Earlier this year, I accepted the challenge to write a short piece with the theme of thrills and chills, and that led to “Memory Lane Park.”

The Florida Writers Association (FWA) publishes an annual collection of member-written short fiction, essays, and poems related to a common theme. For 2022, the collection is entitled Thrills and Chills (Volume #14). Last year, I was fortunate to have a short story included in Volume #13 Footprints.

My Submission

I don’t write horror or scary stories, so I hesitated to prepare something that would be suitable. However, I was enrolled in an on-line writing class at the time (David Farland’s 318R course). The first assignment was to write a one or two page description of a setting as viewed by a character. That description became the seed of an idea that turned into a 1,200-word short story. A fellow writer read the piece and offered several helpful suggestions. After the edits, “Memory Lane Park” was ready to be submitted.

Selection

A total of 153 entries were evaluated, and 60 pieces selected for inclusion in the collection. In early June, I received notification my story had made the list of 60. Barbara Rein, who was the winner of the 2021 FWA Royal Palm Literary Award Published Book of the Year, reviewed these pieces and identified the Top 10.

Memory Lane Park

She picked “Memory Lane Park” as #1 on the Top 10 list. I can barely believe that I went from not being sure I could write a story that would fit in the scary theme, to being selected as the first on the Top 10 list.

The collection will be available on Amazon in October 2022. You’ll have to wait until then to read it. My only teaser on the story is that you will never visit an amusement park again without thinking of it as a memorable outing.

To receive additional updates like this and my newsletter, please subscribe HERE.