"The Event" is a near-annual short story anthology released with a new topic each time. The recently released "Congo Square" is the sixth book in the series. We caught up with creator and manager Steve Metcalf to find out a little more about this ongoing project ...
How would you describe The Event?
In early 2016, a friend and I were chatting about how many writers approach the act as a solely solitary experience. I wondered if creating an atmosphere where everyone could work together would be possible. Chat. Share thoughts about their process. Whatever. Almost like a book club. Or a quilting bee. But not exactly. I decided on a forum of forced familiarity. There would be one premise ... and all the writers would base their stories - at least in part - on that single idea. This way, even if the act of writing was solitary, they still had some common ground to chat about.
I called it "the event" because that would kick off the anthology. An event. A forest fire. A massive traffic jam. A building explosion. These wouldn't be apocalyptic events, but something nasty enough to potentially ruin someone's day. What if a person caught in a traffic jam was on the way to a last-chance job interview? It might disrupt his or her entire life. Stuff like that could be examined to the finest detail.
Did it work?
Kind of. Not really. It worked for a couple of writers. Bob Miller and I chat endlessly about the upcoming collections, but we really don't share our stories. Bob often asks me things like, "What would a good name for a retired Chicago cop be?" or something along those lines. We've never really chatted about the process, writer's block, or anything. Skala is another story completely. There's a level of daily discussion when he's in the Event. In this latest Event, "Congo Square," he and I actually worked together to write the story "Miraculous Medals, Inc." It was really fun and almost the perfect expression of what the Event project should have been from the start. Not every story needs two authors ... but that type of cooperation and collaboration.
Do you have an idea for a story and then build the premise around it?
I get asked that quite a bit, actually, and the answer is an emphatic "No." I suppose at some point, it would be cheating to think of a story idea and then roll out the premise to the other writers. I've held myself to the same standards as the rest of the team. I might know a little before the others what final shape the premise will take, but I make sure not to start the planning process until everything is announced.
I do often think of several events and decide which one to use based on how I think the project will shape up in totality rather than "Gee, I'd like to write a story about the mysterious wreckage of an airline disaster in the American desert, so we'll go with that one." Nah. I might pick the premise, but I don't cherry-pick an idea based on how I would approach it.
Are there any unused premises?
Quite a few, actually. I think the first three collections were decided upon pretty early in advance. Starting with Gold Rush, though, it was almost always a collection of three or four possible events that I had to examine. I often leaned on the other writers to help decide. In fact, "Congo Square" began life as three different possibilities and I was going to have the writers of previous stories vote. Ultimately, I decided the voodoo premise would be the one that generated the most energy around the team. I think I picked correctly. Event 6 turned out pretty cool.
I have premises written for Events that might never get used. The Event: Resurrection. Time Capsule. Caldera. 1972. Space. Hidden World. Stuff like that. The fun part about this level of creativity is that the ideas never stop coming.
Do you have a favorite collection?
Tough to say. I love them all for different reasons. As a collection, I think Iron Bay is really strong. Although my lead-off story "INK" is a tough read. It's about young lady exorcising the demons of her past in a violent way. I think it's a terrific story ... but it's certainly not one for a family to sit and read together around the fireplace! "Precision Robotics" was an excellent collection. It was nice to see the writers jump in all kinds of different directions from the premise. I know the writers probably have different favorites. Many readers have commented to me that this one or that one was their personal fave. It's nice, actually, that there's not ONE answer.
What's on the horizon?
I announced the premise of the next Event in late December 2023. The goal is to publish it around mid-October 2024. The title will be The Event: Carnival of Souls. The main setup is that this weird little circus pops up in the middle of an abandoned cornfield outside a small town in Nebraska. Sarah's Keep. It's there for a week and then disappears again ... in the middle of the night. It gives the writers a launching pad to discuss the circus itself, the town itself ... of the weirdness that the mysterious carnival causes.
After that, we'll see. I had wanted to get to five books, but Carnival of Souls will be #7. Maybe the goal should be 10 volumes! Having said that, I have zero clue what Event #8 would be. As of this writing, I have zero clue what my Carnival story will be! I guess we'll have to wait and see!
You can pick a copy of Congo Square or any of the Event books on Amazon! Happy reading!
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