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****Joseph Mills’s BLEACHERS fifty-four linked fictions is #135 in the never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece.
Name of fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like to share with us? “Bleachers: Fifty-Four Linked Fictions” For a while, I was considering something like “The First Game of the Last Season.” I wanted to pack as much information as possible into it, particularly the idea of change. It is about a recreation youth soccer league, and there was, in earlier drafts, a finality of the league shutting down. Each work stands alone, but just as you see the same people at games during a sports season, recognizable characters weave in and out of the pieces. Hopefully it ends up being a portrait of a community at a certain period of time.
Martin Luther King Jr said that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. I think Saturday morning may be the most integrated as everyone with young kids goes to the park.
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I don’t know the exact date I started. It began as a series of short dramatic pieces. Each year I take part in a “poem-a-day” PAD challenge (https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/poetry-challenge-2020/2020-april-pad-challenge-guidelines) organized by Robert Lee Brewer. (https://robertleebrewer.blogspot.com/) He posts prompts in the morning, and participants write a draft that day.
Some years, I use the prompts to write fiction, and a couple years ago I used them to develop monologues of parents sitting on the sidelines. Although I had thought they were individual pieces, when I had several dozen of them, I realized that I could shape them into something where the whole was larger than the parts.
I completely finished the manuscript in March 2019 right before I turned in the final revisions and copy changes for the publisher. He saw an earlier version and said, “I love this. I’m not sure what it is.” And he helped me shape it into its current structure.
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? I wrote so much of the manuscript at the Miller Street Whole Foods in Winston-Salem that I was tempted to thank the staff in the acknowledgements. Because it’s around the corner from my son’s middle school, I tend to go to the café a couple hours before dismissal and work.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day?
I write at coffee shops all around town. I don’t listen to music (although I used to). I wrote a draft in long hand, entered it in the computer, revised it, printed it and worked on the hard copy, then entered those revisions. I used to work in the mornings.
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. This is the first piece of the collection. It’s entitled “Aging.” There are 54 pieces, the number of a deck of cards, and they are titled A through Z like a primer.
For years, Colleen had mocked the “blue chair people.” They had infuriated her with how they clogged street parties and outdoor concerts so people had to thread around them. Who sat and listened to music? Was the field at Woodstock covered in blue chairs? Was the floor at the Savoy Ballroom? Did Astaire sing about “tying up my white tie/putting out my blue chair?” If they wanted to sit, they should stay home. To her, blue chairs and blue hairs had been synonymous. Blue blobs taking up space, space that could be used for dancing, for mingling, for moving, for living. In her mind, a blue chair was one step from a blue coffin.
Then, last year, she started taking Steve to soccer, and she looked around for a place to sit, expecting bleachers or benches, but at that field at Jackson Park, there was nothing. Just scrubby sod and a cracked parking lot. There weren’t even curbs. The other adults pulled collapsible chairs out of their trunks and backseats. She had tried to sit in the grass, but had been badly bitten in seconds. She had walked around for a while and then had sat in the car, but that had been hot and too far away for Steve to see her. If she was going to be there, she wanted credit for being there. So she had stood on the sideline, pretending to be interested in the drills, her feet hurting. That was the price you paid to parent. Sore feet.
Then Steve had needed new shin guards or more socks or another ball or something, and in Dick’s Sporting Goods, by the registers, there had been a display of foldable chairs. They were all different colors. And they were on sale. She had sat in one, just to see what it was like, and discovered it was comfortable. Distressingly comfortable. Maybe, she had thought, it might be good to have, just for places like Jackson Park. Especially since it had become clear that she was going to spend hours at practices.
The waiting part of parenting had taken Colleen by surprise. She hadn’t fully appreciated how much of a time commitment her children’s interests would require from her. Not the hours driving around, but the hours she had to sit somewhere. Parenting, at this stage, felt mostly like being in a waiting room, flipping through old magazines. They went off and played and she waited on a bench, on the bleachers, in a chair. This was her job. Waiter. She admired those who didn’t do it. The ones who dropped their kids off and drove away. But that wasn’t her. She was a waiter, and since she was, she could at least be comfortable.
