by Emma Redmer
Another one I wrote in 2012 that's based after a prompt from Helium. I still use the small, slender twinkling lights, though different ones now - the ones from college that I mention in the essay finally died about two years ago. It also still takes me a while for me to wrap them around the tree on my own, which is partly why I always invite a friend over to help decorate the rest of it.
“Ouch!”
I rub my foot. I just stepped on one of the lights that are supposed to go on my Christmas tree. I pull out the rope to inspect it. Nope, nothing broken. All the lights are as they should be. To be honest, I really need to replace this strand. I’ve used the same lights since college, and that was over ten years ago.
I can’t help thinking that putting the lights on the tree looked so much easier when Mom and Dad did it. They always had a big tree, with many strands of beautiful white lights that twinkled among Mom’s vintage glass balls. The lights were the same slender models I have now throughout my childhood and into the 90s. Sometime after 2000, Mom decided that the new lights with the larger bulbs were more practical and economical, not to mention much easier to thread onto the tree. Oh, they’re still pretty, but they glow a little differently than those tiny, twinkling lights.
My family wouldn’t decorate the outside of the house with lights until the late 90s. I don’t know why we never bothered. Maybe it was too much for Mom to handle on her own. My stepfather is a commercial fisherman, and he’d spend a lot of the holiday season on the ocean, making enough money for gifts for a family of six people. Maybe she just thought decorating the house inside from the bathroom to the den was more than enough.
At any rate, my father finally caved into pressure from my brother and his own desire to compete with the neighbors and started doing “exterior illumination” on his days between work trips. Thank heavens he had my brother and mother with him to assure that he never got as carried away as Clark Grizwauld. I have fond memories of coming home from college to a split-level house outlined in lights, with a netting of lights on the bushes, and the beautiful (then) new icicle strands hanging off the roof like dripping glitter. The effect was marvelous and elegant, especially in a New Jersey neighborhood where other houses went the Grizwauld route and covered themselves in every lighting effect known to man.
Christmas lights mean more to me than just good memories. For someone who works late and relies on her bike for transportation, they have a practical use. It’s a lot less scary riding home after a late work shift when every house in the neighborhood is lit up like the Fourth of July. It’s like a beacon leading you home after a hard day of dealing with frantic holiday customers.
The lights were especially beautiful about a week before Christmas 2009. On December 19th, the East Coast was hit by a massive blizzard. I live close to work anyway, so I just walked there and back. I worked from 10 until 5 that day. Despite the weather being even worse when I walked home, it was exhilarating to be out in it. When I arrived at the street just off the ramp into town, I literally gasped at the sight. It looked like an old-fashioned Christmas card or a Thomas Kinkade painting. The lights shown against the softly falling snow and the navy-blue night. Coupled with the Christmas party we’d had at work and the presents waiting for me at home from a friend, it felt like the most Christmassy day of my entire life.
No matter how much of a pain they may be to wind around the tree, staple onto the roof, or even plug into the wall, holiday lights are a reminder that there is always a little warmth in our hearts and minds, even during the darkest of seasons.
And that you should never step on a small colored light while barefoot.
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Family Dinners - Original Essay
Yet another product of my writing for the Heilum Network when I was stuck at home with a broken ankle during the fall of 2012. Dinners with my entire family during my childhood could be nothing short of chaotic, but I remember them with fondness, especially given I live alone now. With my stepfather's passing, I thought it was time to re-post this one.
Family Dinners
By Emma Redmer
Dinner together was important in my family. I guess it had to do with Dad not being home all the time. Dad was a commercial fisherman. Still is. His job takes him out to sea for weeks at a time. The rare times we were all home to eat together were precious. It was the one time we could all do something together.
I grew up in a big family. There were six of us - my mom and stepdad, two younger sisters, and younger brother. Before dinner, while Mom worked in the kitchen, we’d play a game in the living room. Something simple, like Go Fish, Uno, or Candy Land. If my sisters were really full of energy, they might wrestle. I generally stayed out of that. I knew Mom didn’t like it. I thought they were completely nuts. Sometimes my little brother would join them. Other times, he’d go downstairs and watch the news with Dad, or toddle into the kitchen to help Mom mash the potatoes or add shortening to the biscuits.
