{"id":4544,"date":"2014-06-22T11:52:27","date_gmt":"2014-06-22T15:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/?p=4544"},"modified":"2018-06-22T12:02:34","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T16:02:34","slug":"inklings-about-flowers-for-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/22\/inklings-about-flowers-for-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"INKLINGS: About\u00a0Flowers for the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m the first to admit I\u2019m a little hooked on superstitions, fables, old wive\u2019s tales and all that goodness. Strange beliefs (and the people who believe them) are the perfect breeding grounds for scary stories, and that\u2019s how a lot of mine start out. Flowers for the Dead is no different.<\/p>\n

So the original \u201cstory seed\u201d came from an article I read on Victorian funeral customs and superstitions which stated: \u201cIf the deceased has lived a good life, flowers would bloom on his grave; but if he has been evil, only weeds would grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somewhere in my twisted little mind, I came up with the idea that whomever is buried beneath the sunflowers might somehow \u201csprout\u201d back to life. But then I also wondered\u2026why? How? Do those burying their loved ones know this happens? What if they did? Would they be freaked out by this strange horticultural nightmare, or would they embrace it?<\/p>\n

More story seeds to explore\u2026fun fun fun!<\/p>\n

Another little tidbit that added to the \u201crules\u201d for this story came from a dictionary of superstitions: \u201cGiving people bunches of flowers (preferably an odd number) has always been considered to be loving gesture and one liable to bring good luck with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, I took that idea \u2014 that in order to have good luck, there needed to always be an even number of flowers \u2014 and applied that to the Flores family in the story. It gave weight to their beliefs, as well as giving my story a foundation, really, in the actual motivation behind the ceremony that takes place.<\/p>\n

WHY DAY OF THE DEAD?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The original version of the story was very different culturally. Trina and Luke were still going to visit his family, but they were there so he could introduce Trina to his family before their wedding. I wanted it to be a sort of \u201creveal\u201d story, where Trina is quickly plunged into this strange rite and is forced to deal with the truth about the family she is marrying into.<\/p>\n

By changing the setting from a wedding to a \u201cremembrance\u201d of sorts gave me a culture, a background, and added color & flavor to the tale.<\/p>\n

My Mom is Mexican American so it wasn\u2019t difficult for me to become interested in Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I\u2019ve got my own little collection of sugar skulls and the tradition of that day kind of intrigues me in that it\u2019s different to the way most of us grieve.<\/p>\n

By adding some of the traditional elements (like the ofrendas) and combining that with the decidedly strange reality of what the Flores family does to remember their dead, I think I\u2019ve come up with a strange tale that hopefully gives you pause the next time you look at a sunflower\u00a0?<\/p>\n

THE TITLE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Originally, this story was titled Flor de Muertos, but I wasn\u2019t sure how that would be received. Dead Flowers sounded a little too goth (and coming from a goth, that says a lot :). And I didn\u2019t want to go with \u201cCorpse Flowers\u201d since there is an actual Corpse Flower (which is called that because it is said to smell like rotting flesh!) and frankly, I don\u2019t think that title has much of an impact. So\u2026 I settled on Flowers for the Dead, and when you read the story, you\u2019ll know why.<\/p>\n

So there you have it! The life of a story and all its twists and turns from initial story seed to finished product. I hope you enjoyed the read and this little peek into my writing process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m the first to admit I\u2019m a little hooked on superstitions, fables, old wive\u2019s tales and all that goodness. Strange beliefs (and the people who believe them) are the perfect breeding grounds for scary stories, and that\u2019s how a lot of mine start out. Flowers for the Dead is no different. 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Find out more about the superstition lurking beneath the surface of the small mill town in my book, Thicker Than Water. Head to Patreon to subscribe to my page and receive this cool little story extra!","rel":"","context":"In "On Writing"","block_context":{"text":"On Writing","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/category\/on-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/river.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/river.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/river.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4546,"url":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/22\/inklings-the-story-behind-the-lockwood-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":1},"title":"Inklings: The Story Behind The Lockwood Collection","author":"Mary","date":"July 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Inklings is a series of posts where I share the inspiration and a bit of background on how a story seed became a finished tale. Here\u2019s a little more information on\u00a0The Lockwood Collection. ALERT! SPOILERS AHEAD!\u00a0If you don\u2019t want the surprise to be ruined for you, I\u2019d suggest reading the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inklings"","block_context":{"text":"Inklings","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/category\/inklings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"mummy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/mummy.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6079,"url":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/31\/inklings-what-the-dead-whisper-to-the-living\/","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":2},"title":"INKLINGS: What The Dead Whisper To The Living","author":"Mary","date":"January 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I\u2019m sharing a snippet from my latest release, \u201cWhat the Dead Whisper to the Living\u201d, which appears in A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales from Brigid\u2019s Gate Press. 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Enjoy this little peek into the creation of What Lies Beneath. ALERT: there will be spoilers! Do not read this if you haven\u2019t downloaded & read your copy of The Stone Masons yet. 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Shroud Publishing is considered the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of horror fiction, and I knew that snagging a spot in Tim Deal\u2019s stellar anthology would be a great way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inklings"","block_context":{"text":"Inklings","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/category\/inklings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4540,"url":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/22\/inklings-about-husks\/","url_meta":{"origin":4544,"position":5},"title":"Inklings: About Husks","author":"Mary","date":"September 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"What started as a tale about shady happenings behind closed doors quickly turned into one that gave one of my readers \"the shivers\".The story was inspired by an innocent-enough post on social media...\u201cOne day, my family will find my dried husk perched over the keyboard\u2026 Keep forgetting human\u2019s need watering.\u201dWant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inklings"","block_context":{"text":"Inklings","link":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/category\/inklings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/inklings_husks.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/inklings_husks.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/inklings_husks.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-content\/images\/postphotos\/inklings_husks.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauXzR-1bi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4545,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4544\/revisions\/4545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maryrajotte.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}