Now that my first official piece of flash fiction has been published, I thought I’d share a little behind the scenes about the story.
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If you haven’t read it yet – which you absolutely should – Summer on the Ropes tells the story of a kindergarten teacher who volunteers to chaperone a summer field trip for a class of sixth graders, and ends up with a whole lot more than she bargained for. Including a handsome and flirty rescuer.
If you would like to read the entire story (which is only 1,000 words and you can read it in about 10 minutes) you can find it by clicking here. The story is part of an anthology of short, sweet, summer romance. Summer on the Ropes begins on page 110.
Also, you might want to go read it now because the rest of this post might contain spoilers for the story. (hint, hint…)
What’s the story behind the story?
They say to write what you know and that’s exactly what I did here.
When I was in 8th grade I took a field trip with my class to an outdoor adventure camp in the mountains (I lived in Colorado at the time). One of the activities was repelling down a mountain.
As in strap yourself into a harness, trust your life to a rope, and walk backwards down the side of a mountain.
The rest of my group had zero struggles. They all went quickly down the side of the mountain with no problems. I, on the other hand, made it about three steps before I panicked and froze. One of the camp counselors had to walk me down the mountain, side-by-side, talking to me every step of the way.
Fast forward to my adult life when I was the teacher and had to chaperone a group of sixth graders on their own outdoor adventure camp. No repelling was involved in that trip, but I did get a whole lot more activity than I was expecting!
And while there was no love connection during my rappelling adventure in middle school, or during my outdoor adventures as a teacher, I couldn’t help but wonder: but what if there was?
Summer on the Ropes was born..
So I began toying with the idea of a teacher just trying to do her job, and she met a cute guy.
But then, because I’m me and I can’t bear to miss an opportunity for a good joke, I started to think, “How can I make it funny, though?”
So I started toying around with different ideas and drawing on my personal experience.
Finally, I landed on a sweet kindergarten teacher named Tessa, who thought she was helping by volunteering to take another teacher’s place on a field trip to the mountains. Tessa is thinking “I’ll kick off my summer with a little sun, fresh mountain air, and a good long hike.”
But she ends up getting roped into (hehe, see what I did there?) repelling down the side of the mountain.
Enter my real life experience, remember I said I got stuck while repelling? So Tessa got stuck. And the story took shape from there.
Now I’m going to hold back a key detail here, just in case you did not heed my warning about spoilers. Because I managed to include a small twist that I thought made the whole story even funnier, and a little more flirty.
But let’s just say, Tessa’s rescuer Ryan is handsome, flirty, and perfectly capable of helping her down the mountain, and does not waste any time asking her to dinner (don’t worry, that wasn’t the twist).
I love Ryan’s character because I love men that take action. So a hero, who also flirts and asks her out? Yes, please! I have a hard time with MMC’s who hesitate and don’t take the risk. I want to see them show courage and tackle a challenge, not shy away in fear. And I think Ryan was the perfect match for Tessa in this story.
Click her to read Ryan & Tessa’s Story
Will we see more from Ryan & Tessa?
You just might! I loved them so much, they were a blast to write, and I think it would be fun to write a cute story about their first date – no repelling included.
Maybe on their first date it’s time to put Tessa in her comfort zone and make Ryan do something a little different? Or maybe they need another mishap with heights…like getting stuck on a ferris wheel?!
The sky’s the limit for Ryan & Tessa, but one thing I do know for sure is that somewhere in my brain they get their happily ever after with each other, even if I never write it.
Check out Summer on the Ropes
Don’t forget to check out Summer on the Ropes – my short story about a kindergarten teacher who chaperones a summer field trip, and ends up with a lot more than she bargained for.
