Tuesday, October 11, 2022

What We're Writing: Hank takes a short story challenge!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It’s Tuesday, and since I am second alphabetically, Tuesday is my "what we’re writing" day.


My current writing adventures include the final glorious edits of The House Guest, slogging through the hideous middle of One Wrong Word--and the release of a short story in an amazing anthology!



The story all began with the most wonderful email I’ve gotten in a long time. From CJ  Box and Harlan Coben. (!!!) Inviting me to be one of 11 authors to contribute to their short story anthology called Birds of Prey, under the imprimatur of International Thriller Writers. Each story had to be about a bird of prey.  It took me about zero seconds to say yes.


Followed by days of existential angst as I tried to figure out what the heck to write.


As it turned out, the story is a perfect example of an idea that did not work!


When Harlan and CJ asked me to participate in this, I tried to think of something as weirdly exotic as I could. And decided I would write about an extinct bird. A bird that did not exist anymore. 


How would I do that? I didn't know, but it seemed like a plan. So, I researched extinct birds. And found the Haast eagle, supposedly the biggest eagle that ever existed, which fell into extinction because it could not feed itself enough. Something like that.  


Oh, I thought, that sounds, metaphorically, like "corporate." A super-big company, devouring everything in sight, and yet, still could not sustain itself.  And that seemed like a brilliant idea. 


However. Apparently not. I could not write that story. I could not figure out, not at all, how to do that. And I was a little bit worried. Really really worried, in fact.

At some point, I walked into our family room and my husband was watching Dr. Zhivago. He has watched that movie countless times. His daughter is even named Lara. I said to him. 


"Are you watching that movie again?" And he said, "Yes, I love this movie."


 And I said, "I know you love it, honey, but how many times can you watch the same movie?" And he said, "I could watch this movie forever."


I burst out laughing, and said "I can just see that, you’re 150 years old, and all you do is watch Dr. Zhivago."


 And he said, "That doesn’t sound bad to me."


 So then I thought--and this is the writer process--what if there were someone who watched the same movie over and over? Over and over and over. Why would they do that?


And that was fascinating to me. And since the bird book was preying on my mind, I thought: how could I made that a bird story? What movies have birds of prey in them? And first, my brain said "The Falcon and the Snowman."

 

And the other half of my mind laughed, and said "No, Hank, that is not the one."


 Exactly. Because of course, there’s only one movie that a person could watch over and over that features a bird of prey. 


And that is The Maltese Falcon. And that is the story I wrote.


It stars Robyn (an ex-con, now senior citizen/nursing home attendant) and her boyfriend Jay, newly released from prison. Robyn has managed to get Jay a job at the home where she works. One of their charges is a resident named Finnian Webley, who has never said a word, or responded to anyone. He just watches The Maltese Falcon all day. Over and over. It's on mute.


Robyn and Jay are walking down the hall toward his room.


(I have to say, this story does not sound like "me" at all. I was so surprised at the way it came out.) 


Here's a tiny bit  from "Jailbirds."


                                                         ******

She remembered when Jay said goodbye that day, or not said goodbye; he’d just turned and walked away. And she had no idea how long 32 months would turn out to be. But it was long enough for her to get angry, then sad, then miserable, then enraged, then forgiving. Now, she didn’t know what she was. Thirty years old, and in love—whatever that meant—with this person, this person with no future, and they were walking along a godforsaken hallway, with godforsaken people, who just waited here to die, and what she was doing here, she didn’t dare to try to understand.

“I can’t wait for tonight,” Jay told her. “The last thing we’re going to do is watch TV, right, Birdie? I may never freaking watch television again. I don’t want to turn out like this guy.”

“Hush. We’re here.”

“I thought you said he can’t hear.”

They knocked on the door of Apartment 410, Robyn assembling her words, assembling her face, putting on the demeanor of a person who cared. She did, actually, if she faced it. Her own parents had died before they got old enough to be in a place like this, and sometimes she wondered whether they might have been lucky.

“Why are you knocking?” Jay asked. “If he can’t hear, what difference will it make?”

She loved his voice, even asking that moronic question. She had longed to hear it, nights and mornings and, sometimes, just walking along Riviera Beach, listening to the waves and the stupid seagulls and thinking about decisions people made.

“I think he feels the vibrations or something,” she said.

