Backstory: "Fealty"

As I have had a number of short stories published since the release of Zero Hour, I've decided to revive the "Backstory" series to share for all posterity what my thought processes were with each story.  Well, OK, maybe posterity won't be overly interested, or maybe they will.  Either way, this will allow me to get this information off my chest and to keep the blog going, good enough reasons for me anyway.



I believe I've mentioned before that I was an avid comic book reader as a kid, especially of Batman, and that it was here that I first discovered my desire to be a storyteller.  Therefore, the idea of writing stories in the superhero genre has always been in the back of my mind.  When Crossed Genres announced that their August 2011 issue would deal with the theme "Sidekicks and Minions," I couldn't pass it up.

At first, I was going to do a story about a professional henchman, a character named Alan Coleman who made a career out of hiring himself out to supervillains.  In time, I realized that I couldn't do this concept justice in a single short story--although I did allude to the character in anticipation of having a longer story (maybe a novel?) to "connect" to it one day.

From there, I turned my attention to the idea of telling a story from the sidekick's point of view.  In the process, a lot of Batman-influenced elements worked themselves into the tale: A male sidekick who later distances himself from the hero; a hero whose dedication runs toward obsession, eventually alienating said male sidekick; a female sidekick who is crippled in the line of duty; and a rogues' gallery of villains who try to eliminate the hero with intricate death-traps.  All of this came while trying to write the story from the male sidekick's point of view, which was a fun challenge.

Beyond that, there's not much that I can tell you that wouldn't spoil the story...except that I thoroughly enjoyed writing this one.  Hopefully, you will enjoy reading it as well.  Feel free to leave me some feedback, and, as always, Philippians 4:13.--SMS