It came from Mark David Adam

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Mark David Adam’s story “Hold This Star for Me” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 16 February 2018. “Hold This Star For Me” started as an exploration of the idea of lost memory. My first draft began with a page and a half of the main character obsessed with the idea of repressed memory, feeling he’d had experiences in childhood he couldn’t recall. After the story was finished, I realized this musing about the possibility …

Hold This Star for Me – Mark David Adam

Science fiction / Story   6 Comments

When David got to work that morning, he discovered a large shell on his desk holding down errant pieces of paper. He smiled. His coworkers were always razzing him about how messy his desk was and now, it seemed, someone had taken it upon themselves to assist him. He picked up the seashell; it was as big as his fist. It didn’t have pointy bits like a conch but was smooth, almost like a marshmallow …

A question for Mark David Adam

Q: When do you decide a story is finished?

A: I often don’t know where a story is going, or how it will wrap up, until I get there. I believe that good stories are discoveries, or at least have an unpredictable organic quality, where the characters and events start to chart their own course. While some stories are thought out before I begin writing — or the end is known and it is the journey that needs to be discovered — I am often surprised by the ending and say to myself, “So that’s what happens.”

In terms of when I consider a story finished, as in, I’ve worked on it enough, not until it gets published. Almost every time I reread a story, I find something I hadn’t noticed before or that I could do better. Each time a story is rejected, I work on it before sending it out again. It is only that final stamp of approval that ends the process.

Mark David Adam’s story “Hold This Star for Me” was
published on Friday, 16 February 2018.
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About Mark David Adam

Mark David Adam lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia. When he is not foraging for edible and medicinal wild plants, playing funk guitar, or working at his day jobs, he writes short stories.

Mark David Adam’s story “Hold This Star for Me” was
published on Friday, 16 February 2018.
Subscribe to our e-mail updates so you’ll know when new stories go live.