Dinner was a merry cacaphony of “Who is sitting where?” and “Where’s MY milk?” and “Darlin’, you forgot my fork.” We’d all fight to be the first ones in line to get the burnt cheese off the top of the macaroni or the seasoned crusts at the end of the roast beef. We’d pull up the ends of the old Formica kitchen table to give us more space. When all was ready, we’d sit down and enjoy the feast.
We didn’t have meals like normal Yankee families. My mother was a southern belle (born in West Virginia), and my father frequently brings seafood home from his job. A typical dinner would include roast beef, mashed potatoes drenched with butter, green beans with bits of real bacon and onion, and Mom’s heavenly, flaky biscuits. My sister Rose always covered hers in honey and butter. I liked strawberry jam on mine. Our little sister Anna preferred just butter. And little Keefe would just eat as many as his small belly could hold!
On other nights, we’d have baked fish fillets with a crispy coating, Italian zucchini and yellow squash sauteed with tomatoes, Mom’s home-made macaroni and cheese, and spoonbread. Spoonbread is a heavenly concoction that is basically cornbread baked in a casserole dish. You load it onto your plate with a spoon, hense the name. We all fought over who would get the browned bits on the side.
In summers, Dad would grill burgers and chicken, and Mom would make all kinds of salads - potato salad with bacon, cole slaw made with thick cabbage slices and mayo, and macaroni salad with vegetables. In the winter, there would be home-made chicken soup and thick, salty ham and cheese soup. There would be chicken baked in the oven (Mom didn’t like frying - too messy) and cornmeal muffins from her mother’s recipe.
With six opinionated people sitting around the table, dinner was never anything less than lively. Dad and Rose argued over politics, local news, and world affairs. Mom and I generally stayed out of it. We knew better than to get between the two of them when they got going. I’m not sure Anna and Keefe understood a word of their arguing. Anna would sometimes inject a tidbit about something that happened at school; in her younger years, she’d make up wild fictions about the kids at school and what she saw there. Her favorite was the one about the dragon who suddenly appeared at school and ate the teacher. When he got old enough, Keefe would talk about the kids at day care.
Keeping an eye on your milk was of paramount importance. Especially since I usually ended up sitting next to Rose. She was always drinking my milk, whether because she genuinely thought it was hers, or because she’d run out of her own. You’d turn to make a comment on something someone else said, and when you turned back, your milk would be about an inch lower than you swore it was two minutes ago. I was about twelve before I finally caught on and moved across the table.
All of the kids had a chore to do after dinner. My job was to wash the dishes. Anna would bring me the dishes and dry them after I washed them. Rose would put the leftover food into plastic containers, load them into the refrigerator, and wipe the table. When he got old enough, Keefe ran the vacuum cleaner on the rug under the table. It was really kind of fun to have so much help. Anna and I used to sing together when we’d do the dishes. I remember singing the 30s hit “All I Do Is Dream of You” after Mom rented the musical “Singin’ In the Rain.”
After dinner, we’d all go in the living room to watch TV. The Pennsylvania Lottery would run the numbers for today’s winning tickets after Channel 6 news. We’d make a game out of it and see who could come closest to guessing today’s winning numbers. After that, we’d play along with “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” There would be much laughter as everyone would chime in with the questions for Alec Trebek and see who could get the most letters in the phrases of the day.
When the game shows were over, we’d go our separate ways. Keefe would go to bed. We’d go upstairs and play with our toys, or if Dad was watching something we’d like, we’d stay with him. Or we’d go read, or finish working on our homework, or play a few more games of Uno or Go Fish until bedtime.
I live alone now, in my own small apartment. Most of the time, I eat dinner by myself. I usually don’t get lonely, but sometimes, when I find a recipe for spoonbread or make Mom’s biscuit recipe, I remember all the pandemonium and the noise and the laughter. It was crazy, sure, but it was fun. Most of all, it was family.
Family Dinners
By Emma Redmer
Dinner together was important in my family. I guess it had to do with Dad not being home all the time. Dad was a commercial fisherman. Still is. His job takes him out to sea for weeks at a time. The rare times we were all home to eat together were precious. It was the one time we could all do something together.
