I am so happy to have photographer William Greiner as my guest today. I am one of the lucky authors who had an opportunity to contribute to his book – Show & Tell – a beautiful hardbound book that combines his photographs with short stories from authors with names you will recognize. The book comes from UL Press (University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press) and is available now at this LINK.
Below is the page image of the photo I wrote about in my story – On Her Special Day. I wanted you to see the fine quality of this book. I’ve ordered some for Christmas gifts and can’t wait to read what the other authors wrote. Welcome, William!
Cover – Show & Tell |
On Her Special Day by Jordan Dane |
So why is a book titled SHOW & TELL being blogged about on The Kill Zone?
First, the premise was to give a group of fiction writers (In this case 28 in total, including 6 TKZ writers), a photograph without any information about the image and ask each to make up a story about that image. The resulting stories are fascinating, entertaining and thrilling.
John Ramsey Miller, John Gilstrap, Joe Moore, Jordan Dane, Joe Hartlaub and James Scott Bell, amongst others, apply their writing skills to bring a story to every image.
“A Blur of Motion” by John Ramsey Miller |
“The Touch” by John Gilstrap |
The idea for this book came to me many years ago after doing a print trade with another photographer. In conversation, it somehow became apparent that this other photographer had a complete different take and understanding of my photograph than what it meant to me. It made me realize we all bring our own notions, expectations and experiences to what we view.
To see what your favorite TKZ author sees & tells, order SHOW & TELL from UL Press, hardbound, 28 photographs accompanied by 28 stories, 183 pages, $35. To order: click this LINK.
William Greiner is a photographer and artist, living in Baton Rouge , LA. For more on our guest, click HERE.
For Discussion: Have you ever seen a photograph that inspired you to write about it? Tell us about it.
Welcome, William. Your epiphany about how people interpret what they see in photographs by filtering the details through their life experiences is something very familiar to authors. That same notion of interpretation happens to each of us as readers filter our words through their experiences. As detailed as we may see what our character looks like, for example, writing everything down for the sake of creating a vivid image in the reader’s mind is almost a waste of time (and the pace of the story suffers) because readers have their own image in their head.
The reader’s mind fills in the gaps of action in much the same way if the author “suggests” enough, allowing us to write at a well flowing pace. So I found your inspiration for this project very familiar from an author’s perspective.
I received my order of Christmas present books and have almost finished reading all the stories in SHOW & TELL. Amazing stories linked to your compelling photographs. I love how this book turned out.
Thanks Jordan! I was really excited by all the variety of writing brought together in SHOW & Tell. Some , like you, come from the genre of thriller, while others are copywriters, and script writers. It was a really fun project and I am so happy you and the others were game to participate! Interestingly and conversely , I also have my imagined images when reading books, so the idea works both ways.
What a wonderful project to be involved with! I’m going to order one as a TKZ memento, since there are so many of us represented! My dad worked as a photographer during his college years, and now, in retirement, he has won many regional awards, and his photos of trains and architecture hang in boutique hotels. I’m fascinated and intrigued by photography, even though I don’t have a good enough “eye” to become one myself! And yes, I’ve been inspired by one particular photograph, or should I say, a series of them. I was looking through old family albums when I noticed that my expression (at age 3) changed dramatically at one point in the series. I remained a somber-looking child in photographs for years afterward. I figured that something must have changed in that child’s world during those years. It prompted me to do a little forensic digging into my family’s past, which resulted in a lot of (so far, private) writing!
Wow, Kathryn. Very interesting about your forensic digging. Kind of chilling. I can see how that one photo could inspire you to dig into the past.
That is interesting. And I agree with Jordan, kind of chilling. What did you witness? For a three year old child, a lot of things could be concerning. Death of a pet, or grandparent. Or a mystery she just didn’t understand at the time.
Looking forward to that book, Kathryn.
Yes, I have, and the story, “All is Well”, was published at “With Painted Words”, a U.K. on-line magazine. If you click on my name and go to my blog, you can read it under “Published Work”.
