Today was my first day back to school with kids. I have my old teacher resource books, the activities we do every year but added to the mix are new things I learned from the summer workshops I attended, along with a new group of kids. (I think I have a super group of students. I can already tell that some of them are great writers.)
After school was over, I checked my email. A story that I had written, submitted to another anthology with some of the sassier (and seedier) elements included, and then reworked (with a great deal of help from my critique group, the notorious WWWPs) has made it over the first Chicken Soup hurdle.
It's a dating story, one that happened when I was a waitress. Some guy was a SA (smart-a**) and whenever I waited on him, he would specify "only small onion rings" and would be a PITA (pain in the a**) about other things as well. And not one thin dime did I get from him as a tip. (He was the manager of the restaurant. I ended up marrying him.)
Helpful Hint: Do not EVER tick off your server until you've had all the food and beverages served. Even refills can be tampered with. Waiters and waitresses can do evil things to your food, and you'll never know...but they will.
What new creation have you come up with, using old stuff? Or, what sort of dating horror story do you have to tell? Inquiring minds want to know...
Ms. O'Connell better watch out, you'll soon be catching up with her! Congrats. And if we knew all that went on behind the scenes of restaurants, no one would ever eat out again.
ReplyDeleteLynn--I will NEVER be able to catch up. Linda O'Connell is way way way ahead of me. But thanks.
DeleteAnd yes, people should think twice. Servers don't make much money, so they have to eat somehow. A bite here, an end carved off there--they gotta eat somehow.
Congrats, Sioux on the CS! I have never made it there. Reworking is what I have done for days on a story...resubmitted at 4:00 this afternoon. BTW, I love Jodi Picoult books. You can always count on them for a good read!
ReplyDeleteBookie--Thanks. I would have NO stories in any book if it weren't for my critique group.
DeleteGood luck with the story you just resubmitted.
Good for you on getting accepted! I married my restaurant manager too.
ReplyDeleteKathy--It's not a bad idea, in my opinion... ;)
DeleteKudos on your dating acceptance. I am so chock-full of new stuff that I have not been a very good re-worker. I figure that reinventing the wheel is my best bet, because nobody wants a patched-up wheel that was discarded in the first place.
ReplyDeleteDating horror story? I laugh in the face of adversity, much like I laughed in the face of my octopus-armed, kiss-demanding, ex-boyfriend who wielded a big fish.
Val--Is a "big fish" a euphemism for something else? ;)
DeleteCongrats, again, Sioux! I passed on this one...thought they wanted contemporary stories rather than ones from years ago and unless I started a quick romantic affair, that just wouldn't work. Oh well, I really haven't been very Chicken Soupy this year anyway.
ReplyDeletePat
Critter Alley
Pat--Thanks. I took an "old" story and didn't give any details that would "date" it, like that WHAM had a #1 hit on the airwaves...
DeleteReuse, Recycle, Repurpose! Whatever works. Dating story? I'm working on it for NYMB. One guy I had over actually reversed the way I hang my toilet paper roll! I married him. And I hang it his way, but the compensation I receive! Ooh lala!
ReplyDeleteMarcia--If TP is the big conflict you had, you and Jim are a match made in heaven...
DeleteYou have broken the code: you can write on any topic if you don't "date" your story with dated info. I am so happy for you. Does the demanding manager/husband know he will soon attain world fame as a PITA? He may start living up to his former reputation.
ReplyDeleteIt's too late. THAT train has already left the station...
DeleteI think I'll eat at home for the rest of my life now.
ReplyDeleteShay--THAT I seriously doubt... ;)
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