I grew up in a big family. There were six of us - my mom and stepdad, two younger sisters, and younger brother. Before dinner, while Mom worked in the kitchen, we’d play a game in the living room. Something simple, like Go Fish, Uno, or Candy Land. If my sisters were really full of energy, they might wrestle. I generally stayed out of that. I knew Mom didn’t like it. I thought they were completely nuts. Sometimes my little brother would join them. Other times, he’d go downstairs and watch the news with Dad, or toddle into the kitchen to help Mom mash the potatoes or add shortening to the biscuits.
Dinner was a merry cacaphony of “Who is sitting where?” and “Where’s MY milk?” and “Darlin’, you forgot my fork.” We’d all fight to be the first ones in line to get the burnt cheese off the top of the macaroni or the seasoned crusts at the end of the roast beef. We’d pull up the ends of the old Formica kitchen table to give us more space. When all was ready, we’d sit down and enjoy the feast.
We didn’t have meals like normal Yankee families. My mother was a southern belle (born in West Virginia), and my father frequently brings seafood home from his job. A typical dinner would include roast beef, mashed potatoes drenched with butter, green beans with bits of real bacon and onion, and Mom’s heavenly, flaky biscuits. My sister Rose always covered hers in honey and butter. I liked strawberry jam on mine. Our little sister Anna preferred just butter. And little Keefe would just eat as many as his small belly could hold!
On other nights, we’d have baked fish fillets with a crispy coating, Italian zucchini and yellow squash sauteed with tomatoes, Mom’s home-made macaroni and cheese, and spoonbread. Spoonbread is a heavenly concoction that is basically cornbread baked in a casserole dish. You load it onto your plate with a spoon, hense the name. We all fought over who would get the browned bits on the side.
In summers, Dad would grill burgers and chicken, and Mom would make all kinds of salads - potato salad with bacon, cole slaw made with thick cabbage slices and mayo, and macaroni salad with vegetables. In the winter, there would be home-made chicken soup and thick, salty ham and cheese soup. There would be chicken baked in the oven (Mom didn’t like frying - too messy) and cornmeal muffins from her mother’s recipe.
With six opinionated people sitting around the table, dinner was never anything less than lively. Dad and Rose argued over politics, local news, and world affairs. Mom and I generally stayed out of it. We knew better than to get between the two of them when they got going. I’m not sure Anna and Keefe understood a word of their arguing. Anna would sometimes inject a tidbit about something that happened at school; in her younger years, she’d make up wild fictions about the kids at school and what she saw there. Her favorite was the one about the dragon who suddenly appeared at school and ate the teacher. When he got old enough, Keefe would talk about the kids at day care.
Keeping an eye on your milk was of paramount importance. Especially since I usually ended up sitting next to Rose. She was always drinking my milk, whether because she genuinely thought it was hers, or because she’d run out of her own. You’d turn to make a comment on something someone else said, and when you turned back, your milk would be about an inch lower than you swore it was two minutes ago. I was about twelve before I finally caught on and moved across the table.
All of the kids had a chore to do after dinner. My job was to wash the dishes. Anna would bring me the dishes and dry them after I washed them. Rose would put the leftover food into plastic containers, load them into the refrigerator, and wipe the table. When he got old enough, Keefe ran the vacuum cleaner on the rug under the table. It was really kind of fun to have so much help. Anna and I used to sing together when we’d do the dishes. I remember singing the 30s hit “All I Do Is Dream of You” after Mom rented the musical “Singin’ In the Rain.”
After dinner, we’d all go in the living room to watch TV. The Pennsylvania Lottery would run the numbers for today’s winning tickets after Channel 6 news. We’d make a game out of it and see who could come closest to guessing today’s winning numbers. After that, we’d play along with “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” There would be much laughter as everyone would chime in with the questions for Alec Trebek and see who could get the most letters in the phrases of the day.
When the game shows were over, we’d go our separate ways. Keefe would go to bed. We’d go upstairs and play with our toys, or if Dad was watching something we’d like, we’d stay with him. Or we’d go read, or finish working on our homework, or play a few more games of Uno or Go Fish until bedtime.
I live alone now, in my own small apartment. Most of the time, I eat dinner by myself. I usually don’t get lonely, but sometimes, when I find a recipe for spoonbread or make Mom’s biscuit recipe, I remember all the pandemonium and the noise and the laughter. It was crazy, sure, but it was fun. Most of all, it was family.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Upcoming Stories and Story Ideas
This is a list of stories I'm working on, hope to work on soon, and am developing ideas for. Keep in mind that this list can and will change depending on what I'm interested in at any given time and what else is going on in my life.
