Today we open the Crate of Shame and expose the first story published on the site by Irene Leila Allison (there’s a story behind the name change, but it is dull and not worth further mention). Now that it is out there’s little that can be done but deal with it and hope it eventually crawls back into its lair.
No one needs to forgive the other fine LS Editors for the previous paragraph since it was written (as this) by Allison. But the questions are from other sources. I thank Hugh and Diane for all their wonderful support even though I often wake as poorly as a Bear in January.
The Questions:
1. I reckon this was your first for us, how much of it can you remember writing and when you look back what do you think on?
2. The diversity of your subject matter is clear for us to see now, but did you have as much of a mix back then or did your writing evolve or take off into tangent country?
3. What has made you happiest / proudest about being involved with Literally Stories?
4. What story stays with you from the first day that you read it? (HAH! Not your favourite…That should appease the insecure!!)
The Replies:
- Very little. It was done at the end of writing two books I have shrouded to secrecy. It was one of the four stories I first wrote to submit anywhere in 2015. I was very happy to have had it accepted, but looking back, I think it is very uneven. But since I hate almost everything after I write it, my answers are somewhat uneven in their own right.
- Thank you. I was not writing from imagination, but I should have. I was writing stuff I thought might interest others. I have stopped doing that since the wages have been the same. “Success and Failure” in a financial sense has nothing to do with writing. Your enjoyment is what matters. Anyway, “aiming” shows.
- That is something that took a long time to feel. At first LS was just another face, and there had been so many. But in time I’ve come to understand that it is the best thing ever to happen to me as a writer and in the top five overall of being alive.
- Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken. I first read it at age fifteen and it frightened me because I identified with the “rational insanity” of the MC. Nothing I have ever read has hit me as directly as that did. I refuse to read it now because I do not want the years to have their way with it. We tend to get wiser and less fun. Thank you for everything! Leila
literally stories 
Hi Leila
This is an intriguing dive into your journey as a writer and with LS. That sounds corny the way it came out. I’m with you about the second guess of the words that turn to concrete once they are posted on the Internet.
I can also relate to “writing for others versus imagination.” This need for the consumption of approval to validate the writing. Not sure that goes away. I’m always thinking “What would Stephen King do?” (This is not true–I’m not always thinking this, but vaguely, yes) Probably light a cigar with a thousand dollar bill, and post up on Trump. Thank you SK.
It’s neat how you have deservedly (dreaded adverb, SK would go ape shit) found a home at LS and they found you. All of your excellent writing has certainly enriched my field of vision. Seeing your perspectives have illuminated the tall weeds and there is a path. Sorry got carried away.
This I must read Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken. And this…”It Happens every Sunday.” That is so fitting.
Christopher
PS: I really like your knowledge of writers and different stories. One of my favorite stories by you is “The Endless Now.” I thought that was a masterpiece!
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Thank you Christopher!
Trump is someone who’d try to break a thousand at 7-11. I wonder what the idea behing obscenely big bills was!
Oh yes, read the Aiken story. It is something great.
And thank you for your great comments!
Leila
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CJA
You’re right about “THE ENDLESS NOW”!
See under your “Eclipsing Indy” for more comments on 22 drafts and the magic of green tea!
Thanks for your comments on my SARAGUNSPRINGS Photo Gallery yesterday!
Looking forward to seeing more of yours up the Springs in the near future….
DWB
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Thank you Hugh and Diane
I was a tad brusque when I found out about this because I figured there were enough years between it and me to deny that I wrote it. Ah, but like at Heaven’s Gate, neither forgiven nor forgotten were ever off the menu. It’s just stuff people say.
Regardless, I always appreciate kindness even though my manners do not always tell that I possess the skill.
Thanks again!
Leila
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I think this is the whole point of the Rerun – to have another look at something that is otherwise lost to time. Reading it again reassured me that YES it would have earned a YES and also YES we were spot on at seeing your talent even back then in the days when we were so inexperienced at this. Thanks again for this super story, for your imagination and for making LS so much fun. dd
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Thank you Diane.
Yes the mighty rerun has a great purpose. But I cannot help but feel awkward when the light shines on me. It’s different for a wrap or a recent story. Dunno why.
Thanks again
Leila
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Hi Leila,
I think a writer has to be a certain type of sadist to re-visit early works deliberately…So…Emm, sorry!!!
