This week: Anamnesis Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
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On April 11. 2022, I celebrated my 16th WDC anniversary. It's hard to believe I found this site a decade and a half ago. It seems the older I get the faster time passes. As a kid, it seemed like an eternity between Christmases; now when December rolls around I'm like, It's Christmas already? Where did the year go?
Seeing all the well wishes and anniversary reviews in my inbox reminded me of how many wonderful people I've met on this site and all the wonderful chats and interactions I've had with people from all over the world thanks to WDC. That segued into thinking about memories in general and how our past shapes our present and future.
Every writer includes a piece of himself/herself in every story, whether it be a character trait, physical feature, past experience, personal opinion, acquaintances, friends, family, strengths, or weaknesses. I'm reminded of how many stories I've written based on things that happened in my lifetime.
One of my earliest memories is of riding in the car with my mom and brothers in Anchorage, Alaska. I was very young, four or five years old. Mom had the radio on and during a news break, the reporter announced that a babysitter had been arrested for sticking straight pins into babies' soft spots. I knew what a soft spot was because my youngest brother was a year or two old at the time. I was confused and didn't understand why someone would do such a thing. I asked her why a babysitter would do that, and Mom's hand darted out to turn off the radio. I've considered writing a horror story about this--a babysitter who does terrible things to the children in his/her care, but the topic is so disturbing, so taboo and repulsive that I could never bring myself to do it.
Back in the 70s and 80s, Alaska was like the wild west; terrible crimes happened all the time, and Alaska consistently ranks among the most violent states in the nation.
When I was seven years old, one of my dad's personal friends was murdered execution-style on the long, lonely stretch of road between Cooper Landing and Anchorage. I never knew his name because everyone, including my dad, called him "Grubstake." His killer(s) were never caught, but police suspect he picked up "the wrong hitchhiker."
My dad was a carpenter, one of the old-school kind who built entire houses bottom to top and everything in between, and while he built our house on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere Alaska we lived in a rented duplex in Sterling. We moved in when I was seven or eight. A brother and sister lived across the street, and they quickly because our only playmates as they were the only kids close to our age who lived nearby. One day when I was 10 they disappeared, and to this day no one knows what happened to them. This, like so many horrific things that happened during my childhood, left an eternal scar and I think about those children often. It's one of the life experiences I've written about and discovered a few new things about the siblings' disappearance in the process.
When I was twelve years old my dad became worried when he couldn't contact another of his friends named Rod. We never had a phone growing up because we lived on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere, so my parents communicated with their friends via CB radio. Rod's wife had recently left him because he was an alcoholic, a very common thing in Alaska in those days, and Dad was worried when he couldn't reach Rod, so he piled my brothers and me into the car and drove the 20 or so miles to Rod's house in Soldotna. I remember Dad pounding on the front door, then circling around the house trying to peer inside the windows and eventually trying to open them when no one answered his incessant knocking. Eventually, he was able to get inside the house and found Rod unconscious on the kitchen floor in a pool of his own vomit and feces. My brothers and I watched in horror as Dad came barreling out the front door, Rod slung over his shoulder in a fireman's carry while yelling at my oldest brother Sean who was riding shotgun to "Get in the back! Move!" as he lowered Rod onto the front passenger seat. My brothers and I covered our noses and rolled down the windows because Rod stank so badly, and Dad drove to the hospital where Rod was treated for alcohol poisoning and aspiration pneumonia. He did survive.
I've lost both my parents in the past two years: my dad in December of 2019 and my mom in December 2021. Their stories are lost forever, and my dad had such great stories. When he was 17 he left California and drove the 1500-mile Alcan Highway (renamed the Alaska Highway ) before it was paved. It was all gravel back then. In the 1980s I traveled the road three times. The first trip was in 1983 when my parents moved from Alaska to Montana. The second was in 1987 when, at the age of 19, I moved back to Alaska for a year, and the third was when I left again in 1988. I highly recommend the drive to anyone who hasn't experienced it. It's unlike anything else you'll ever do in your lifetime, but I digress. I'd heard many of Dad's stories numerous times over the years, and as I noticed his mental faculties fading I tried to get him to record them for me. First, I asked him to write them down, but that was too much work and it never happened. Next, I purchased Dragon software for their computer because my mom loved her laptop and spent the majority of her time on it. Dad loved telling stories, so I thought if he could just talk and tell stories like he loved to do, the software could dictate them for him. Months later my mom confessed that she couldn't figure out "how to make it work," and Dad's stories went with him to the grave.
These are but a few of the memorable events I've experienced in my life. Of course, good accompanies the bad, but bad makes for more interesting reading. No one wants to read a story about terrific people who do terrific things and everything is simply terrific all the time. Boring! My point is that life provides countless opportunities for writers to plunder their experiences and turn their memories, good and bad, into something worth reading.
Have you written about a traumatizing experience? Did something happen you'd like to write about but are too afraid to address? What memories would you like to turn into stories? Every registered author who shares their ideas and/or creative endeavors relating to or inspired by this week's topic will receive an exclusive trinket. I will retire this month's limited-edition trinket at 11:59 p.m. WDC time on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, when my next short stories newsletter goes live.
Until next time, thank you for reading.
