by Kathy Brasby | Sep 28, 2012 | Stories
I had coffee yesterday with a couple of friends that I haven’t seen in eight years. My family moved, they don’t do email, the friendship cooled over time.
 But they moved into my area and we met to catch up. We laughed over the Samsonite suitcase story and the 15-passenger van escapade (I’ll tell you those stories another time).
We remembered. Â I’m looking forward to making new memories with them.
I’m writing a novel right now about a people, following a cataclysmic event many years before, who refuse to tell their children what happened. Their theory is that remembering brings pain and solves nothing. They throw themselves into coping but their children want memories.
Are answers submerged in memories? Or do memories hold us back?
I’m not going to disclose the ending to my novel. But the idea intrigues me.
We’re programmed to remember. At times, we enjoy the memories. At other times, memories hold us back. Does this trait help us? What do you think?
by Kathy Brasby | Sep 26, 2012 | Stories
Patterns always start with a first time and my pattern got rolling when I couldn’t figure out how to light the gas grill in my back yard. I’d just moved into the house and never had one before.
I found the knob for the natural gas on the front and then crawled around on my hands and knees, looking for a opening in the pole to poke in the match. Found it. Then I lit the match and shoved it in.
A fireball exploded over my head, flinging the grill lid skyward. The hinges held and the lid thumped down, putting out the fire.
I’m a quick learner. I never lit a grill like that again.
But there was the time when I had to light an old furnace in a rental house we were renovating. This time, I couldn’t figure out where the pilot light ignition nozzle was located. I did a little hunting with the lit match but this time I knew enough to stand beside the furnace opening, just poking my arm into the furnace mouth.
The match finally bit on some gas. There wasn’t a fireball this time. Just a loud roar that brought my teenage kids down to the basement where they scoped out my blackened arm and singed hair.
“It doesn’t hurt,” I said. They couldn’t hear me above their laughter. The pilot lit, though.
I wasn’t concerned the day I decided to cook hamburgers on our new grill. Â I knew the routine. I turned on the propane and pushed the ignition button, just like I had been told. Clicks did not lead to a fire. Phooey. I needed a match again. So I went inside, found the box of matches, opened the grill lid and tossed in a match.
This one was more of a bang than a roar.
Why am I sharing this? I’m a writer and I continue to learn that stories create patterns. In novels. In articles.
And in life, where I am no longer allowed to hold a box of matches anywhere near gas. Patterns matter.
by Kathy Brasby | Sep 21, 2012 | Stories
As a writer, I don’t waste any new emotion that surfaces inside of me. I probe and consider. So lately I’ve been exploring the fringes of regret.
To be honest, I didn’t expect this one. My father died recently at age 90 and we all knew he was fading. I was determined in his last years to have no regrets. I spent extra time visiting, going to gatherings and birthday parties. He got extra hugs (he wasn’t a huggy kind of guy but he seemed to like them in his later years) and I had a chance to thank him for his input into my life.
I didn’t want to have regrets. And I don’t regret any of those things.
But as I journey through the pain of his loss, I find unexpected regrets. Regret that he won’t ever finish the engine project in the garage. Regret that he’ll never again stand in his corn field, shovel in hand. Regret that he won’t see his youngest grandchildren get married.
Regrets for what he will never do now.
That regret strikes me when I least expect it, with a sharp jab that makes me draw a long breath.
I know he’s in a better place. He held to his faith when everything else slipped away. He was anxious to go home. And it helps me to imagine him with young legs, a strong back, a mind that once again can solve a broken object.
But I want to seize the new insights for my own life. What do I want to do before it’s my turn to join him before our Lord?
I have a few things on my mind and they’re rising to the top of my priority list. We’ll always have regrets but I’m planning to reduce the list. My sister and I often joke that we rush in where angels fear to tread. I’m thinking it’s time to ramp that up a bit.
by Kathy Brasby | Sep 17, 2012 | Stories
I don’t consider publication to be the end-all for a writer, even though it sure is nice. I know writers who share their talents in thank-you notes and encouragement letters. Not a bad gig at all.
I know others who exclusively blog. They are putting their insights on a medium that might be seen by readers worldwide. Not bad, either.
 Some writers produce works for their children or their own amusement. Nothing wrong with those goals either.
But I’ve felt the tug to submit for publication. I’m working on a novel right now but those take forever. I wanted to submit now. So I’ve begun writing short stories.
My first appeared in Harpstring’s summer edition. Apparently the pressure of a frantic deadline helped, because I whipped that story out in about three days.
Then came a notification about OakTara looking for short stories for an anthology Falling In Love With You. Because our love story is a little unique, I decided to submit a story for that, too. Â That one was accepted and should be available by the end of the month.
Since then I’ve sent in a story to Chicken Soup and entered two short story contests. No word yet on those.
I still don’t consider publication to be the final plateau for a writer but I do have to admit that it’s fun seeing my name in print.
Now, back to my novel…
by Kathy Brasby | Sep 14, 2012 | Stories
My short story “Unexpected Escape” will appear in OakTara’s anthology, Falling in Love With You, which is scheduled to be published by the first of October. Stay tuned.
I’m not generally a romance writer but my husband and I have a unique story of how we fell in love. And this story, “Unexpected Escape,” chronicles an interesting twist for us.
If you “like” OakTara’s Facebook page, you will then receive notifications on when Falling in Love With You is available – plus you’ll be able to purchase the book at a discount there.
by Kathy Brasby | Aug 7, 2012 | Stories
I am a writer, a photographer, a videographer, a teacher and much more. I am very curious and I love to learn. This blog will contain snippets of what I’m learning and also my thoughts on what I read and see.
As a writer, my goal is to discover meaning in chaos. We live in a jumbled world. Many opinions blast us moment by moment. Colors, images, noises, smells – we are in sensory overload as well.
But there is meaning to be found. I’m confident of that.
The current plan for me is to post three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Join me on this journey of discovery.
