Today we have a story by our most prolific author. Regular readers will be fully aware of Mr Sheehan’s work he is also a gentleman, wonderful to work with and just an all round legend. This is what Leila had to say:
Mr. Sheehan alone has more items in the LS stacks than what’s in the collective archives of several other publications. And these items are rarely brief; many strain the word limit, others soar on past it.
Sheehan’s stories, such as this week’s pick, Beau Geste Murtaugh, Veteran of Wars, are richly layered and when compared to thinner fare belie the extent of Sheehan’s craft. And they all seem to share a stunning quality of memory to them–which fuels the following questions.
Q: How much of what you write is based on direct experience?
Q: Your recollection of places and times gone by is seemingly eidetic. Is this a natural ability of yours, or do you keep a writer’s notebook and/or diary?
Leila Allison
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Beau Geste Murtaugh, Veteran of Wars
Tom’s response
Lots of ideas here, and no notebooks.
The walls of this room are loaded with photos/pix like these few I attach, each one filled with stories galore, enough to turn me on hundreds of times with new ideas on old slants. One wall graphic is a 5×6 board with hundreds of small pix, hundreds, all loaded with enough ideas to keep me going for years, but ideas are everywhere about me, including those in my mind and even in my diminishing memory.
Tom
These images are so evocative of Tom’s stories I thought we simply had to share them with you all.
Thank you for your reply and for the images as well.
LA
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Hi Leila,
Excellent as usual.
Love the offshoot of the photos. It’s brilliant to see writers giving your questions another medium!
Tom – I reckon you could lose yourself in that wall. I’m sure there would be more smiles than tears!
Hugh
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