I enjoyed writing that story. But I would have liked to have seen what other submitters wrote. As an idea for another book, I’d like to see the one picture and twenty stories about it.
Already ordered “Show and Tell” and I’m looking forward to it. The pictures seem so very ordinary (the content, not the quality). It will be interesting to see what the authors, especially the authors I’ve come to know from this site, make of them.
Thanks, Amanda. William sent me several sets until something clicked with me. The gentleman in the top hat, I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes. They had an underlying strain that told me he had a story to tell. I took his photo with me for days and days, asking friends and family what story they saw. That process forged something quite different in my mind. I loved his story.
It was a pleasure to be a part of this project. William’s photographs are beautiful as are the terrific stories by my fellow contributors. The book will make a great Holiday gift. Order today!
I loved your story, Joe. I’ve reread so many in the book.
Thanks, Jordan. Really enjoyed yours, too.
I want to thank Joe not only for his terrific story but also for coming all the way to Baton Rouge to read it at the opening! And although we experienced difficulties with bad acoustics, a lively (i.e. loud audience) and a faulty p.a. system, Joe and the others carried on! It’s good to know these great stories are now here forever , committed to paper, where people can read them in silence and leisure!
Loved being part of the project.
It was a great opportunity. It was my first short story. Reading your story and others, I learned a lot, Jim. Well done.
Thanks James. It did not occur to me that some of you would get such joy and pleasure from participating! That is just beautiful lagniappe for me!!!
I’m sure I drove William nuts with the number of pictures I went through before I found one that resonated with me as a story. It was indeed a fun project to work on. Thanks for the opportunity, William!
John Gilstrap
http://www.johngilstrap.com
I thought I was the only fussy one. Your image and story were both mesmerizing, John.
John you are a super star in this genre and I am so happy you contributed a story. I know this is not the kind of project you would normally be involved. As a visual artist, accustomed to working alone this was great fun indeed. Thank you much!
I love stuff like this, seeing how people see the world one snap shot at a time. The remarkable thing to me is that each author could look at the same image each come up with a drastically different story.
As many of you here have seen on posts in the past, I really enjoy those kind of story prompts. Stuff like this makes me wish I got out and met more folks at conferences & what not, so I’d get invited to join projects like Show & Tell. Of course, even inside contacts may not have helped in this case, as apparently all TKZers involved here were required to be of the “J” species. So, William, if in the future you do a”B” version of a similar book, please keep me in mind.
or a “Z” version too…as I go by my official evil overlord moniker “Zed, Dark Lord of the Wasteland” when clubbing with the bros from the Evil Lair.
On a similar note: Hey I am having a similar story writing Flash Fiction Contest thing over at my blog right now. Find a pic or other story starting trigger and go to my blog, Tales on Ice where you can add your entry into the 100 Word or Less Flash Fiction contest. Real $Prizes$ too, including Amazon gift card, books, audiobooks. Best prize of all though, is helping me get the word out about the wonders of storytelling. I’d love to see some TKZrs contribute and maybe even help out with the kids in the workshops from time to time.
Wish you could have attended, Jordan. It was great, particularly with respect to meeting Joe Moore. I haven’t read any of the stories yet — I’m spending this week catching up from being gone last week and preparing for being gone next week — but SHOW & TELL is on my October reading list!
I tore into the book and have read some stories more than once, Joe. Yours was darkly delicious.
Yeah, I would’ve loved to meet the other TKZers and see you again. You would’ve been reason enough to make the trip if I didn’t already have a conflict.
I said it more than once but I am a huge fan of Joe Hartlaub! When I originally sent instructions out to the writers, my request for a 1 – 8 page short story somehow got transmitted to Joe as my requesting a 1 8 page story. Joe delivered a beautiful piece which I had to reject due to it’s length. Joe without hesitation or compliant, quickly delivered another excellent story, this one being 8 pages!! A real pro and a trooper! Thank you.