When she had bought the chair, she had told Steve, “We’ll just keep this in the car.” She had wanted to say, “Don’t tell your father,” but that would have made it more likely that he would. Nick had heard her rant far too many times about “blue chair zombies” and The Sitting Dead, and she didn’t want to be charged with hypocrisy. She also didn’t want to hear any suggestion that she was changing, compromising, selling out, getting old. Sometimes she felt Nick looking at her as if assessing her graying hair or wrinkles. He was aging as well – the gut she pretended not to notice, the glasses he needed a few years ago, the way he didn’t take the stairs two at a time anymore – but there was nothing like a pregnancy to take a toll on a body. She relied on her son being oblivious, not thinking to tell his dad about the chair, not seeing it as important since it wasn’t about him. Colleen had realized long ago she rarely went wrong counting on the self-centeredness of men.
She keeps the chair in the trunk, covered with a blanket. It gives her an odd guilty feeling, in a way that her other secrets don’t. She keeps plenty of things from Nick. Shoe purchases, lunches out. Nothing like an affair, nothing big, but he doesn’t have to know everything. She assumes he does the same. Most marriages, like most plants, won’t thrive in full sun. This, however, feels different.
Games are held at fields with bleachers, and Nick comes to these, so the chair stays in the trunk. It’s nice, sitting and watching their son together, occasionally holding hands. But, the bleachers are also hard and cold, and a lot of the time Steve isn’t even playing. So, although she would never admit it, Colleen prefers practices. There she can be more comfortable and less attentive. This too has been a surprising part of parenting. The constant game of “Find the Differences” between the images of who she thought she would be and who she is, who she used to be and who she is, who she wants to be and who she is.
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt?
It took me a long time to realize this should be the first piece, and that’s because it took me a long time to realize what the manuscript was about. I thought it was about sports, specifically youth soccer.
Other works you have published? I have written six books of poetry with Press 53 (in reverse chronological order)
Exit, pursued by a bear
Angels, Thieves, and Winemakers (second edition)
This Miraculous Turning
Sending Christmas Cards to Huck and Hamlet
Love and Other Collisions
Somewhere During the Spin Cycle
I’ve also written to guide books to North Carolina wineries, non-fiction, and plays.
A faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Joseph Mills holds an endowed chair, the Susan Burress Wall Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities and was honored with a 2017 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has published six collections of poetry with Press 53, most recently Exit, pursued by a bear which consists of poems triggered by stage directions in Shakespeare. His book This Miraculous Turning was awarded the North Carolina Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry. He edited the collection of film criticism A Century of the Marx Brothers. With his wife, Danielle Tarmey, he researched and wrote two editions of A Guide to North Carolina’s Wineries, and his essay “On Hearing My Daughter Trying to Sing Dixie” won the Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition.
