It is a good thing to understand the world but also a damned hard thing. The most intelligent people are, more often than not, the saddest of people. This is one of the things that good writers toil with the most as they must understand many things to write well.

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An excerpt from my forthcoming book of microfiction, Heming Ways, a tribute to the prose of Ernest Hemingway. This one was penned during a private writing session from the writing studio of Hemingway in Key West, Florida on September 8, 2021.

The sea was a flat sheet of glass, a mixture of blue and violet as the surface caught and dispersed the sun. The clouds thin and high in the azure sky. The mullet were jumping off the west rock jetty and he knew that this would be a good day.
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An excerpt from the forthcoming work of microfiction, Heming Ways, by Shane Huey. Written on September 7, 2021 from Key West, Florida. 

I have continued to work on my forthcoming book, Heming Ways, a tribute collection of 50-word microfiction stories in the vein of Ernest Hemingway but it took the backseat to some travel and a few other projects and opportunities (one of which is writing from Ernest Hemingway's personal writing studio at his former home in Key West in just a few days).

Below is a recent excerpt.

To write is first to watch…to observe. The devil is in the details and one must first see the things that others gloss over or miss entirely before one can write anything real and good. Watch people, listen to their words, then retell it all. Good fiction is truth.



-S. Huey, Sept. 6, 2021 from Key West, Florida

An excerpt from Heming Ways...

There is truth in every lie and, arguably, a lie in every truth. A writer, a good one in any case, walks the line between both worlds and not for the sake of writing but for the sake of living life itself. Living happens at the boundaries...the wild edges.

Stay tuned for my forthcoming collection, Heming Ways. Heming Ways is an anthology of 50, 50-word "micro" stories and an homage to Ernest Hemingway. 

Below is an excerpt - 

Lawrence heard the rustling in the bush long before he saw movement. Gradually, a grey shape emerged and he raised the Winchester eye and sight and beast in line. He prepared to fire but could not hold his aim, formerly sure hands today unsteady. Abstinence would cost him the kill.

Over the past few weeks I have completed two new short stories, "Hitogui," "The Old, Grey Barn," and a flash fiction piece titled "The Ride." I decided to submit "Hitogui" to three publishers, initially at least, and received a response back within twenty-four hours from The Chamber Magazine, a digital magazine showcasing short fiction, poetry, art, etc. of the darker bent. I thought my story would fit nicely there and I like what the publisher (himself a published author) is doing to help other creatives, particularly writers. Plus, the editor, Mr. Slattery, provided some editorial advice that shifted my story from what was initially a mere outline of an idea to a standalone piece. 

"Hitogui" is complete in and of itself but the storyline is fertile ground for expansion of both plot and characters so there is some possibility that this could become my first novel-length work. We shall see where the muse takes it. It is a darker piece and, while I won't delve into the meaning and themes here (yes, they are there), rather permitting the reader to glean from it what he or she may. But to provide a small teaser--At root, the story is about the darkness that is always there, lurking in both shadow and light.  There is much going on beneath our very noses that we either are blind to or, perhaps worse, choose to ignore. There is much ugly and evil in the world but what is ugly and evil to one can be beauty and good to another.

People who don't write always ask people who do, "Where do you get your ideas?" To which the honest writer generally answers, "I have absolutely no idea." And this is, in most cases, true. I can say that "Hitogui" was inspired by the time my wife and I spent in Japan, some familiarity with the Japanese culture, interest in their history, and fascination with the formality and ceremony often associated with things that others cultures (our own for example) take for granted and deem banal. Even after coming to know much about the aforementioned, there remains yet a mystery and darkness to Japan. That is about all that I can say.   

The job of the writer is to tell a story as simply and truthfully as possible and it is the job of the reader to do the rest. Enjoy the story! I'll be sharing the link once published.