STORY INFO
SOUTHBOUND
-
Author
David Sweet
-
Categories
-
Danh mục
-
Update
1 year ago
-
Part Chapter
1/??
-
Reads
86
Content
SOUTHBOUNDby David M. SweetDoralea looked out the window of the southbound train. Mid-October leaves dappled the Kentucky hillsides in fiery oranges and burning reds, dull yellows and rusty browns with a few evergreens peaking through the canopies. Colors were made even more vivid by the morning sun and clear, blue sky. Flaxen sedge grass along with green tangles of weeds, brambles, and even a few autumn flowers blurred together as she shifted her gaze downward toward the edges of fields and fence rows ...
Outstanding reviews
Beautifully written. I can feel the sadness of Doralea as she longs to reunite with her father, only to be turned away.
Thank you so much for your support. You certainly understand the characters and their struggles. I appreciate your comments and friendship we have shared for most of our lives.
Thank you so much for your support. You certainly understand the characters and their struggles. I appreciate your comments and friendship we have shared for most of our lives.
Thank you. I hope I have captured the essence of the people I am trying to portray. I also appreciate the editing advice. I have gone back through my original and have corrected grammatical errors. I also expanded the story based upon critiques. I am hoping to write an anthology based on this time and place. Glad to have a fellow Kentuckian on board.
At the time the story is set, 'make due' could well have been acceptable, even though it now seems like an error.
Hi David I think your story is quite beautiful and it made me feel a little happier on this dark planet!
Thank you very much for your kind words. I appreciate your support. Good luck with your New Year's resolutions. Change can be tough. Also, good luck with your writing. Keep plugging along at it each day.
Hi David, I really enjoyed your story. I'm wondering if I can read it on my short story podcast, "Unpublished, not Unknown"? It's all about giving voice to indie authors and you'll be credited, of course. If you're interested, you can submit it here: unpublishednotunknown.comLooking forward to hearing from you!
I think that could be really cool. I have made some edits, so I will send the edited version, which is a little longer. Let me know when you get it recorded.
Will do! Thanks for submitting.
Hi David, your episode is officially published! Find all the ways to listen here: unpublishednotunknown.comThanks again, love the story :) -Katie
Thanks so much! Can't wait to listen.
Just listened to the podcast--lovely job! Thanks for giving this story a voice. I appreciate your interest in my work. Let me know if you would like to collaborate again sometime.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to submit any stories of yours to the same link above. Take care :)
Great story, well written. I am planning on using this as a story for the Victoria Falls Literary Shorts Club. We read and discuss short stories on a weekly basis. I will present this story for our November 7th meeting.Can you give me some details about yourself so I can present you to the group as the author of this well written story. We have also presented other Reedsy authors from time to time. I have read your blog and have assembled some facts about you.Looking forward to any continuation of this story.Pat [email protected]
I sent you a reply on email.
Congrats. Sad one. Poor father, poor husband. Happiness gone from both end. I feel the story impact.
Thank you. It was difficult to tell this story at times. I appreciate your readership. Thanks for liking the story.
Welcome.
Thank you. It was hard to tell this story. I appreciate your readership. Thanks for following me.
Well done! Feel the clenching of a circle, repeating and repeating.
Well done! Feel the clenching of a circle, repeating and repeating.
Thank you for your very detailed and constructive feedback. I will work on these things going forward. I appreciate this very much.
You're so welcome! I've had feedback like that many times in my journey and I know how helpful it was for me. I forgot to add, I love how authentic your story is. Super relatable. I really value that in any kind of art. You have great talent and potential! Happy writing! :)
Thank you for your positive comments. I appreciate that you reached out to me. I don't want to become complacent with my writing. It's nice to have people on the journey with me.
A family epic set in the 1930s and 40s. An interesting time period that you brought to life, and you described the family very deeply within a short story. As others said, instead of the current trend to write all action and suspense, you emphasized characters and descriptions, which makes it have the feel of a big classical novel . Well done and congrats on the win.
Thanks for your honest thoughts.
Congratulations on the win. I could feel the sadness and power of this story. cant wait to read more of your stories.
Thank you. I appreciate your support. I hope you will enjoy the future stories as well.
Thank you. I appreciate your support. I hope you will enjoy the future stories as well.
Thank you. I appreciate your support. I hope you will enjoy the future stories as well.
