This week’s behind the story features Michael Greenhut, author of Watermark. One of the reasons we loved (and published) it is that the story implies a great deal by saying very little. We asked Michael about the background of the tale and how much of the backstory he had worked out before he wrote it.
Watermark is actually a small drop in a very large pond, pardon the pun. Years ago, I wrote a novel called The Memory Graveyard and planned several more, all of which I still hope to publish one day. It was a pretty involved epic with quite a few character arcs and backstories. One of the supporting characters was Etinaye, who eventually became the protagonist of Watermark. So, I pretty much had her story down in my head, and some of it in words, before I told this part of it.
As for Etinaye’s background, I was inspired by Loreena Mckennit’s song “The Bonny Swans”, which was in turn inspired by an old Celtic murder ballad called “Binnorie”. The story is that a woman drowns her younger sister out of jealousy. The young girl becomes a swan. A harper kills the swan and makes a harp from its bones, which plays by itself and reveals the older sister’s betrayal. I took the core plot element of this ballad — a girl drowning her younger sister out of jealousy — and wove my own story out of it.
Read or listen to Watermark, then come discuss it with Michael. He’ll be here to answer questions about the story and the background until July 20th (Monday).
heh- which reminds me of the Grimm’s fairy tale, about a murdered boy who was buried, and then the sister takes the bones from the body and makes a flute, and the flute tells the betrayal. Same with Nisis Shawl’s short story, Cruel Sistah, which was similiar, but had to do with the hair of a girl in well turned into violin strings
It makes sense to me that this story was part of a novel; it definitely felt like it was connected to a broader world. I’m curious–what made you decide to turn part of the novel into a short story? Are there any other parts of it that you have or plan to do the same with?
A “weird naked Indian” came to me in a dream and led me across a desert to the late Philip K. Dick, who told me to make this part of my novel into a story and submit it to Fantasy.
Actually, I just found it easier to sell piecemeal, for the time being. It’s all part of the grand scheme to get my novel into the world sooner or later (mainly to kick myself in the rear end and get back to revising it). I’ve turned several other parts of the novels into stories; one of them is a teeny tiny 200 word prequel called “A Witch’s Grocery List” which won a small contest at Flash Me Magazine some time ago. The others I’m still trying to market.
I will definitely be sending this podcast of Watermark to friends.
Glad you had success with this one. Are there other readings out there of your short stories?
I would thoroughly enjoy a full book of this caliber.
Will listen to again but felt the protagonist was not free of blame and that made it more interesting.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the compliments. Nope, Cat is a pioneer in reading my fiction out loud (which is a brave feat, since *I* don’t even like reading my stuff out loud).