Aug 9, 2013

Mammoth ER Romance and Sue Sue Mackay

 Two days ago the postie brought me a lovely surprise - two copies of The Mammoth Book of ER Romance. This is a collection of seventeen short stories set in medical surroundings, mainly in hospital and the ER.
I confess that until I was approached to write a story for this book I hadn't heard of the Mammoth Book series but the collection is huge.
I love reading short stories for their conciseness, their focus, and the way they drill right to the point. What I don't like about them is that I never seem to quite finish reading one while I'm sitting in the doctor's waiting room. Once I even told my doctor he'd been too quick with hislast patient and could he give me a few more minutes. I returned to sit and finish that story after my appointment.
"The Promise" is my first attempt at a short story. Short didn't seem to mean: will only take a short time to write, will be easier than what I'm used to, can be done between dinner and bed time.
Oh no, this story took forever, was edited a zillion times, and the characters were just as bolshy as they are in my books.
One thing this story and my books had in common was that the characters seemed to have a place where their story finished naturally.
Despite all the editing, etc, I had a lot of fun writing The Promise. It was a change, like having yoghurt for dessert when you're used to having ice cream. Sigh, I wish.

Here I am in the Tours Railway Station with a double medical book containing one of my stories and one by the lovely, talented Melanie Milburne.                So short story versus a good long read. I think they both have their place on my shelf. Do you have a a preference? Do you even like the short story?

12 comments:

  1. Can't say I've ever heard of the Mammoth Book series either (other than via the dinosaurs and my grandson :-) ) but man-oh-man, does this sound good?! Generally, short stories don't float my boat but this sounds like it's just what the doctor ordered. Are they available in NZ? Well done Sue!

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  2. I enjoy short stories for a change of reading pace. I've never heard of the Mammoth books until now. I looked them up and there are a lot of them out there. Seventeen stories in one book sounds like a nice bunch of short reads just right for reading when I'm tired and my brain won't shut down. I probably prefer long stories but I can remember reading a lot of short ones in my mom's magazines when I was young. They don't have a lot of magazines with short fiction stories in them nowadays.

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  3. Hi Clare, these books are available on amazon. Meant to put that up but got distracted as usual.

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  4. Yes, Kaelee, I know what you mean. A short read that gives you an ending in that timeframe can have its advantages sometimes.

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  5. Hi Sue,

    I've heard of the Mammoth Books and they seem a great way of snaffling a collection of short stories along a particular theme. I love a well written short story. I'm nodding my head at you saying short didn't mean easy to write. I'm not naturally a short story writer but I've written a few. I found them demanding and difficult but I was so pleased when I'd finished and when they sold! Will you be writing more of them?

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  6. The Mammoth Book of ER Romance sound fab, Sue. I don't read a lot of short stories but I do enjoy them when I do. I've only written a couple and agree short, definitely does not mean easy!

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  7. That looks like a great collection of short stories! I bet people love it. I've seen a few of those mammoth collections around and they always look great.

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  8. Congrats on the new release, Sue -- the collection sounds fab. I think there's a definite art to short story writing -- just because they're short doesn't mean they're easy. I'm a long-term commitment girl, so the fatter a novel the better. But every now and again a short story makes for a nice change of pace. :-)

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  9. Yes, Annie, I think I will give short story writing another go. I did enjoy the change.

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  10. Jennifer, I've always been a big fan of short stories so I dont' know why I haven't tried writing them before. Aren't we meant to write what we like to read?

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  11. Hi Rachel, I admit to not having heard of the Mammoth series before but it is an impressive list of titles.

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  12. Michelle, I like the long story as it allows a lot more freedom with characters and setting, but it didn't hurt me to have to rein in that wandering streak.

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