The writing prompts were "monstrous" and "mal de mer," the latter being a fancy phrase for sea-sickness. I don't typically get sea-sickness, nor do I know the first thing about any sea-going vessel between the sizes of a motorboat and a cruise ship. But I sure know about long bus trips, and the consequences of reading in the car.
Though it didn't become obvious until the rewrite, I'm pretty sure Ursula Vernon's short story "Toad Words" was somewhere in the background of the first draft. It was probably present when I wrote "The Fourth Miracle of Emmaline Gray," too. Good stories stay resident in the brain, like a virus. Outbreaks can happen at any time.
Cover art incorporates photography by Kevin.B, "Greyhound bus on the way to Washington" (CC BY-SA 3.0)
YOU ARE READING
All Creatures Great and Small (Excerpt)
Short StoryYou made your traveling companion; now you have to share a seat with it.
