I asked fellow Midnight Garden anthology contributors to share some things about themselves prior to publication and those generous enough to do so will be appearing here for the next week or so.
Each entry gives a taste of their contribution, a little about them, how to contact them, how their story came about, and definitely a link to Midnight Garden (which you should purchase because it would make each and every one of us happy.
you do want to make us happy, don’t you?
i mean, considering what we wrote, you want us to know you’re a good person, right?).
And now, Molly Ertel’s Antepenultimate:
You’ve seen those Kit-Cat Klocks, right? Maybe next door at Mrs. Oldy-but-Goody’s house where every square inch of space is taken up by mid-century kitsch. Or at one of those shops at the mall that caters to squishy-brained people with a warped fondness for the fifties. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, these so-called clocks are made of black plastic in the shape of a cat with a tail and eyes that tick to the left and tock to the right. That equals one second. They’re supposed to be cute, but if you were out on the street and saw some weirdo whose eyes darted left and right like that, you’d hug your man bag or fanny pack just a little tighter and duck into the closest store. Cute? Sinister is more like it.
How the story came about:
I received a Kit Cat Clock as a gift some years back. As much as I tried to love it for its retro vibe, I found the TICK-a-tock rhythm disturbing. It took me to a dark place, a place I used to work, and an adult correctional facility, commonly known as a prison. I worked as a Spanish language interpreter and translator, a position made possible by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, but was always bothered by the fact that executions were carried out – at a different facility – until state law outlawed the death penalty in recent years. In any case, my mind went from the arrhythmia of the Klock to the death penalty, and I don’t think I can travel back in my mind to the labyrinth that took me there. While my protagonist was not absolved for her crime in her last moment of life, I hope I am for having been part of that system.
About Molly Ertel:
Molly Ertel’s short stories have appeared in Akashic Books, Jerry Jazz Magazine, and the Dark City Crime and Mystery Magazine. Additionally, she was a reader/editor for the Silver Blade Anthology. She has recently completed the first book in a two-book series for middle grade readers, Jujube at the End of the World, set during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The second book has been written and is undergoing the rewriting process. Other projects include a middle grade novel about an environmentally-conscious ghost and a possible visit to a rage room as the basis for a short fiction piece for adults.
You can find and follow Molly on Facebook, @ mollyertelwriter (threads), and her blog.
See all Midnight Garden stories here.
And for our finale, a Hallowe’en-themed teaser to the anthology:
Molly Ertel’s “Antepenultimate” in Midnight Garden evokes chilling convictions (using both descriptions of the word!) regarding the death penalty. The suggestion of protesting a state retribution on a crime shows that the consequences for such a crime is controversial, due to its extreme process. Those involved with the Death Penalty can also be considered perpetrators to the act (or they may feel that way) and therefore filled with guilt or mixed feelings about the process.
I like the use of arrhythmia, instead of rhythm of the clock, because it also evokes feelings that ‘things are not what they seem or are abnormal. The analogy of person vs society, having an ‘abnormal cat’ over the bed (watching and judging) and suggesting to the mother, gives readers mixed feelings about the mother’s decision to protect her child. All mothers have an innate sense to protect their child, sometimes at the risk of their own soul – that is what makes this story chilling and compelling.