The inspirations and origins for our stories.
B. Morris Allen’s story “Graven Image” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 7 September 2018. Some stories come all at once, and some come in stages. “Graven Image” was one of the latter. I can’t remember why, but I wanted to write a story about frottage – the technique of creating a design by placing paper over an image and rubbing a colored substance on it – perhaps familiar to some from grave-rubbing. I combined …
Douglas Anstruther’s story “Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 31 August 2018. I wanted to explore the idea that perfect prediction of the future could be confused with, and possibly be indistinguishable from, actually experiencing the future. As I wrote, I discovered that for someone with the ability to do this, the concept of the present became less relevant, and along with it, the notion of mortality. In …
L’Erin Ogle’s story “All the Colors I Cannot See” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 24 August 2018. “All the Colors I Cannot See” began with the idea I had that a man hissed snakes into a girl’s ear. The snakes laid eggs, hatched into birds, and drove the girl mad. Grace then became the central character as the story came out, because I wanted to have the narrator as an observer of the character …
A. Martine’s story “Just a Fire” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 17 August 2018. “Just a Fire” was initially inspired by a lifelong love of fairy tales and mythologies from around the world; their occasional absurdity triggered in me a strong interest in retellings and parodies. More specifically, it was the manner in which stories across time and cultures resembled each other that I always found compelling, and I’ve always wanted to feature that …
Mads Alvey’s story “Upon the Fallen Leaves of the Gingko Tree” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 10 August 2018. Many of my story ideas start with a single line—usually the first line in the final draft—which repeats over and over in my mind. “Upon the Fallen Leaves of the Ginkgo Tree” was one of these stories. When I began the story, my walk to school every day involved going through a neighborhood which was …
J. Tynan Burke’s story “The Bagel Shop Owner’s Nephew” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 3 August 2018. Late last year, an acquaintance recommended the documentary ‘Obit,’ about the obituary department at the New York Times. I was struck by the frazzled archivist who runs the clippings morgue. At the same time, I was flipping through Borges’s ‘Book of Imaginary Beings,’ and found an entry on the Tzadikim Nistarim (which Borges called ‘Lamed Wufniks’). So …