Currently Working On:
The Resistance Kids and the Haunted House (Alternative Universe 1940's Horror Comedy) - Rey Rider is a British immigrant now living in the Bowery with her friends, a group of older teens and young adults who call themselves "The Resistance Kids." They have three main concerns in late October 1949 - bringing together Hank Solo, the gruff mechanic who employs four of them, with his estranged wife Leia Waller-Solo, their huge Halloween party at the spooky Skywalker Manor, and how to keep their rivals The First Order Gang from interfering with the first two. When Hank and their friend Poe Dameron disappear, they have to discover the secrets of Skywalker Manor and deal with two sets of interested parties who don't want them there!
Tales of the Gold Wookie (Alternative Universe 1930's Adventure) - It's 1939. Layla and Luke Skylark are fresh out of the University of Arizona and ready to change the world. She's an archaeologist; he's a reporter. While Luke is content to be an intern for world-weary veteran crime reporter Benton Kennally, Layla is far more ambitious. She wants to find lost treasures for her idol, museum owner Marta Mothma. Her current obsession is rescuing the (reportedly magical) lost royal jewels of the Kingdom of Alderaan from nasty General Tarkin and the Empire.
Luke convinces her to hire Harry Solomon, a pilot with a dilapidated plane who runs his own charter service, to take them to where the treasures were last seen. Layla's not happy with the idea at first. Harry is rude, arrogant, and only cares about getting his share of the treasure. Not to mention, some of his former bosses make Tarkin look like a kitten. Tarkin has his own formidable underling, the corrupt industrialist Derek Vader. After Kennally gets into trouble with Vader, Luke insists on bringing along venerable old Asian archaeology professor Takamashi Yoda as their guide.
Coming Up Next:
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Original Snow Queen-Inspired Action/Fantasy - Set in the three years between New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, and my first story set within the regular Star Wars universe. Han, Chewie, Leia, and Luke are on a diplomatic mission to buy supplies from a snow planet that's remained neutral in the battle between the Empire and Rebellion. Leia's hoping to sway them to the Alliance's side. Unlike Hoth, this planet is inhabited, mainly by criminals and nasty goblins. It's queen is a shrewd magician with her own ice-based powers. The goblins, determined to make mischief, get slivers of a Force-sensitive crystal in Luke's eyes and heart. It turns him into the opposite of his usual self...making him cold and distant to his two best friends. Leia, Han, and Chewie have to dodge the planet's shadier citizens and a summer witch with her own plans in order to free Luke from the goblins' spell and find out just what the Snow Queen is up to.
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Nutcracker-Inspired Story - Clara Marie Stahlbaum (known as "Rey" to her friends) receives an old wooden nutcracker from her mysterious Uncle Luke Drosselmayer on Christmas Eve. Her older brother Benjamin teases her about her fondness for such a homely, old-fashioned gift. Her mother Leia and her father Hans are more understanding. She's upset when Benjamin accidentally breaks it, then claims it's not fit to crack nuts for the rats in the house. Their menacing tutor, Ebeneezer Snoke, agrees. Rey doesn't like Snoke at all, but Benjamin trusts him utterly.
That night, Rey creeps down to the Christmas tree to see her Nutcracker again. The moment she falls asleep with him in her arms, she has a most peculiar dream. Uncle Luke is a magician, banished from the Land of Sweets by the evil Rat King Snoke and his apprentice Kylo Ren. The Nutcracker Prince, the true ruler of the land, has vanished and is presumed dead. Lady Leia, the Sugar Plum Fairy, leads an army of toys, candy, and snowflakes to find the prince and free her beloved Fairy Cavalier Han, who has been kidnapped is being held hostage by Snoke in the Gingerbread Castle. Rey finds herself caught up in the search...and falling for the half-human, half-wooden Nutcracker.
Remember WENN
Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN (Alternative Universe Fantasy/Fairy Tale) - Even when Elizabeth and the others leave Port Harbor, looking for the Emerald Talisman, trouble follows. Lady Gloria Redmond has no desire to even discuss the magic that caused her so much grief. There's also the evil candy witch Pavla Nemcova, who has both Jeff Singer and Sir Victor Comstock in her grasp, to contend with.
