Would you like to help me create a new short story that takes place in a shared fictional world (the ‘Shade of the Morning Sun’-world) – a story that reflects and links to our real-life world?
If you are interested, I would like to correspond a bit with you first, so we get to know each other. If we hit it off well, I would like to offer to use some of your good – or maybe less good – memories or life experiences in my fictional short stories (as an inspiration – not a direct transcript of your memoirs or anything).
For example, I collaborated with a friend on the story, “Warriors”, where I used as inspiration his childhood memories of growing up in a rather dodgy neighborhood in L.A., and imagined a story that could have been about his somewhat obscure Cherokee-ancestral family relations, all in order to write a story about two brothers coming of age.
So what kind of stories do I write? Well, if you’ve already perused the stories here, you know that I write about real people – and their problems and joys and sorrows and quirks and dreams and hopes and … well, you name it. And the stories are set in the real world, at least as we know it, mostly within the 1980s to the present day, although I plan to write stories set further in the past.
So no dungeons, dragons or dreadnought spaceships (unless it’s as a game, TV-series or something taking place in the real world). You can read more about my stories on the About page, and you can browse the complete list of stories in the Index.
There’s another thing you should be aware of: I do try to make all my stories end with a hopeful note of some kind, though, however small (and without vomit-inducing preachiness). I do it because that’s the kind of stories I like. I like stories in which the people in the stories do have it rough, sometimes very rough – but it’s NEVER an excuse for me to just crank out a story that’s ends with ‘life a bitch – let’s all die’.
And I have enough excuses, it would seem: Since I write about loneliness, restlessness, marriage that doesn’t always work out, friendships found and lost, suicide – or considerations thereof, drug abuse, rape, mental illness – and more, just to name some of the themes from my ever-growing list.
But if you’re looking for someone to chronicle a fiction based on your personal hatred for the world, your loathing of other people or planned suicide attemps, look somewhere else. I have been very ill myself – physically and mentally – and close to suicide, and dealt with a lot of other shit in my life, so I can emphasize – believe me I can.
Maybe because I survived it all, until now at least, I always try to end my stories with a note of hope, though – that there’s something to live for, even if it’s not always clear what it is (it’s not always clear to me either, it’s more of a feeling I guess). Or, at least I link a very dark story to a sequel story, that leaves you that way after having read it. But some of the stories are pretty rough, make no mistake about it.
So as you have probably guessed, I try to use my own life experiences and writing skill, and combining the stories with music, photos and art which may be important to me or to my collaborator (that could be you) in making the stories as gripping, vivid and resonant as possible. So far I’ve only collaborated with two people, and the rest of the stories are based on my own life experiences and whatnot. But I hope more will come, when this site becomes better known.
So, bottom line: If you’ve ever been just a little bit attracted to writing your own memoirs, or writing about important events in your own life and sharing them with others, you might find it a rewarding experience to see some of your experiences and memories being used in a real fiction story (pun intended).
I for one can think of no better thing than writing about the real experiences of real people. It’s what turns my writing on so to speak. So by trusting me and sharing something about your own life (which will of course be anonymized in the final version of the short story) you are doing me a HUGE favor, in terms of finding inspiration and writing better stories.
The not-so-flashy – but very important – bonus is that by helping me writing a new short story and linking it up to the rest of the Shade of the Morning Sun-stories – you may inadvertantly (but no guarantees!) help others.
I mean, at some point other people will read ‘your story’, and maybe they will feel that something positive, uplifting or useful can be found in reading a story that incorporates just your memories and experiences, even if they are not all joy and cake, and maybe they will be able to use your experiences in some way, because they may have experienced something similar to you. Maybe. You never know 
If you’d like to get in touch with me with a view to collaborating on a story (providing me with inspiration from YOUR life) – or if you have any questions, please email me (Christopher Marcus) at this address: beyourstory AT gmail DOT com.
Look forward to hearing your story …
Chris