NEVER SAY NEVER
I remember thinking that I was never going to write a short
story because I didn’t really like short stories, but as we all know sometimes
never doesn’t really mean never, at least not for me.
I challenged myself to see if I could write a short sexy
story which I did, EVERY MAN WANTS HER,
taken from a screenplay I had written years ago. The surprise for me was
readers loved my character Virginia Templeton, and I actually became quite fond
of her. I liked her because she did whatever she wanted and I found myself becoming
a much more confident writer and person. For those of you who have read my
stories I know you will understand what I mean. Virginia was everything I wasn’t
but that isn’t true anymore.
Then, taking another plunge, I wrote a second short story
also about Virginia Templeton, IT’S NEVER
ENOUGH, and then another, STEPPING UP
HER GAME.
By this time I began to really understand Virginia Templeton
and wrote a blog for her, made a Pinterest board about her as well as a Facebook page.
I was having such a great time I decided to put all three stories together. The
book was called, THE VIRGINIA TEMPLETON
STORIES.
Shortly after all three stories were done I began to think I
made a mistake. I didn’t realize readers wouldn’t be happy when they finished
the stories because they thought the book was a novel.
However, what shocked me
most of all was they weren’t satisfied with the ending because I assumed each
story had a beginning, middle and end, which they did. That’s when I realized that
was a good thing. They liked my character and wanted more. Why I didn’t realize
that was because as some writers do I doubted my own ability and was certain
they had enough of Virginia Templeton. It was because of a short review of my
stories that a very honest reader wrote I began to turn this all around and
understand what had happened.
By now you’re probably wondering why I posted this. I wanted
to explain to writers that sometimes we are too tough on ourselves. Write the
best story you can and you will find your audience. If you’re lucky enough to
have readers wanting more you have done your job, just finish what you start.
Virginia Templeton will be back and I want to thank all the
readers that wanted to know more about Virginia for convincing me to bring her
back, as well as some of the other characters in the stories. The most fascinating
part of this journey for me was that I probably won’t say I’ll never do
something because I damn well know that might not be true for me or my
characters.
Marsha Casper Cook