In Development:
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Dark Medieval Fantasy (Han/Leia based fantasy) - Inspired by this Tumblr post. Leia is in search of her missing brother Luke, who was in training to be a wizard before their parents were killed and he was kidnapped. He's not the only one who has disappeared. The queen is dying. Her greedy, power-hungry adviser Palapatine is taking over the throne. The queen once had a son, Prince Hannel, but he vanished and is presumed dead. It's rumored that Palapatine is really a dark sorcerer who worked some terrible enchantment on the missing prince.
Leia finds a man imprisoned in a dungeon in a remote corner of the kingdom. The bedraggled man with the auburn hair had once worn fine robes, but now has no idea who he is. All Leia knows is he's insufferably stubborn, an excellent shot with a bow and arrow, and is always accompanied by an enormous Wookie wolf. The two are eventually joined by an eccentric old wizard and a mysterious unicorn with sad blue eyes as they try to find out who the silent man is and avenge Leia's family.
Superhero Story (Alternative Universe 1970's Superhero/Action Fantasy) - Leah O'Malley is an intern in corrupt Coruscant City by day in 1977. By night, she's Force Girl, a superheroine who is a member of the Rebel League, a society of superheroes and vigilantes who fight the regime of the evil Mayor Palapatine and the devious Chief of Police/super villain Derek Veder. Lucas Weston is a geeky college kid and major comics fan who discovers that the owner of a local book store/comics shop was once The Negotiator, a great World War II/Golden Era superhero...and that Lucas is the inheritor of a superheroic dynasty. Lucas seeks help from Harris Arietta, a carpenter and handyman whose dog Chewbacca always rides with him and acts as a Team Pet.
80's Summer Story (Alternative Universe 1980's Comedy/Action) - Leia and Luke Walker are just out of high school and are celebrating their last two months of freedom before she goes to college for political science and he joins the Coast Guard. Uncle Ben, a local beach bum, owns a series of dilapidated cottages on the beach at the edge of town. He'll let them rent a cottage and keep an eye on them, and they'll run chores and help him with the cottages' upkeep. Things go south very quickly when Leia discovers that a nasty corporation wants to buy the cottages, tear them down, force out the permanent residents, and build an elaborate hotel and mall in their place. The Imperial Gang, a motorcycle group, has been threatening the residents and Uncle Ben for months. She and Luke rally the residents, including shady fisherman Hank Solokowski, his British buddy Charlie Bachman, Luke's Coast Guard friend Walter "Wedge" Antilles, and foreign nerds Chip and Arturro, to help fight back.
Remember WENN
Captain Victor, Man of Power (Alternative Universe Superhero/Action) - Set directly after the first season episode "There But Before Grace." Tired of dealing with (and being run all over by) sponsors and confused about his feelings for Betty and Grace Cavendish, Victor Comstock imagines himself as one of those new superheroes that have become popular with the kids, Jeff as his sidekick, Betty as the new girl reporter on the block, C.J as a scientist, Ceila as the daughter of a missing scientist and Victor's other sidekick, Hilary as a snooty actress-turned-society-reporter, Mackie as their boss, and Grace as a Dragon Lady-type villaness.
The Best Radio Christmas Pageant Ever - A kind of "missing scene" story set during the early first season. Victor wants to present the story of the Nativity on the airwaves, but the kids starring in the show are unruly, Hilary wants a bigger role, the sponsor is turning the show into a commercial, and Ceila will have nothing to do with it. And there's reports of a major snowstorm heading for Pittsburgh...
On the Edge of the Precipice Series
The Fox and the Falcon - Betty finds herself head over heels involved in espionage when the true leader of the spy ring becomes known...and Victor Comstock returns with startling news...
Remember WENN Fairy Tale Series
Hilary's Story: Beauty and the Beast - Wrap-around segments set day after fourth-season episode "You've Met Your Match." Story based around third and fourth season. Angry at Scott and Jeff for their behavior the night before and in the past few months in general, Betty and Hilary concoct the story of two sisters who discover that the beastly owner and manager of a dilapidated theater may not be what they appear on the outside...or even inside...
Mr. Eldridge and Gertie's Story: The Man Who Minded the House - Set after and based around the fourth season episode "Work Shift." Mr. Eldridge recalls the story of how a man and a woman (him and Gertie) learn that the grass isn't always greener in someone else's work area when he takes over her household duties and she works in the fields.