The door clicked open, and Finnian Webley sat there, looking at them, or not looking at them; it was hard for Robyn to tell. His short-sleeved plaid shirt, fraying once-blue plaid, hung across his thin shoulders, and a sparse scrabble of spiky white hairs seemed to sprout randomly across his splotchy pale face. She worried about him, kind of, his sunken eyes and the hollows in his forehead. The way he licked his thin lips, as if he were thinking about something that she could never know.

                                       ******


HANK: The anthology  BIRDS OF PREY came out less than a week ago! And it is now an Amazon Bestseller, and the number one mystery anthology! It is an audio only, an Audible original, and is absolutely fascinating.  It includes 11 stories,  by, among others, Tess Gerritsen, Robert Dugoni, Kathy Reichs, SA Cosby, and me.


Here are some of the authors on a zoomcast about it.


Here’s the link to the Audible book! It is quite astonishing. There are owls, and falcons, and seagulls, a condor, a Ford falcon car, and mine, starring predatory jailbirds and a movie.


What bird of prey would you have chosen?



74 comments:

  1. What an intriguing idea for an anthology . . . and all of you must be so pleased that it’s number one! [And now I’m wondering just what Robyn and Jay are up to] . . . .

    What bird of prey would I have chosen? The secretarybird, I think. The idea of a bird of prey stomping on its victims to kill them just fascinates me . . . .

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    1. Oh, what a great idea… I actually read about that bird, and thought about it, and of course so many story possibilities emerge instantly, don’t they? xx

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    2. And Jay as a name, Hank. Did you do that on purpose. Jays are nasty birds...

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  2. I'm intrigued by your story. And that collection sounds great. Congrats!

    I'm not sure what bird of prey I would have chosen. Eagle jumped into my mind right away, but would it prove to be a good choice in the end?

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    1. Okay, sorry, I have to ask, but how are you second alphabetically? Yes, you are the second "H" alphabetically, but third overall if we go by first names. What's the category I'm missing that you are second in?

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    2. Hallie, Hank, Rhys, Lucy...oh wait that doesn't work:). It must be a story from our long-ago history:), right Hank?

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    3. Thanks for asking, Mark. For a bit, it seemed I just needed more coffee.;-) Elisabeth

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    4. We’ll, if I remember correctly, it has to do with when people joined JRW—Hallie Hank Roberta—and we set up the rotation of weeks we hosted, then as new people came, and others left, instead of realphabetizing, we just added . So in our JRW rotation, no matter what we do, it is always Hallie first then me etc. It’s the JRW alphabet.

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    5. I figured it probably had to do with when people joined. Thanks. :)

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    6. Thanks from me too. Elisabeth

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    7. Maybe it was Hank, Hallie, Rhys, Roberta before Debs, Julia and Jenn joined us.

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  3. Fabulous, Hank! I kind of like writing to a theme, especially for shorter pieces.
    I think I would pick an osprey. I love seeing them at the coast. They're magnificent and ruthless.

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    1. Edith: Interesting that you like writing to a theme. I'm currently in a 4-week online workshop about writing flash fiction (pieces shorter than 1,000 words) and I am finding it tough going. The weekly prompts almost seem to stymy me rather than inspire me. Maybe it's the rebel in me (don't you tell me what to write about!), but I'm going to persevere and do my best follow the instructions. I have so much to learn!

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    2. Perfect! Yes a theme is a real challenge—it seems like you either come up with an idea instantly or ….it takes a lot of time.

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    3. Amanda—two things. One try thinking about it as a gift—you already have an idea. Then with that idea, ask yourself: what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen to the people in that situation? Why? (And don’t worry too much—it’s not a test! Xxx)

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    4. OK, Hank: I'm going with your suggestion. The prompt is a gift and...anything could happen if I just open the door of my mind to it... Thanks!

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  4. I love this essay Hank! It shows perfectly well the mind of the writer, the excitement, the dead ends, etc.! I hope the old man watching TV gives them hell...

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    1. Thank you! Xxxxx (and this is one of the few times I have ever known the ending before I started!)

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  5. How interesting to read about your process of writing this short story, Hank. As Lucy says, the sparks, the dead ends, and then THE idea; love it. I'm going to check out the anthology. As for a bird of prey, I would try using a bald eagle; we see them routinely at our cottage and I love the squealing noise the young ones make as they fly down the shoreline.

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    1. Ohhh…what an image. I bet that is chilling!

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  6. Terrific terrific terrific!!! I’m a huge Maltese falcon fan and a birder

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    1. Thank you! Before I wrote it, I watched the movie again—it was fascinating to watch with my story in mind: watching it and thinking: what might someone be seeing?