www.josephrobertmills.com
INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links
001 11 15 2018 Nathaniel Kaine’s
Thriller Novel
John Hunter – The Veteran
002 11 18 2018 Ed Protzzel’s
Futuristic/Mystery/Thriller
The Antiquities Dealer
003 11 23 2018 Janice Seagraves’s
Science Fiction Romance
Exodus Arcon
004 11 29 2018 Christian Fennell’s
Literary Fiction Novel
The Fiddler in the Night
005 12 02 2018 Jessica Mathews’s
Adult Paranormal Romance
Death Adjacent
006 12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s
Literary Fiction Novel
Ruby the Indomitable
007 12 12 2018 Adair Valerez’s
Literary Fiction Novel
Scrim
008 12 17 218 Kit Frazier’s
Mystery Novel
Dead Copy
009 12 21 2019 Robert Craven’s
Noir/Spy Novel
The Road of a Thousand Tigers
010 01 13 2019 Kristine Goodfellow’s
Contemporary Romantic Fiction
The Other Twin
011 01 17 2019 Nancy J Cohen’s
Cozy Mystery
Trimmed To Death
012 01 20 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
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Second Story Man
013 01 23 2019 Alexis Fancher’s
Flash Fiction
His Full Attention
014 01 27 2019 Brian L Tucker’s
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POKEWEED: AN ILLUSTRATED NOVELLA
015 01 31 2019 Robin Tidwell’s
Dystopian
Reduced
016 02 07 2019 J.D. Trafford’s
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017 02 08 2019 Paula Shene’s
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021 02 27 2019 Marlon L Fick’s
Post-Colonialist Novel
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022 03 02 2019 Carol Johnson’s
Mainstream Novel
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023 03 06 2019 Samuel Snoek-Brown’s
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024 03 08 2019 Marlin Barton’s
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Pasture Art
025 03 18 2019 Laura Hunter’s
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Beloved Mother
026 03 21 2019 Maggie Rivers’s
Romance
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027 03 25 2019 Faith Gibson’s
Paranormal Romance
Rafael
028 03 27 2019 Valerie Nieman’s
Tall Tale
To The Bones
029 04 04 2019 Betty Bolte’s
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030 04 05 2019 Marianne Maili’s
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Lucy, go see
031 04 10 2019 Gregory Erich Phillips’s
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032 04 15 2019 Jason Ament’s
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Rabid Dogs
033 04 24 2019 Stephen P. Keirnan’s
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The Baker’s Secret
034 05 01 2019 George Kramer’s
Fantasy
Arcadis: Prophecy Book
035 05 05 2019 Erika Sams’s
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Rose of Dance
036 05 07 2019 Mark Wisniewski’s
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037 05 08 2019 Marci Baun’s
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038 05 10 2019 Suzanne M. Wolfe’s
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039 05 12 2019 Edward DeVito’s
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040 05 14 2019 Gytha Lodge’s
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She Lies In Wait
041 05 16 2019 Kari Bovee’s
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Peccadillo At The Palace: An Annie Oakley Mystery
042 05 20 2019 Annie Seaton’s
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043 05 22 2019 Paula Rose Michelson’s
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044 05 24 2019 Gracie C McKeever’s
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045 06 03 2019 Micheal Maxwell’s
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046 06 04 2019 Jeanne Mackin’s
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Coco Chanel
047 06 07 2019 Philip Shirley’s
Suspense/Thriller
The Graceland Conspiracy
048 06 08 2019 Bonnie Kistler’s
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The House on Fire
049 06 13 2019 Barbara Taylor Sissel’s
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050 06 18 2019 Charles Salzberg’s
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“No Good Deed” from Down to the River
051 06 19 2019 Rita Dragonette’s
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The Fourteenth of September
052 06 20 2019 Nona Caspers’s
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053 06 26 2019 Jeri Westerson’s
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054 06 28 2019 Brian Moreland’s
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055 06 29 2019
Epic Fantasy
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#068 08 04 2019 Hank Phillippi Ryan’s
Suspense
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069 08 08 2019 Diana Y. Paul’s
Literary Mainstream Fiction
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070 08 10 2019 Phyllis H. Moore’s
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071 08 11 2019 Sara Dahmen’s
