Short Fiction

Months ago I wrote about a short story that I was plotting, titled “The Gangsta Way.” This story was never written as I ran into a problem with the plot line and then technical problems with my laptop and other things. The problem I had with “Gangsta Way” was a question a good friend of mine asked me. In the opening scene, which was in the aftermath of gang violence at a hospital, I had a “wantabe” who was a witness to the shootings talking to a detective. My friend asked, “Why is he talking?” I responded with various reasons, as cops do apply interviewing techniques to get someone to open up with the information that they need.

Looking back, that may have been a reasonable answer. In its reasonableness it also underlined a question: How is this story any different from other crime dramas? This question that stemmed combined with the earlier one chased their tails in my mind for the last several months. I finally have an answer. The protagonist is unique and not a policeman or a gangster. Ok, I need to be mysterious here as this same problem has been coming up with a novel I am preparing to write working titled “Shattered Dreams.” Both “Gangsta Way” and “Shattered Dreams” was going to look at the world of Police Intelligence. I may still do stories like that, but I am now taking a different tack and shall see what comes out.

I hope to have “Gangsta Way” rough drafted in a few weeks. We shall see what this new idea creates.

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