SMFS Member Guest Post: An Unexpected Surprise by Karen Keeley

Please welcome SMFS list member Karen Keeley to the blog today. She has a short story in the upcoming anthology, The Second Black Beacon Book of Mystery. The book is currently scheduled to be released on July 8th. 

 

 

 

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE

By Karen Keeley

 

The SECOND BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY is coming July 8, 2023. I’m thrilled to be included with my story “Bread Pudding” and to share the TOC with many other wonderful writers, all masters in their own right with their storytelling prowess. 

When I saw that Dave Duncan is a contributor, my jaw dropped. He was a huge influence on me, in my early years of wanting to write. To be included in an anthology with him (all these years later) is like coming face to face with a childhood hero, someone larger than life, a frickin’ rock star!   

Back in the late 80s when I was a heck of a lot younger than I am now, my family and I lived in Calgary (think Canada’s breadbasket on the prairies with a splendid view of the Rockies), busy with day-jobs, school, sports, friends, and life. But I’d always had a hankering to be a writer. Hubby said go for it, so I took a creative writing class as my first introduction into writing fiction. The teacher encouraged us to attend the Writers Guild of Alberta Writers Conference to be held in Calgary that year. Feeling like a complete charlatan, I went with a fellow student. We slunk around in the shadows, totally unsure of what was expected of us. Which of course, was nothing, other than to attend the different author readings and panel discussions. We were, after all, there to learn. And, learn, we did. It was there we met Dave Duncan. 

He was coming off a thirty-year career working in Alberta’s oil patch. Now, unemployed for the first time in his life, he took to writing fiction. In Dave’s words: “My first attempt at a novel came when I was in my fifties: the kids had left home; the house was complete; I had my own business and could sneak time off when I felt like it.” 

He submitted a manuscript to Del Rey in New York, and it was accepted. That was the beginning of a lucrative enterprise. He went on to pen more than sixty science fiction and fantasy novels over a thirty-year writing career. He was a founding and honorary lifetime member of SF Canada, and a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) Hall of Fame. Back then, in the 80s, I remember being in awe of him, a soft-spoken gentleman, almost shy—an individual who weighted his words carefully, readily sharing his writing experience with us, answering questions, giving advice, telling us to never give up on our dream. We could do this! 

Over the years, I read many of his books, my favorite being the Great Game trilogy. His world building was epic. His characters relatable. The adventures they found themselves in plausible. His books are still bestsellers today, timeless in their storytelling. I always thought it was just so darn cool that a guy from the prairies had rocketed onto the SF&F literary stage with a bestseller, the forerunner to all that would follow. And like Dave said, if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. 

When I heard of his death in 2018, it felt like a part of me died, too—he’d been such a force in my life. A fellow Canadian who had made it big, who stayed true to his storytelling beliefs, such a humble and likeable guy, much sought after at Writers Conferences and book readings. 

From one of Dave’s interviews: “One of the few things that can be taught (as opposed to just learned) about writing is that fiction must be about people. Whether human or not, characters must want, fear, hope, love, etc. in a way that furniture does not.” 

For those of us who have chosen the crime and mystery genre as our platform to tell our stories, we know only too well that conflict is what drives the story forward. We are, after all, people too, and most days we deal with our own wants, fears, hopes, and loves—everything that drives the human condition. 

As part of my ongoing correspondence with Cameron, I shared this story with him. He got back to me, telling me: “I hadn't heard of him (understandable since Cameron is on the other side of the big pond) but looked him up after receiving the submission from his editor and was duly impressed. I'm so glad I'm bringing you and Dave together in this anthology.” Me too, Cameron—me, too! 

Never in a million years would I have thought Dave would write a mystery, but it appears he has. I now look forward to reading Dave’s story (along with all the others) in the SECOND BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY. Maybe you too, have had the pleasure (and the wonder) of being included in a publication with someone you greatly admire. If so, there’s no other feeling like it—like standing on top of the world, feeling as though you’ve made it, no longer that shy, awkward wannabe you may have been all those years ago. You too, are a storyteller, and you too, can do great things. 

 

Karen Keeley © 2023

 

Karen Keeley has published short fiction in more than a dozen anthologies: literary, speculative and crime, the most recent Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age (Sisters-in-Crime, Canada West) and Tales from the Monoverse (Last Waltz Publishing). She is a member of the Short Fiction Mystery Society (SFMS) and Sisters-in-Crime (Canada West.) Her novella Sticks and Stones was short-listed as a finalist in the 2022 Eyelands Book Awards. A proud Canuck living north of the 49^th parallel, she divides her time between family, friends, the outdoors, and writing—not necessarily in that order.