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  7. Who is Finnian Webley and what is his story? Hmm?

    Congratulations, Hank. What a wonderful invitation! What an exciting project! I'll look for it on Audible this morning. I do love how you went from Jonathan and Dr. Zhivago to the Maltese Falcon and Finn. XXOO

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    1. Oh Yaay! Thank you! Xx

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  8. HANK: Yay about your short story in the BIRDS OF PREY anthology. I do love watching The Maltese Falcon but certainly couldn't watch it so many times like Finnian.

    As for me, I would choose a vulture as my bird of prey. You always know there's something (or someone) dead nearby when they're flying around.

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  9. What an ingenious theme, Hank, Clever that Robyn and Jay have bird names. Finnian Webley ? caught in a trap I suspect. Now to track down that anthology.

    What bird of prey popped into my head? It is the Black-thighed falconet. This guy is the smallest bird of prey in the world. It's is the size of a sparrow, and quite capable of taking out birds of the same size. They live in South East Asian forests, and feed predominantly on insects. However, in my story. ... what if the bird became pissed off at a 'corporate hunter' and attacked his eyes?

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    1. Wow! You should write that! X

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    2. Coralee, my middle daughter's name is Robin, and if her sister had been a boy, he would have been named Jay!

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  10. What a fun, fun idea! Your story sounds amazing!

    Of course I have to choose the red-tail hawk. I saw one just yesterday sitting on top of a tree. We think it's the mama, EJ (she was given the letters when she was captured and relocated years ago) and are so excited that she's sticking around at the golf course for the winter.

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    1. Gorgeous. You are so lucky! I love how they just…wait. So sinister and beautiful.

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    2. When I walked today, the bird was in the same spot. I was able to point it out to a friend who has a really great camera. She got a close up of the beautiful bird and the tag was clear. It was YT, the dad. So both parents are sticking around for the winter. We hawk enthusiasts are very happy.

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  11. I am listening to “Birds of Prey” and just finished your story, Hank, loved the ending!

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    1. You did??? Oh my gosh—thank you!

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  12. Congratulations, Hank!

    I'm not sure. I love hawks and falcons. But I might try to do something with Pittsburg's bald eagles.

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    1. Good one! Or the football team….

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  13. Hank, I’m fascinated by your writer’s mind process. This anthology seems a very good idea.

    I would choose the marshes owl because there is one around home and I love when I can see it. Any owl with his big eyes and his prey instincts would be a good witness of something harmful.
    Danielle

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    1. So true! SA Cosby did an owl, and so did Kathy Reichs, and their stories are so different!

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  14. Wow. What a fantastic imagination you have, Hank. So great how you teased that story out of events around you.

    I might choose the northern shrike. Bird about the size of a jay that hunts smaller birds and mice. Has a black mask - nice detail. And impales dead prey on thorns or barbed wire to save for later - nice imagery there.
    Or a crow or raven because they are so evocative of mystery. Also prey on baby birds and small mammals. And their collective nouns are sinister - A murder of crows, an unkindness of ravens. (Ruth Rendell wrote a book with the title - An Unkindness of Ravens

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    1. JC, I was writing the same thing at the same time as you. Jinx!

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    2. Oh, that is really great. A black mask--you are right!

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  15. What a fun project, at least for us readers. I'll have to get it for Steve, the bird man, for Christmas. It will be the perfect book for him to take on our trip.

    Domestically, I'd choose a Shrike. They are beautiful songbird types, but they impale their prey--mostly other birds--on long thorns. Vicious little beauties.

    But the Cassowary is considered the most dangerous bird. It's Australian, and we saw one in a zoo in Sydney. They're fast--clocking speeds up to 31 mph (WAY faster than most of us can run), and they have a long, sharp third toe on each foot that can tear a human apart. They're huge, too, as much as 5 1/2' tall, and gorgeous, in shades of blue and purple.

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    1. Wow. I have done some birding but had to look up the Cassowary. Beautiful bird. Who would have thought it was so deadly.

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    2. Karen: Our page-a-day Audubon bird calendar is featuring a Southern Cassowary today. Snap!

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    3. Yikes! So fascinating, though, right? And Amanda, that is quite the coincidence!

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    4. Karen, we walked through a cassowary sanctuary in Queensland once. It was creepy in the thick bush, knowing that those birds could disembowel you! Luckily we didn't see one and lived to tell the tale.

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    5. How funny, Amanda!

      Yikes, Rhys! You're braver than I, by far!