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072 08 19 2019 Carolyn Breckinridge’s
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073 08 21 2019 Alison Ragsdale’s
Emotional Women’s Fiction
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074 08 22 2019 Lee Matthew Goldberg’s
Suspense Thriller
THE DESIRE CARD
075 08 23 2019 Jonathan Brown’s
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076 09 02 2019 Chera Hammons Miller’s
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Monarchs of the Northeast Kingdom
077 09 09 019 Joe William Taylor’s
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078 09 15 2019 Linda Hughes’s
Romantic Suspense
Secret of the Island
079 09 19 2019 Max Elliot Anderson’s
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080 09 22 2019 Danny Adams’s
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Dayworld: A Hole In Wednesday
081 09 24 2019 Arianna Dagnino’s
Social/Historical/Adventure
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082 09 29 2019 Lawrence Verigin’s
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Historical Suspense
A TRACE OF DECEIT
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Love, Loss & Supernatural
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Mystery
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Science Fiction Apocalyptic/ Post Apocalyptic
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#91 10 19 2019 Jayne Martin’s
Flash Fiction Short Story Collection
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#92 10 22 2019 Janice Cole Hopkins’s
Inspirational Romance
“IT ALL STARTED AT THE MASQUERADE”
#93 10 29 2019 Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s
Short Story Collection
“THE SHADOWS BEHIND”
#94 11 01 2019 David Henry Sterry’s
Fiction: Sexual Violence
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#95 11 03 2019 Jay Requard’s
Dark Fantasy/Horror
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#96 11 04 2019 Caroline Leavitt’s
Fiction
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Science Fiction
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#99 11 16 2019 Damian McNicholl’s
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#100 11 19 2019 Stacia Levy’s
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#102 11 26 2019 T. L. Moore’s
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Adult Paranormal
“MYSTIC EMBRACE”
#105 12 07 2019 Mike Burrell’s
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#106 12 09 2019 Phil McCarron’s
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#107 12 11 2019 Wendy H. Jones’s
Crime Fiction/Police Procedural Novel
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Historical Literary Fiction
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#109 12 16 2019 Amalia Carosella’s
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#110 12 19 2019 Laura Bickle’s
Weird Western/Contemporary Fantasy
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#111 12 27 2019 Brian Pinkerton’s
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Vampire Thriller
“THE CROSSING”
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“To Wallow In Ash and Sorrows”
#115 12 31 2019 Duncan B Barlow’s
Literary Fiction Novel
“A DOG BETWEEN US”
#116 01 02 2020 Allison Landa’s
Young Adult Novel
“BAD HAIR”
#117 01 03 2020 Pablo Medina’s
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“THE CUBAN COMEDY”
#118 01 06 2020 William Trent Pancoast’s
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“THE ROAD TO MATEWAN”
#119 01 07 2020 Jane Bernstein’s
Contemporary Novel
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#120 01 09 2020 Terry Kroenung’s
Young Adult, Historical and Fantasy
“Brimstone And Lily”
#121 01 12 2020 Melissa Yi’s
Fiction Thriller
“GRAVEYARD SHIFT”
#122 01 15 2020 Marcie R. Rendon’s
Crime Thriller
“GIRL GONE MISSING”
#123 01 16 2020 Tori Eldridge’s
Multi Genre Novel
“THE NINJA DAUGHTER”
#124 01 17 2020 Kristen Joy Wilks’s
Christian Romantic Comedy
“YELLOWSTONE YONDERING”
#125 01 20 2020 Susan C. Shea’s
Cozy Mystery
“DRESSED FOR DEATH IN BURGUNDY”
#126 01 22 2020 Phong Nguyen’s
Improvisational Fiction
“ROUDABOUT”
#127 01 23 2020 Kate Thornton’s
Mystery Short Story In Its Entirety
“Ai Witness”
#128 01 24 2020 Phil McCarron’s
Semi Fictional Essays
“The Great Facepalm: The Farce of 21st Century
Normality”
#129 01 27 2020 Kenneth Weene’s
Historicized Literary Fiction
“Red And White”
#130 01 28 2020 Graham Storrs’s
Science Fiction Thriller
“TimeSplash”
#131 02 08 2020 Angela Slatter’s
Short Story “Terrible As An Army With Banners”
From her Short Story Collection THE BITTERWOOD BIBLE AND OTHER RECOUNTINGS
#132 02 11 2020 Joan Joachim’s
Romance
Just One Kiss
#133 02 16 2020 Kelsey Clifton’s
Science Fiction
A DAY OUT OF TIME
#134 02 17 2020 Soraya M Lane’s
Women Historical Fiction
THE GIRLS OF PEARL HARBOR
#135 03 07 2020
Linked Fiction
BLEACHERS Fifty-Four Linked Fictions
By Joseph Mills