Patti Abbott is no stranger to this blog and its readers, since IRTM has been a participant in Patti's Friday's "Forgotten" Books features on her blog for some time. In addition to being a blogger, Patti is an outstanding author of short crime fiction and has published over 125 stories online and in print journals in various anthologies, winning a Derringer for her story "My Hero." She's also published two print novels, Concrete Angel (2015), nominated for an Anthony and Macavity Award, and Shot in Detroit (2016), nominated for an Edgar Award and an Anthony Award in 2017. She's also authored two ebooks, Monkey Justice and Home Invasion, and co-edited the anthology Discount Noir.
Her latest literary endeavor is a collection of twenty-six of her stories, titled I Bring Sorrow: And Other Stories of Transgression, published by Polis Books, which Publishers Weekly called "A sparkling collection from Edgar-finalist Abbott...This brilliant collection is sure to boost the author’s reputation as a gifted storyteller." From a daughter who finds a way to save a mother who no longer knows her name, to a father who eases his grief through an act of kindness that few will judge kindly, to an uxorious husband who finds the limits of his love, the collection promises to take you "into the deepest, darkest corridors of the heart."
Patti stops by In Reference to Murder today to talk about one of the stories in that collection and how it came to be:
"Um Peixe Grande"
From I BRING SORROW AND OTHER STORIES OF TRANSGRESSION
Early in my writing career, such as it is, I wrote a story for a specific challenge. The instructions were to choose a fairy tale or a myth and base a crime story on the tale. I chose Hansel and Gretel (along with half of the eventual entries) and wrote a story about two city kids whose mother is pretty much the witch. I had fun doing it and resolved to try my hand at it again.
So a few years later, I chose Grimm’s story "The Fisherman and His Wife" to update. And my first attempt pretty much followed the story’s structure. In the tale, a fisherman sets a caught flounder free and when he returns home his wife tells him he should have demanded a prize for his good deed. He returns to the water and demands a prize, which he gets, and the demands and the prizes escalate until it spins out of control.
I wasn’t happy with my story. It turned out to be too much about the harridan wife. It seemed like a cliché-filled short story when I was done. So my story eventually became more about the fisherman and the fish. The fish becomes a crime boss and the lakes of Maine a scene for certain sorts of crimes. I made the fisherman Portuguese, which felt authentic. His wife’s role is largely trying to persuade him to work for a fish farm. I was pretty happy with this story and happier still when PLAN B who published it had it read online by a fellow who perfectly got the voice that had only existed in my head. Incidentally, a certain B.V. Lawson has a story in the same collection. Thanks to Bonnie for hosting me.
You can follow Patti on her popular blog, or on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. I Bring Sorrow and Other Stories of Transgression is available now via Polis books and all major booksellers.
Thanks, Bonnie!
Posted by: Patti Abbott | March 06, 2018 at 11:55 AM
Hope the book launch is a smashing success, Patti!
Posted by: BV Lawson | March 06, 2018 at 12:17 PM