 Short Stories: April 10, 2024 Issue [#12498] |
This week: Dear Boss Edited by: Shannon  
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
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“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – André Gide
Some say to make it as a writer today one needs to create original content by writing about topics no one else has tackled. Still, others say everything that needs to be said has already been said, but successful writers present topics in a fresh new way.
Jack the Ripper has haunted and fascinated humanity's psyche since his first victim, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, was found on August 31, 1888. There have been innumerable films, documentaries, books, and newspaper articles about the horrific crimes, and I thought I knew pretty much all there is to know about the case. That is, until Hallie Rubenhold's groundbreaking novel The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper was published on February 28, 2019.
Rubenhold reveals that these women were wives, mothers, and even women of means. A love for alcohol seems to be the common thread between them, and when this habit became more important than their families and their lifestyles, they left everything behind to immerse themselves in it.
When William Nichols, Polly's estranged husband, arrived at the mortuary to identify the body of his wife, whom he hadn't seen in over three years, nothing could have prepared him for the state she was in. He broke down at the sight of her, saying, "I forgive you as you are. I forgive you on account of what you have been to me."
The crimes were sensationalized in the newspapers, much the same as horrific stories are sensationalized today. "If it bleeds it leads" is a phrase dating back to the 1890s when William Randolph Hearst used it to describe how the most heinous crimes were what captivated people's attention, but the practice was well underway in the late 1880s when the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel.
At the time, hundreds of letters were written about the murders. Correspondence included everything from advice to help police apprehend the perpetrator to hoaxes from citizens claiming to be the killer himself. The most famous of these letters is known as the "Dear Boss" letter, in which the murderer gloats about his crimes, taunting police and mocking their inability to catch him. It's signed with the moniker "Jack the Ripper."
Its validity remains disputed, and many believe a newspaper employee or an editor may have written the "Dear Boss" letter to boost sales.
Publications like The Illustrated Police News ran headlines that read, "THE WHITECHAPEL MYSTERY" and "THE FOURTH AND MOST HORRIBLE MURDER IN WHITECHAPEL," complete with detailed illustrations of the crime scenes and before/after sketches of the victims. People were told the victims were unfortunate women, ladies of the night, throwaway nobodies that wouldn't be missed by anyone. That couldn't have been further from the truth.
The majority of people can't name one of the Ripper's victims, let alone all five. By digging deeper, Rubenhold was able to do what no one before her had: tell the stories of five women lost to history, remembered only by their vicious, brutal deaths.
Much can be learned from her endeavor.
Have you written a well-known story from a different perspective? Do you have a true crime narrative you want to share with the WDC community? Every registered author who shares their ideas and/or creative endeavors relating to or inspired by this week's topic will receive an exclusive "Jack the Ripper" trinket. The image used to make this month's trinket was created by yours truly. I will retire this month's limited-edition trinket in June when my next short stories newsletter goes live.
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."
~ Anaïs Nin
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!
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The following is in response to "To Be or Not to Be" :
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s  writes: You asked for love stories?
This one is one I'm quite happy with:
| |  | Requited Love (13+)
A Romance. Possibly sad. 4650 words. New-ish genre for me.
#2292435 by s |
And this is a novella spanning decades:
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Princess Megan Snow Rose  writes: I like to write romance from the Regency times and the one submitted involves a ghost and a couple who lived before. I have heard of a prostitute marrying her pimp. I once had a friend marry a man who tried to choke outside of a restaurant. Some romances happen with violence. They don't last. I enjoyed reading this newsletter. It is interesting and makes you think. Good job.
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dragonwoman writes: Who Do You Love? my flash for the Heart Day this year talks how the God of Love never gets love from others.
Heartly, the Love Dragon is another creature who longs for love for himself that I have written about.
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BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  writes: Oh, I got a few Valentine's Day things involving a large fox and her tiny human boyfriend.
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JCosmos  writes: Here's my true love story featuring my fictional character Sam Adams.
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Jeff  writes: Even though love stories aren't my favorite to write, "The Ex-Girlfriends Club" [ASR] is one of my all-time favorite short stories that I've written for a Writing.com contest. While romantic relationship dynamics are things I tend to feel I get enough of in real life (and therefore don't want to spend a ton of time focusing on in my escapist fiction writing), every once in a while an idea comes along that just has to be written. 
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Paul  writes: Hi,
I’m a real “Baah Humbug” type about Christmas. I got that way when dealing with 5 and 6 kids and all the buying and wrapping. There were a few Christmas’ that cost 10 grand. My wife could not control the shopping. I literally considered declaring Christmas a non-holiday, but I wouldn’t have survived that.
I still have 6 kids, 15 grand kids and 4 beautiful, half Hispanic great grands that are truly beautiful. They’re all old enough to not expect me to wrap them.
Thank you for the posting, I enjoyed it. We each have our own ways in dealing with it.
Stay safe and healthy
Paul
🌻❤️🐸🙏🏼
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In response to "Blessed Is the Season" , sindbad  writes: Hi, Shannon.
Though this is 2024, this newsletter gives perfect and rather interesting information on Christmas. A priceless overview...sindbad
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