I Never Thought I'd See You Again: A Novelists Inc. Anthology

400 Pages·2013·2.73 MB·English

by  Aronica Lou

I Never Thought I’d See You Again
Table of Contents
Title
Introduction by Lou Aronica
36 Hours by Allison Brennan
Facing the Mirror by Dianne Despain
Solomon’s Paradox by Kelly McClymer
Play it Again, Sam by Deb Stover
Christmas Eve at Alison’s Diner by Janet Tronstad
Persephone’s Granddaughter by Alyssa Day
The Greek, the Dog, Shangri-La and Me by Janet Woods
A Streetcar Named Death by Greg Herren
The Tower by Mary Hart Perry
Fabian’s Wake by Laura Resnick
Katy’s Place by Barbara Meyers
Backdraft by Kathryn Shay
Because of You by JoAnn A. Grote
Skipper and I by Ann La Farge
The Only Girl in the World by C.B. Pratt
Tide Change by Shirley Parenteau
Title

These stories are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of
either the author or the publisher.
The Story Plant
Studio Digital CT, LLC
PO Box 4331
Stamford, CT 06907
Copyright © 2013 by Novelists Inc.
Jacket design by Barbara Aronica-Buck
“36 Hours” copyright © 2013 by Allison Brennan
“Facing the Mirror” copyright © 2013 by Dianne Despain
“Solomon’s Paradox” copyright © 2013 by Kelly McClymer
“Play it Again, Sam” copyright © 2013 by Deb Stover
“Christmas Eve at Alison’s Diner” copyright © 2013 by Janet Tronstad
“Persephone’s Granddaughter” copyright © 2013 by Alyssa Day
“The Greek, the Dog, Shangri-La and Me” copyright © 2013 by Janet
Woods
“A Streetcar Named Death” copyright © 2013 by Greg Herren
“The Tower” copyright © 2013 by Mary Hart Perry
“Fabian’s Wake” copyright © 2013 By Laura Resnick
“Katy’s Place” copyright © 2013 by Barbara Meyers
“Backdraft” copyright © 2013 By Kathryn Shay
“Because of You” copyright © 2013 by JoAnn A. Grote
“Skipper and I” copyright © 2013 by Ann La Farge
“The Only Girl in the World” copyright © 2013 by C. B. Pratt
“Tide Change” copyright © 2013 by Shirley Parenteau
Print ISBN-13: 978-1-61188-079-3
E-book ISBN-13: 978-1-61188-080-9
Visit our website at www.thestoryplant.com
Visit the Novelists Inc. website at www.ninc.com
All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or
portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by US
Copyright Law. For information, address Studio Digital CT.
First Story Plant Paperback Printing: July 201
Introduction by Lou Aronica
When we began to think about creating a follow-up to our first
anthology, Cast of Characters, those of us on the Novelists Inc. board at
the time considered a number of options. Should we choose a particular
genre? That didn’t feel right, because, while all of our members are
novelists, what they write is so diverse. Should we choose a particular
setting? That might work, but it would mean excluding writers
uncomfortable with that setting, and it didn’t seem appropriate over his
cup of coffee. l it that anyone be disqualified for such an arbitrary reason.
Ultimately, we decided to go back to third grade. We’d offer a writing
prompt. The sort of thing an elementary school teacher might assign to
get kids to express themselves: if I were a farm animal . . . or the thing I
love most about school is . . .. Since we were dealing with seasoned,
highly successful writers, we assumed we could go with a more
sophisticated prompt and that we could expect considerably more
sophisticated results.
I gave this quite a bit of thought, but one morning the phrase, “I never
thought I’d see you again” came to me. I resonated with it immediately. A
few days later, I was sitting with the other Ninc board members at our
annual conference and I tried it out on them. Their response confirmed
that I’d hit on something. One board member said the phrase
immediately made her think of a love story. Another heard a note of
threat in the phrase and imagined a story of suspense. A third saw
possibilities in the magical.
This was exactly what we wanted, a prompt that would be open to
wildly different interpretations that would also connect the stories with a
core emotion. I never thought I’d see you again. I’d like to believe that an
image or scene flashed in your own head as you read that line.
I hope you find these offerings fascinating. These are very fine
storytellers working at the tops of their games. If you’d like to learn more
about our organization (or even join if you’re a novelist with at least two
full-length publications to your credit), you can find us at www.ninc.com.

Lou Aronica
June, 2013
36 Hours by Allison Brennan