Story Ideas:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Sequel Trilogy)
The Wizard of Oz (Alternative Universe Fantasy-Wizard of Oz-inspired) - Rachel "Rey" Gale lives with her Aunt Leah and Uncle Harry and their two farmhands on a farm outside of Jakkuson, Kansas in 1939. She feels like her life is as gray as the world around her, especially after the nasty man who runs the First Order Manor near-by threatens to take her beloved Westie Terrier BeeBee to the pound and her grouchy cousin demands his share of the farm. A tornado whisks Rey and BeeBee over the rainbow and into the land of Oz. Oz is under the tyrannical rule of the Warlock of the West and his apprentice. Queen Leia was imprisoned in her own magic bubble and banished to the lands of the South, where she amasses an army to stop him. She once ruled with her husband and her wizard brother, but her husband vanished after he was attacked by her son, and her brother is hiding in the Emerald City. Rey has to go to the Emerald City to find the Wizard Skywalker, with the help of a cowardly lion-soldier, a scarecrow who had once worked for the queen, and the Tin Smuggler, who seems to know a lot more about the queen and the Warlock of the West and his apprentice than he'll let on...
Remember WENN
Maltese Falcon Film Noir Spoof II (Alternative Universe Film Noir/Mystery) - Wrap-around set during the late third or early fourth seasons. Hilary and Scott give two different sides of the tale of a dame who may or may not have gotten a private eye involved with smuggling and murder.
Ceila Short Story - Missing scene set during the first season episode "A Capitol Idea." Ceila says good-bye to the station after she's hired by the guy who wanted her to promote Blondie cartoons.
Fairy Tale Series
Jeff's Story - Aladdin and His Magic Lamp
C.J's Story - Jack and the Beanstalk
Victor's Story - King Arthur
Ceila's Story - Goldielocks and the Three Bears
Mackie's Story
Eugenia and Mr. Foley's Story
Original Children's Short Stories
Stories based after childhood memories, including:
Painting someone else's fence.
Little kids running through other people's yards when Mom and Dad aren't looking.
Beach frolics - walking home from the beach.
Currently Working On:
The Resistance Kids and the Haunted House (Alternative Universe 1940's Horror Comedy) - Rey Rider is a British immigrant now living in the Bowery with her friends, a group of older teens and young adults who call themselves "The Resistance Kids." They have three main concerns in late October 1949 - bringing together Hank Solo, the gruff mechanic who employs four of them, with his estranged wife Leia Waller-Solo, their huge Halloween party at the spooky Skywalker Manor, and how to keep their rivals The First Order Gang from interfering with the first two. When Hank and their friend Poe Dameron disappear, they have to discover the secrets of Skywalker Manor and deal with two sets of interested parties who don't want them there!
Tales of the Gold Wookie (Alternative Universe 1930's Adventure) - It's 1939. Layla and Luke Skylark are fresh out of the University of Arizona and ready to change the world. She's an archaeologist; he's a reporter. While Luke is content to be an intern for world-weary veteran crime reporter Benton Kennally, Layla is far more ambitious. She wants to find lost treasures for her idol, museum owner Marta Mothma. Her current obsession is rescuing the (reportedly magical) lost royal jewels of the Kingdom of Alderaan from nasty General Tarkin and the Empire.
Luke convinces her to hire Harry Solomon, a pilot with a dilapidated plane who runs his own charter service, to take them to where the treasures were last seen. Layla's not happy with the idea at first. Harry is rude, arrogant, and only cares about getting his share of the treasure. Not to mention, some of his former bosses make Tarkin look like a kitten. Tarkin has his own formidable underling, the corrupt industrialist Derek Vader. After Kennally gets into trouble with Vader, Luke insists on bringing along venerable old Asian archaeology professor Takamashi Yoda as their guide.