Really? I am sorry for what your family went through. Like I said, I'm sure that in his mind your grandfather was doing the right thing...but it was so incredibly wrongheaded and counterproductive. I'm glad that your parents got through it and built a good life together.
What a sweet but terribly sad story David. I loved the way your story road the train. Parallel, like the tracks...life is like that isn't it, time on the line.I wish all Dads would be dads and not jerks. Even on his deathbed...uggg, what a nasty legacy to leave. I'm a detail gal, and I loved how you dotted it within the sentences, allowing your words to breathe reality.Nicely done.
What a sweet but terribly sad story David. I loved the way your story road the train. Parallel, like the tracks...life is like that isn't it, time on the line.I wish all Dads would be dads and not jerks. Even on his deathbed...uggg, what a nasty legacy to leave. I'm a detail gal, and I loved how you dotted it within the sentences, allowing your words to breathe reality.Nicely done.
What a sweet but terribly sad story David. I loved the way your story road the train. Parallel, like the tracks...life is like that isn't it, time on the line.I wish all Dads would be dads and not jerks. Even on his deathbed...uggg, what a nasty legacy to leave. I'm a detail gal, and I loved how you dotted it within the sentences, allowing your words to breathe reality.Nicely done.
What a sweet but terribly sad story David. I loved the way your story road the train. Parallel, like the tracks...life is like that isn't it, time on the line.I wish all Dads would be dads and not jerks. Even on his deathbed...uggg, what a nasty legacy to leave. I'm a detail gal, and I loved how you dotted it within the sentences, allowing your words to breathe reality.Nicely done.
Well, as you read backwards you will see my characters in most stories, just in a different era, and situation...with the exception or The Lady and The Man..the others I've created to link into each other. ( personal challenge ) ... I like the softness of Patrick..but I love Jo and her sauciness..
You nailed the ending, I was expecting reconciliation and the opposite was abrupt and shocking. Kick in the gut.
I know your setting personally...the steel lines, hillsides, and fiery autumn. Your imagery--both intimate and breathtaking--resonated; captured like cinematography. I can see why this piece won.
Thank you very much. I usually have a specific picture in my head to start a story. I see it play out in my head Lome a movie. I try, many times unsuccessfully, to recreate those images in words as best as I can. These are real places to me and sometimes I feel words don't do enough. Thank you for reading and your kind words.
Hi David!Wow! I loved the way you captured the accents in this piece. I thought your dialogue was perfect like fresh churned butter. My heart was breaking for this character. My favorite part of this piece was when you talked about all of the MC’s dreams and hopes that filled her youth. Contrasted with the ending, of course. Congratulations on the win!
Thank you! I grew up hearing and speaking this dialogue all of my life. It is a project dear to my heart. I appreciate your readership.
Thank you! I grew up hearing and speaking this dialogue all of my life. It is a project dear to my heart. I appreciate your readership.
Loved your story, David. I can't wait to discuss it in our literary shorts group tomorrow that Pat Ruhe is leading. Congratulations on the win.
Thanks. I wish I could be there to discuss it with you. I appreciate that you are doing this. It means more to me than you may realize.
David, I am sorry I received this after our gathering today, or I would have invited you on the discussion. It was a very good discussion and everyone liked the story. Pat Ruhe will get in touch with you to give you feed back and ask some questions.
I am genuinely curious about how the discussion goes today (hopefully favorable). Please.let everyone know that I am glad to answer any questions or provide commentary if wanted.
I started reading this when it first won the contest and decided I wanted to come back to it when I could fully absorb it. What a knockout. I really love the fearlessness you have when it comes to taking the story to uncomfortable places. Congratulations.
Thanks so much for your kind words. Sometimes life is like that and writing takes us there. I appreciate your support.
Hi David,Would you be willing to let me narrate your story for a podcast idea I'm working on?You can contact me - arreyedwards at gmail dot com if you have any questions. I want to create an anthology show that showcases contest winners. Thanks and thank you for sharing such a great story.-Arrey
Nice story hope to read another one, congrats on winning this contest. By the way, could you give me some tips on writing a novel or maybe a short one? You know, I write a story but not regularly, just for myself only. Thanks.
Nice story hope to read another one, congrats on winning this contest. By the way, could you give me some tips on writing a novel or maybe a short one? You know, I write a story but not regularly, just for myself only. Thanks.
what a great story
TOP Story