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  16. I think I would pick a hawk. There are hawks and rabbits in my condo complex. I watch the hawks, and hope the rabbits will be safe. But then I think to myself “how will that hawk feed the baby hawks if the rabbits get away? (I wish the hawks would take the squirrels, but that’s another story :-)
    DebRo

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    1. Oh, DebRo, the circle of life. (or something like that...)

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  17. Hallie, birds of prey? maybe a hawk or an eagle? I have been told that I have eyes like an eagle because I notice everything!

    Short stories are hard to write, according to an author friend a long time ago. She wrote a mystery series that is now out of print. I asked her if she wrote a short story? That was her response.

    Right now I am writing a short story for a writing contest and I was surprised that I typed the required 2,000 words yesterday! Still need to tweak the details.... Yes, there is a dead body involved. Ha ha.

    Diana

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    1. Eagle eyes! That is SO terrific! ANd yes, I agree with your frin=end--they can be very diffficult!

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  18. I think this is the first anthology I've heard of that is Audible only--what a great idea! I've put a small throw up on my quilting frame and was trying to think of something to listen to while I quilt. Thanks, Hank!

    Isn't it great how ideas flow and connections are made when you least expect it? I mean, how many times have you walked in while Jonathan was watching a movie? But this movie, a chance observation, and you are off and running with your story. The bit you shared with us--it IS different from your usual style and I love how that just came organically. I think my choice of bird would be the Great Horned owl--a colleague once came upon a young one in broad daylight--the bird was stunned and needed rescuing. Has anyone here read H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald?

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    1. I haven't read that one by Helen MacDonald, but I like her writing.

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    2. Yes, everyone is so excited about the audible only! And the risk has certainly seemed to be successful so far!

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    3. Flora, I've read H is for Hawk and loved it. (2 different friends gave me copies of it, they must know I love raptors) Vesper Flights is on my want to read list.

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  19. Very cool! I just bought it! I wonder why it is in audible format only. Hmmm, I like hawks and vultures and eagles and owls. It would be hard for me to pick one.

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    1. Yes, Audible is SUCH a cool thing, and what a great idea! ANd how wonderful--crossing fingers you love it. Let me know, okay? (You'll see--my story doesn't sound like "me" at all!) Or I mean--you'll hear!

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  20. Ohh, great hook! This may be my first Audible purchase!

    I think I would have chosen a harrier hawk. I love watching them fly in the fields around my house. Great swooping motions and then paralleling the ground while they search for food. Contrary to popular belief, they can fly backwards for a short period of time. I've seen them do it to adjust their attack and then come out from under the deck with their dinner. Seems they have the skills to always get their man, er mouse, er rodent!

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    1. Backwards? I cannot even imagine that! Whoa. And I do hope you will try the audible! xx

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  21. I'm a fan of owls. I love the sounds they make at night. I also like the looks of a caracara. It is hawk-like and I've seen them around my sister's place in Texas. The anthology theme is perfect for stretching your wings (ha!) to come up with all kinds of ideas.

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  22. I love this excerpt, Hank, and you're right, it IS different from your usual writing!

    I think I'd give it a science fiction mystery spin and use the Eagle - the first human craft to touch on the lunar surface. It was left behind in orbit and may possibly still be circling the moon. Now, imagine what that would be worth to a collector - it would be like possessing the actual Mayflower, or James Cook's HMS Endeavor. If a group of near-space junkers thought they had the location, it would be worth a fortune, split between the crew. Of course, the fewer people on the team, the more for the remaining members, and space is a dangerous place...

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    1. OHHHH you are a genius. (But we knew that.) WRITE THAT BOOK. Seriously, Julia, it's an amazing idea. Seriously.

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    2. Whoa, Julia! You need to write that!

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  23. I agree with Hank!

    DebRo

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    1. I keep thinking about that--it's is SUCH a good idea! The Martian meets Indiana Jones.

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    2. LOL. Thanks, you all! I'm blushing.

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  24. This is fantastic, Hank! I loved reading about how your mind worked this out. Fascinating. I can't wait to pick up the anthology for all of the bird people in my life (there are many, including the Hubs).

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  25. Hank, I love how your mind took something totally unrelated and found an idea that worked! I agree with the rest--it does not sound like your writing. But how fun! And you've inspired me. My sister is always saying, "The universe will lead you there." But I think it's just the way the creative mind works. It's usually so hard to explain to people who don't write, but here is a perfect example to show how the creative mind works. Can't wait to listen to BIRDS OF PREY.

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