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Original Snow Queen-Inspired Action/Fantasy - Set in the three years between New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, and my first story set within the regular Star Wars universe. Han, Chewie, Leia, and Luke are on a diplomatic mission to buy supplies from a snow planet that's remained neutral in the battle between the Empire and Rebellion. Leia's hoping to sway them to the Alliance's side. Unlike Hoth, this planet is inhabited, mainly by criminals and nasty goblins. It's queen is a shrewd magician with her own ice-based powers. The goblins, determined to make mischief, get slivers of a Force-sensitive crystal in Luke's eyes and heart. It turns him into the opposite of his usual self...making him cold and distant to his two best friends. Leia, Han, and Chewie have to dodge the planet's shadier citizens and a summer witch with her own plans in order to free Luke from the goblins' spell and find out just what the Snow Queen is up to.
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Nutcracker-Inspired Story - Clara Marie Stahlbaum (known as "Rey" to her friends) receives an old wooden nutcracker from her mysterious Uncle Luke Drosselmayer on Christmas Eve. Her older brother Benjamin teases her about her fondness for such a homely, old-fashioned gift. Her mother Leia and her father Hans are more understanding. She's upset when Benjamin accidentally breaks it, then claims it's not fit to crack nuts for the rats in the house. Their menacing tutor, Ebeneezer Snoke, agrees. Rey doesn't like Snoke at all, but Benjamin trusts him utterly.
That night, Rey creeps down to the Christmas tree to see her Nutcracker again. The moment she falls asleep with him in her arms, she has a most peculiar dream. Uncle Luke is a magician, banished from the Land of Sweets by the evil Rat King Snoke and his apprentice Kylo Ren. The Nutcracker Prince, the true ruler of the land, has vanished and is presumed dead. Lady Leia, the Sugar Plum Fairy, leads an army of toys, candy, and snowflakes to find the prince and free her beloved Fairy Cavalier Han, who has been kidnapped is being held hostage by Snoke in the Gingerbread Castle. Rey finds herself caught up in the search...and falling for the half-human, half-wooden Nutcracker.
Remember WENN
Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN (Alternative Universe Fantasy/Fairy Tale) - Even when Elizabeth and the others leave Port Harbor, looking for the Emerald Talisman, trouble follows. Lady Gloria Redmond has no desire to even discuss the magic that caused her so much grief. There's also the evil candy witch Pavla Nemcova, who has both Jeff Singer and Sir Victor Comstock in her grasp, to contend with.
In Development:
Star Wars Original Trilogy
Dark Medieval Fantasy (Han/Leia based fantasy) - Inspired by this Tumblr post. Leia is in search of her missing brother Luke, who was in training to be a wizard before their parents were killed and he was kidnapped. He's not the only one who has disappeared. The queen is dying. Her greedy, power-hungry adviser Palapatine is taking over the throne. The queen once had a son, Prince Hannel, but he vanished and is presumed dead. It's rumored that Palapatine is really a dark sorcerer who worked some terrible enchantment on the missing prince.
Leia finds a man imprisoned in a dungeon in a remote corner of the kingdom. The bedraggled man with the auburn hair had once worn fine robes, but now has no idea who he is. All Leia knows is he's insufferably stubborn, an excellent shot with a bow and arrow, and is always accompanied by an enormous Wookie wolf. The two are eventually joined by an eccentric old wizard and a mysterious unicorn with sad blue eyes as they try to find out who the silent man is and avenge Leia's family.
Superhero Story (Alternative Universe 1970's Superhero/Action Fantasy) - Leah O'Malley is an intern in corrupt Coruscant City by day in 1977. By night, she's Force Girl, a superheroine who is a member of the Rebel League, a society of superheroes and vigilantes who fight the regime of the evil Mayor Palapatine and the devious Chief of Police/super villain Derek Veder. Lucas Weston is a geeky college kid and major comics fan who discovers that the owner of a local book store/comics shop was once The Negotiator, a great World War II/Golden Era superhero...and that Lucas is the inheritor of a superheroic dynasty. Lucas seeks help from Harris Arietta, a carpenter and handyman whose dog Chewbacca always rides with him and acts as a Team Pet.
80's Summer Story (Alternative Universe 1980's Comedy/Action) - Leia and Luke Walker are just out of high school and are celebrating their last two months of freedom before she goes to college for political science and he joins the Coast Guard. Uncle Ben, a local beach bum, owns a series of dilapidated cottages on the beach at the edge of town. He'll let them rent a cottage and keep an eye on them, and they'll run chores and help him with the cottages' upkeep. Things go south very quickly when Leia discovers that a nasty corporation wants to buy the cottages, tear them down, force out the permanent residents, and build an elaborate hotel and mall in their place. The Imperial Gang, a motorcycle group, has been threatening the residents and Uncle Ben for months. She and Luke rally the residents, including shady fisherman Hank Solokowski, his British buddy Charlie Bachman, Luke's Coast Guard friend Walter "Wedge" Antilles, and foreign nerds Chip and Arturro, to help fight back.
