Saying Goodbye to Summer - Read My Story in Fiction Feast

I have been lucky enough to have two stories published in this month's Fiction feast. Today, in my Inspiration Behind the Story post, I shall talk about how I came to write the first one: Saying Goodbye to Summer.

The title came from a headline for an article (I think about gardening) which caught my eye in a newspaper, last year. I had taught a little girl with the name Summer (only spelt differently) and I couldn't help but think of it as a play on words. Who could Summer be in a story? Why would people be saying goodbye to her? Who was saying goodbye to her?

At the time of thinking about the story, a lot of my friends' children were embarking on their first year at University and were talking about how it would feel when they had gone.  'The empty nest' was a hot topic over our weekly coffee on a Friday. My own daughter had just left for her final year at Cambridge University and although immensely proud of her, after two years I had grown used to her being away and it being just my husband and me (and Bonnie and Bobby) at home.

I decided to write about a woman who instead of feeling bereft when her daughter Summer left home, actually just felt proud and as though she had done a great job as a mother. I knew that this subject had been done to death in magazines and would need a twist. When it came to me, I was really pleased and knew it might give my story the edge over others with the same theme at this time of year.

Of course, as usual, I don't want to tell you what that twist was as it will spoil it for anyone wanting to read it but the moral of this inspiration post is: if you can find a different angle to a well worn theme (sorry to use that term!) you have a better chance of publication. This applies to seasonal stories such as Easter and Christmas or stage of life stories such as graduations, weddings, retirement etc. If any of my readers are new writers hoping to break into the magazine market, I hope this post has been helpful.