbors some curiosity about the Legendary Sixties, I'd love to see you there. You'd be very welcome! Here's your ticket...

STATIC

Safe Haven  (18+) They often don't appear where they're expected. #2329878 by The Phantom Reviewer

Stay Inspired,
Taylor...