I think the biggest problem is the advice that we have given out. Tinker as much as you want but you need to come to an end.
When we look back, we never think on that advice and our first instincts kick in!
I think your comment about writing for others early doors is very true.
It was brilliant to see this get another day in the sunshine!!!
Hugh
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There you are you dirty Rat bast–oops, public forum voice
Ha! Anyway thank you for selecting this old Tuna from the pantry. I do not hate any of my “begotten” but I would not choose to write it today. I also got lucky for not catching a well deserved Kramer v. Kramer scolding. The topis is why I have never seen the film!
Thank you Hugh!
Leila
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Leila
This is one of the first stories of yours I ever read (probably about 3 years ago).
It was so good, I read it again 2 or 3 just times to make sure I could really believe my eyes.
I could. It was that good.
The seagull is more alive than most other writers’ human characters, the 3 human characters LEAP off the screen as real, the situation is so relatable, the setting is so alive, and the way the story moves is so lifelike, that I could instantly tell I was in the hands of a master story-teller.
And it blew me away, big time.
I started forward and began to read more of your work, and every new tale, essay, and comment just confirmed what I already knew: you are the real thing, a great American writer: truly.
There’s something about this particular story where the PERSONALITY of the writer is there, but also HIDDEN, like in Shakespeare. And that Personality knows something about humanity that most of humanity doesn’t know (at any conscious level) about itself – and that’s the mark of a lasting story-teller.
In a better age, or a better country for literature, this story would have earned all the awards and been handsomely rewarded monetarily, too.
But then you have many such tales. (And are in great company along with Melville, Henry James, Walt Whitman and many other American writers; F. Scott Fitzgerald died with 13 bucks in his bank account and most of the copies of the Great Gatsby remaindered in the publisher’s warehouse.)
This story is special to me because it was/is one of the first of yours that I ever read.
It has its own special charm, and it works as a kind of everyday “revelation” about the confusion and trying times we all inhabit: the heartbreaking times; but we go on, too.
God bless you, Leila!
Dale
PS, Diane and Hugh, thanks for brilliant editorial work!
PPS, Christopher, you’re right about “The Endless Now,” another brilliant tale.
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Hi Dale
Thank you again for your wonderful comments. Your kids must feel blessed for having such a tremendously thoughtful and intelligent father.
Seagulls always find a way around here. Curious creatures: one part mystical one part ever seeking salty snack foods.
Leila
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PS
I can add that “It Happens Every Other Sunday” is a better story than quite a few of Raymond Carver’s stories that have appeared in his formal collections.
This piece is more genuinely ALIVE. Many of Carver’s pieces feel a bit wooden and too allegorical.
This never does.
D
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Poor Meena. The dialogue and animosity ring true. I hope Jason keeps his vow to the gull, but I’m not optimistic. Sometimes great imagination can yield an excellent realistic story like this one. I enjoyed the Q & A, too. I especially appreciate the answer to number three.
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Thank you David
Yes, as a person who went through a fairly peaceful run of visitations for about ten years, I can say that it does have an effect on the kids. Fortunately my parents kept their mutual animosity to themselves after the divorce, therefore my brother and I have never considered ourselves “scarred.”
Thank you!
Leila
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Leila
An accurate, wonderous narrative with knowledge of gulls, God, love, and the working of everyday, atrocious thinking in the collective mind. It’s just the way it is, ain’t it?
Thanks for being Leila. — gerry
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Hi Gerry
Thank you for stopping by. I have a Seagull who recently adopted me. Actually it is the outdoot Cat food dish, but what can you do?
Thanks again!
Leila
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A beautiful story in many ways, with a layer of sadness running through it, and so many wonderful lines in it.
I have a few ‘seagull’ stories I keep meaning to try out (having grown up in a seaside town where they are a near constant menace to those choosing to eat al fresco) and this has given me the inspiration to return to those ideas.
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Every LS re-run is a joy to read. Odd that they are always surprises. Very enjoyable!
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Thank you Mick
It’s enjoyable to look back. There’s something around three thousand posts in archives. Each one deserves an extra look. But Since that would take somewhere around sixty years worth of Sundays, we will have to leave some of the job to the future.
Thanks again! (And you are always welcome at the Springs!)
Leila
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