Stories with a Twist; Advice from a Young Writer

My fourteen-year-old granddaughter (who currently lives in China) has just had her first short story published in InkBeat, the Beijing  youth literary journal. It was accompanied by an impressive author interview.

I’m delighted.

I wish I’d learnt this lesson long ago (I’m sixty years older than this granddaughter), taken from her author interview:

“I think there should be something other than a happy ending at the end of a story, even if it’s just to make it more interesting. For this reason, I think I do tend to write with twist endings, or something odd about the story, to keep the reader engaged.”

From her story, “The Judgement”:

“I’ve always thought Dorchester was a perfect place for a murder. Just like in an Agatha Christie novel, no small town is as perfect as it seems. At least I’ve given them something real to gossip about”.

I'm looking forward to sending her my collection of short stories when it's published later this year.

I shall be very interested in her critical comments and overall judgement!

I'm even more interested to read her next stories.