Books and brews for literacy

by Julie Tollefson

On Wednesday, I have a date.

It’s a first for me. A local civic organization asked me to participate in its third annual Authors and Appetizers fund raiser as a featured author. I get to talk about my writing and hang with people dedicated to promoting literacy in our community. What an honor!

Books and Brews: Short Fiction Picnic Pack.

The organization, the local chapter of Altrusa International, has served the Lawrence, Kansas, community since 1951. Members support a number of community literacy efforts, including my favorite: Born to Read, in which every baby born at our local hospital receives a new book. More than 15,000 babies so far have taken home books courtesy of Altrusa.

The fund-raiser part of the Authors and Appetizers festivities includes a silent auction, and when organizers asked me to contribute I happily agreed. In the months since their request, I’ve thought long and hard about what to donate. I wanted to create a basket or package of items that would represent my writing and would tie into the themes of the talk I intend to give: the beauty of Kansas, travel, nature, and how combinations of those elements appear in both my fiction and nonfiction.

I settled on what I’m calling Books and Brews: Short Fiction Picnic Pack consisting of a small soft-sided cooler, a water bottle and a couple of coozies celebrating Kansas wildlife and parks, plus copies of the four publications in which my short stories have appeared: Flash and Bang: The Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology, Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology, and two issues of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. (And just to make sure someone will bid on it, I’ve included a six pack of craft beer from the first legal brewery to open in Kansas after Prohibition.)

Now comes the hard part: Talking about myself. Wish me luck!

Talking about Writing and the Publishing Journey

by Julie Tollefson

Recently, a local nonprofit organization invited me to speak to their group about writing and, although the talk isn’t until February, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what I want to tell them about my publishing journey so far.

In 2011, I took a huge, scary chance and submitted to Fish Nets, the second anthology produced by the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime.  The chapter conceived of its anthology series as an opportunity for unpublished writers to get some experience. 

The story I submitted, “Keeping Up Appearances,” was the first piece of fiction I finished writing (big).

It was the first piece of fiction I submitted for other people to read (bigger).

It was the first piece of my fiction accepted for publication (HUGE). 

The process of taking a short story from idea to publication turned out to be an incredible learning experience, too, beginning with the super helpful selection exercise in which every writer who submitted an entry also read and rated three other stories. Reviewing other writers helped me see what worked and what didn’t. The responses I received from those who reviewed my manuscript were enlightening and ranged from a lukewarm “it’s OK but needs work” to an enthusiastic “include it in the anthology now.” One of the reviews, a more middle-of-the-road take, gave thoughtful feedback, especially on character development, that continues to help me in my writing.

In June 2012, after Wildside Press agreed to publish the anthology, I volunteered to take the lead on communication between the authors and the publisher. That turned out to be a truly smart decision, because I came to see the anthology and the publishing decisions associated with it as bigger than just getting my story in print. Contracts. Deadlines. Proofreading. Wrangling responses from 22 busy writers. I had the pleasure of sending notes like “Wildside will be sending the contract soon…Hooray!” and also “I haven’t heard from you yet. Have you had a chance to review the proof of your story?” Nudge, nudge.

I came away from that experience newly confident in my ability to produce fiction, fiction, that other people would want to read and perhaps with an unrealistic expectation of how easy it would be to publish more short fiction in the future. I mean, the first time was super easy, right? Oh, boy, did I have a few publishing lessons still to learn!

Fish Nets came out in 2013, and since then I’ve written a dozen or so short stories (as well as longer projects and nonfiction). About a third of the short stories have been published or will be soon. 

So I guess part of my message to the nonprofit group will be this: I took a big scary leap with that first short story, and it turned out to be the best thing I could have done for myself and for my writing career.


Have you ever done something that scared you and that later turned out to be extraordinarily rewarding, either personally or professionally?

When you listen to authors talk about themselves, what do you like to hear? Do you want to hear personal stories? Inspirational stories? How-to stories?

Celebrating the Short Story

By Julie Tollefson

Earlier this month, Kathleen wrote of her love of shortstories and especially the challenge of writing for themed anthologies. As May is Short Story Month, it seems appropriate to piggyback on her post with my own tribute to the short form.

As a reader, short stories fill a void when I crave a bit of fiction but don’t have the time or attention span to tackle a more hefty work. My son graduated from high school a week ago, and the month leading up to graduation was filled with “lasts”—last band concert, last forensics banquet, last play, and on and on. Add a healthy dose of preparing for college (endless forms to fill out and decisions to make) and life got a bit hectic. Short stories allowed me to escape the madness into bite-sized fictional worlds where satisfaction could be had in half an hour or less.

As a writer, I have a soft spot for short stories because my first fiction publishing credit came as part of Fish Nets: The Second Guppy Anthology (Wildside Press, 2013) from the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. With that story (“Keeping Up Appearances”), I proved to myself that I could write a complete story from beginning to end. Until that time, I had pieces of stories, a half-finished novel, and a lot of ideas, none of which had come together into a solid, coherent tale. With “Appearances,” though, I edited and revised, edited and revised again, submitted, and eventually saw print.

Lessons? Finish what you start. Have confidence in yourself. Seeing your words in print in a book that other people will read is a blast.

Each story I’ve published since then—two in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and “Fractured Memories” in Flash and Bang: A Short Mystery Fiction Society Anthology (Untreed Reads, 2015)— reinforced those lessons. Each success gives an extra boost to the self-confidence and an extra kick in the you-know-what to write more, finish more, submit more.

Two more things before I wrap up my ode to the short story. The Short Mystery Fiction Society is celebrating Short Story Month by highlighting members’ stories. Visit the SMFS blog for links to some fine short reads.

Sisters in Crime recently launched a We Love Short Stories campaign to support short story writers and markets. If you’re a member of Sisters in Crime, the organization has some nice benefits to help you support and celebrate the short fiction form. Find out more at the Sisters in Crime website.

Read (or written) any good short stories lately?