This month I am participating in the A to Z blog challenge. http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

The challenge involves 26 posts in April, all somehow connected to the alphabet. My theme for the month is short stories. The Story Factory needs market research, of course, so I will be reading a short story for each letter of the alphabet and trying to learn some new techniques for my story writing. My lacks seem to be characterization and emotional experience, so I am mainly looking for stories to teach me those things. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments if you know of an amazing story. Another component of the challenge is the blog road trip, where we visit each other’s blogs, leave comments, etc. While I would like to visit a couple of blogs every day, it is more realistic to do Road Trips on Sundays. (Of course, my ongoing, 52 bad story challenge is still on, as well as the 2021 creative hours in 2021.

First off, I is for Immunization. I received the second Moderna vaccine at lunchtime on Friday, and all was great. Until 4:30 am on Saturday. Fever, chills, and the feeling that someone had assaulted every muscle in my body with a sledgehammer. Fun times. 

Today is better, so I bring you an I story, I Dated Jane Austin, by T. Coraghessan Boyle. This was another story in the anthology edited by Joyce Carol Oates.

In this story, our hero takes Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra as a chaperone out to a movie and then to a nightclub. At the club, they encounter Henry Crawford from Mansfield Park, and romantic chaos ensues. If by romantic chaos, you mean Henry trying to pick up Jane at the nightclub, Cassandra insisting on dancing the foxtrot at a modern nightclub, and of course, a duel at sunrise. 

This is a light-hearted story, no heavy emotions, no real purpose other than entertainment, which made this the perfect story for post-second-vaccination recovery.

It’s hard to believe the April A to Z Challenge is up to letter I already. April is usually a crazy month for me, which is why I normally don’t make it very far. This month I am doing better, mostly on time, doing letter 9 on day 11 is good. But I am very behind in visiting other blogs. I home to do that later today.