by Nancy Matuszak

Inspiration

I was sitting in a pub with two of my friends one night when I learned that the place in which we were sitting had been featured in a movie called An American Werewolf in London. Happy to be so close to fame, we had some drinks, ate some grub, and wandered on our way. When I returned home I rented the movie for some entertainment. Perhaps we were not so close to fame! I decided I needed to commemorate our evening, and the pub, in a tribute. So I started a short story. Three characters and a pub. Something would happen and be resolved, all in a few pages. That was the plan.

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Year 2000 Honorable Mention Billy Moore’s novel is about a boy’s eleventh summer, set during the 1956 polio epidemic. Sent into isolation at his grandparents’ small farm in Alabama, we follow his adventures in rural America ‘ a world that has all but disappeared today. Based closely on Moore’s childhood. Cracker’s Mule is currently available at Amazon. It’s our pleasure to feature an excerpt from the first chapter:

by chris offutt

The judge for the 2002 SFWP literary awards program is Chris Offutt. He sent along an article on writing originally published in Ace Weekly.

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