Heather and I grew up reading and writing together. I think that is what instantly drew us to each other as friends. Book lovers and writers tend to always find each other, even at the ripe old age of five-years-old. It was either that or the fact that we both have the most awesome first name ever. From class assignments in elementary school to leisure reading and writing in middle and high school, we were both always writing or sharing books with each other. In middle school, we joined the writing club together. The club only lasted a year, but we had fun. We went to college together and continued writing and moved on to editing each other's papers and stories. After undergrad, as grad students and professionals, we continued to share books and to help each other with our writings. She is the only person I have ever trusted to read my fiction work.
H-squared, through the years :-)
Being this close with Heather, I have been able to see how much she has grown as a writer over the years. From starting out in elementary and middle school with small stories and poems to developing characters and plots more deeply, she has come a long way with her work. She has always been good and I have always desired to be as good as she is at writing. I knew when she decided to stop her career as a high school English teacher to pursue a graduate degree in creative writing that she was about to embark into something that would make her artistic dreams come true. The work I critiqued for her through her program blew my mind. I could not believe the degree of improvement that she has made in her writing skill. I am not a good short story writer. I am a rambler. I am wordy. She can say something in one page that would take me ten pages to say.
This one was actually taken at a writing conference! UtopYA 2014
Through her improved skills and her perseverance, she has had two short stories published and has been interviewed for a "story behind the story" in literary journals. I am so proud of her. My best friend is a published author! She definitely kicks my butt at my writing accomplishments. I have a poem out there somewhere in an anthology from when I was in like fourth grade, and I was co-author of a law review article on the constitutionality of the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act. You know who wants to read those two things? Nobody other than my mom, and I am pretty sure she did not read the law review article. You know who wants to read Heather's short stories? Tons of people because they are great stories and are very well written.
Today I am featuring "Shotgun Fog" which is a fictional short story published in the online short fiction journal, Fiction Southeast. "Shotgun Fog" is an Appalachian tale based on a story that Heather had heard growing up in her family. It is a chilling story that resembles many things, both good and bad, found throughout Eastern Kentucky and the Appalachian region: alcohol, hunting, violence, mental illness, family. I love that the story is told in second person point of view. It is rare that you come across a story written in second person because I think it is perhaps the most difficult point of view to write from. I have never attempted it because I know I could not succeed, but Heather pulled it off flawlessly. The description, the confusion, the ambiguity, the emotion - I had no idea it was possible to have all of those things crammed into such a short piece, but it worked.
I read "Shotgun Fog" before I read The Story Behind The Story segment on "Shotgun Fog." I already knew that Heather was working on a short story collection of tales set in a fictional Eastern Kentucky town. I assumed that the stories would be based on things that meant something to Heather or things she experienced. Despite that assumption, I was even further engrossed in this story when I read her inspiration for creating "Shotgun Fog." I spent a lot of time growing up with Heather's family, especially her grandparents. I never knew this story that served as the inspiration for "Shotgun Fog." I never knew about Gladys or her husband. It amazes me that after twenty-six years of being closer than sisters, we still have things of substance to talk about and things we do not know about each other.
That is why I am excited to read the remainder of Heather's short stories in the collection she is working on. Everything I have helped her with so far has been fantastic and I could not be more proud of her. This girl is my inspiration. She has shown me so many times that if I put my mind to something and have faith, I can achieve anything. That is exactly what she does. When she has her mind set on a goal, she achieves it, no matter how many obstacles are in her way.
You should definitely take the time to read "Shotgun Fog" and the inspiration behind the story. The links are below:
Shotgun Fog
The Story Behind the Story: "Shotgun Fog"
Stay tuned for "Shotgun Fog" part 2 where I will interview Heather Miller Price, herself, and reveal some of her awesome writing secrets . . . or at create some witty banter that will be fun for you to read! Now, go read "Shotgun Fog" and like Heather's author page on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/hmillerprice
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