Remember WENN
Captain Victor, Man of Power (Alternative Universe Superhero/Action) - Set directly after the first season episode "There But Before Grace." Tired of dealing with (and being run all over by) sponsors and confused about his feelings for Betty and Grace Cavendish, Victor Comstock imagines himself as one of those new superheroes that have become popular with the kids, Jeff as his sidekick, Betty as the new girl reporter on the block, C.J as a scientist, Ceila as the daughter of a missing scientist and Victor's other sidekick, Hilary as a snooty actress-turned-society-reporter, Mackie as their boss, and Grace as a Dragon Lady-type villaness.
The Best Radio Christmas Pageant Ever - A kind of "missing scene" story set during the early first season. Victor wants to present the story of the Nativity on the airwaves, but the kids starring in the show are unruly, Hilary wants a bigger role, the sponsor is turning the show into a commercial, and Ceila will have nothing to do with it. And there's reports of a major snowstorm heading for Pittsburgh...
On the Edge of the Precipice Series
The Fox and the Falcon - Betty finds herself head over heels involved in espionage when the true leader of the spy ring becomes known...and Victor Comstock returns with startling news...
Remember WENN Fairy Tale Series
Hilary's Story: Beauty and the Beast - Wrap-around segments set day after fourth-season episode "You've Met Your Match." Story based around third and fourth season. Angry at Scott and Jeff for their behavior the night before and in the past few months in general, Betty and Hilary concoct the story of two sisters who discover that the beastly owner and manager of a dilapidated theater may not be what they appear on the outside...or even inside...
Mr. Eldridge and Gertie's Story: The Man Who Minded the House - Set after and based around the fourth season episode "Work Shift." Mr. Eldridge recalls the story of how a man and a woman (him and Gertie) learn that the grass isn't always greener in someone else's work area when he takes over her household duties and she works in the fields.
Story Ideas:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Sequel Trilogy)
The Wizard of Oz (Alternative Universe Fantasy-Wizard of Oz-inspired) - Rachel "Rey" Gale lives with her Aunt Leah and Uncle Harry and their two farmhands on a farm outside of Jakkuson, Kansas in 1939. She feels like her life is as gray as the world around her, especially after the nasty man who runs the First Order Manor near-by threatens to take her beloved Westie Terrier BeeBee to the pound and her grouchy cousin demands his share of the farm. A tornado whisks Rey and BeeBee over the rainbow and into the land of Oz. Oz is under the tyrannical rule of the Warlock of the West and his apprentice. Queen Leia was imprisoned in her own magic bubble and banished to the lands of the South, where she amasses an army to stop him. She once ruled with her husband and her wizard brother, but her husband vanished after he was attacked by her son, and her brother is hiding in the Emerald City. Rey has to go to the Emerald City to find the Wizard Skywalker, with the help of a cowardly lion-soldier, a scarecrow who had once worked for the queen, and the Tin Smuggler, who seems to know a lot more about the queen and the Warlock of the West and his apprentice than he'll let on...
Remember WENN
Maltese Falcon Film Noir Spoof II (Alternative Universe Film Noir/Mystery) - Wrap-around set during the late third or early fourth seasons. Hilary and Scott give two different sides of the tale of a dame who may or may not have gotten a private eye involved with smuggling and murder.
Ceila Short Story - Missing scene set during the first season episode "A Capitol Idea." Ceila says good-bye to the station after she's hired by the guy who wanted her to promote Blondie cartoons.
Fairy Tale Series
Jeff's Story - Aladdin and His Magic Lamp
C.J's Story - Jack and the Beanstalk
Victor's Story - King Arthur
Ceila's Story - Goldielocks and the Three Bears
Mackie's Story
Eugenia and Mr. Foley's Story
Original Children's Short Stories
Stories based after childhood memories, including:
Painting someone else's fence.
Little kids running through other people's yards when Mom and Dad aren't looking.
Beach frolics - walking home from the beach.
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