{"id":107,"date":"2009-07-29T12:22:39","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T16:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?page_id=107"},"modified":"2011-11-16T13:40:01","modified_gmt":"2011-11-16T18:40:01","slug":"the-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?page_id=107","title":{"rendered":"the stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memory is a hazy thing, but my first written story may have been the one about \u201cOink\u201d the pig, completed in roughly 1967, and weighing in at around 30 words. While nothing else I attempt may ever live up to the early promise of Oink,<\/em> in 1999 a switch flipped in my brain which has, ever since, remained in an upright and locked position. The switch is marked \u201cwriter.\u201d It will simply not unflip.<\/p>\n

Thus, I wrote The Legend of Logjam,<\/em><\/strong> setting myself no parameters apart from the rule that the zany batch of free-associative notions I allowed into the story would somehow all (or at least most of them) find their loose ends neatly knotted by the end.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, it is easy to conclude that parameters are not an entirely bad thing, as Logjam<\/em> spills over with sporadic over-description, a confusing cast of motley characters in need of a good trimming, and a preposterous premise. Or several.<\/p>\n

The inexplicable sense of destiny which kicked off Logjam<\/em> notwithstanding, I concluded early that I\u2019d best not waste much time seeking legitimate publication with such silliness on offer, and I self-published Logjam<\/em> via XLibris in 2001. No oeuvre, no matter how kooky, wants to live in a drawer after all, and I have great fondness for my Logjam<\/em> characters, excessively and awkwardly packaged though they may be.<\/p>\n

Breakfast of Scallywags<\/em><\/strong> set out to be the un-Logjam.<\/em> It would be light and fluffy, not stuffy, and too simple to confuse. I may have exceeded my goals as Scallywags,<\/em> while a madcap romp, remains so untethered by meaningful conflict that it would float away were I not to wedge it snugly between Logjam<\/em> and Hunting the Rose.<\/em> So here it is.<\/p>\n

I began work on Hunting the Rose<\/em><\/strong> with two requirements: 1) Fun. 2) A legitimate conflict. Then I scared off the two real, name-brand publishers who\u2019d traded letters with me re Scallywags<\/em> (before ultimately declining) by giving Rose<\/em> a confoundingly chaotic opening. Or so they both said. Maybe they just had headaches.<\/p>\n

But, whatever the case, there remains that dang switch. The one marked \u201cwriter,\u201d which won\u2019t unflip. I\u2019ve tried to ignore it, but it can\u2019t be done.* Some aspect of my psyche is convinced the Cosmos has given it this imperative: Write. Bizarre conceit, no doubt. But I\u2019ve found this to be inescapably true: Keep the writer aspect of my spirit happy, and the rest tags along.<\/p>\n

*(thus, I offer Bea and the Smart Kids<\/em>, plus any ensuing works, with no excuses, just a shrug.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Memory is a hazy thing, but my first written story may have been the one about \u201cOink\u201d the pig, completed in roughly 1967, and weighing in at around 30 words. While nothing else I attempt may ever live up to the early promise of Oink, in 1999 a switch flipped in my brain which has, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}