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I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. I occasionally feature static items by members who are no longer with us; some have passed away while others simply aren't active members. Their absence doesn't render their work any less relevant, and if it fits the week's topic I will include it.
Thank you, and have a great week!
|  | Gray House (13+)
Suffering from writer's block, Aaron experiences a bizarre trip into truth and fiction.
#1723954 by Kris D'Amato  |
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The following is in response to "Alternate History" :
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Santeven Quokklaus  writes: My favourite trilogy in all of fiction is an alternate history story - the West Of Eden books. I write a novel years ago with the concept "What if Ancient Egyptians settled Australia in 4000BCE?" I really enjoy them if they are done well. Some - like the recent TV film Bright - are awful, with tacked on alternates but no real changes to the world which should have happened if the history had gone a different route, but if the change in history is done well and there are logical consequences, then I am all in.
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Ugly Christmas Sox  writes: I loved Quantum Leap. The idea of fixing history when it goes wrong. I loved Voyagers too. I remember an episode where the main character's companion got rabies and they had to help the man who created the vaccine or the kid was going to die.
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Annette  writes: One aspect of alternate history that would be intriguing to me is how the world had turned out if voting rights had been established as a human right for anyone over a certain age regardless of gender, wealth, status, or even education. Would the world be more democratic or would that have killed the idea right away? And if it had killed democracy, there would be the question why? It might be something I would try to explore in a story at some point. Although I have to admit that the book that I am working on has formally abolished democracy as a failed way to govern.
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BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  writes: Do Sci-fi stories involving alien invasions coming to Earth at a specific point in time or another count?
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Elfin Dragon-finally published writes: My dad and I have often speculated what might have happened if Hitler's sister had given him up to the police when they came knocking at her door looking for him. One of the largest reasons Hitler came to power was because of his charisma. So if he had been arrested, would someone else with the same ideas as he had taken his place? Or would someone with better morals and ideals have taken his place and then the 2nd world war never taken place?
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eyestar~* writes: Wow! Fooling around with time and history eh? A tricky thing as so many events lead to other events and some of them were good times. YOU do come up with some provocative topics. Cool. Gosh, there are so many things that it would be nice to think of NOT happening...events like the holocaust, slavery, the breaking up of the native culture, residential schools etc. Such ideas go back to the beginning of history though. I want to know when we learn from history as we keep looping!
Thanks for the link to the Voyagers... can't seem to remember it but the first episode seems familiar. LOL Great newsletter.
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Jeff  writes: Alternate history has always fascinated me. I love exploring an author's vision for how world events would be different if just one or two things had gone differently.
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Beholden  writes: Thank you very much for including my short story, The Colour Revolution, in your Editor's Picks.
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oldgreywolf on wheels  writes: Study Quantum Alternative Histories (yes, they're mathematically real, and they don't violate our universe's laws of physics). You should realize two things: (1) Most of the science fiction re: Time travel lacks the science (aka: Fantasy); (2) you'll know how to make it realistic. If the event isn't prohibited (see the initial parenthesis) then it's mandatory (in the vastness of spacetime). Also, all time is NOW (no past or future; we just need the technology). This took several years of research (and continuing). I hope someone can use it. Good hunting.
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Louis Williams  writes: I quite enjoyed most of 11/22/63. My only problem really was the author's lack of imagination in what the downside to saving Kennedy could be. The electric tornado thing was just weird.
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Quick-Quill  writes: I would love to have had John W Booth not succeed in killing Lincoln.
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Princess Megan Snow Rose  writes: I wish Hitler would never have happened. I would like to have changed that event. If I can add one more, JFK wouldn't have been shot. I saw the man in person when I was 8 years old and my parents and I lived by Washington, DC when Kennedy was shot. Dad was working in the airplane hanger when Jackie got off Air Force One. If only we could change history. A well-written newsletter that is inspiring and history makes us who we are today. Good or bad.
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Advent Pumpkin writes: I have a Canadian friend who learned a different version of American history. We Yanks were upstarts who didn't fight fairly. The only reason we won the Revolution was our selfish, untrained ways of doing things. The King never did anything wrong.
As for rewriting history, I've never desired to do anything globally, only in my own life. A lot of decisions I would reverse.
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dogpack saving 4premium  writes: Alternate history is new to me. I knew it existed but didn't understand what it is u til reading your newsletter article. Many thanks.
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tybo777 writes: Just make it that nazis never happened.
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sindbad  writes: Hi, Shannon. This newsletter takes a creative and unique take on the history of all the major incidents and their results. As it has been correctly pointed that the winning incident takes all the glory. I did learn a lot of new and scientific things so very well mentioned here.
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Lilith 🎄 Christmas Cheer  writes: Cool newsletter and wouldn't it be interesting to rewrite history with different outcomes - might be a cool writing exercise.
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KingsSideCastle  writes: As a Science Fiction fan...I love the Alternate History genre. I've been meaning to both read and watch The Man in the High Castle for awhile now. It seems like I should add Voyagers! to my watch list as well. Thank you for this article.
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dragonwoman writes: According to one of my extended family members, there are many alternative histories out there. They happen without the general public's knowledge.
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Short Stories: April 13, 2022 Issue [#11307]
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