Why Vintage Clothing and Antiques are loved by this author

It’s All in the Details

By Tisha Martin

I’ve heard that the life of a story is in the details and without details, writing careens to a sickening halt. We writers have our favorite genre and succinct, well-researched details that make our stories pop off the page. It’s what we write best and what we’re most proud of. For some, it may be science-related, westerns, Amish, mystery, modern, whether fiction or non-fiction. For others, it might be World War II.

I’m not sure when I fell in love with the classic eras of the 1940s-50s where the average citizen donned a hat and pair of gloves or a fedora to go shopping or attend a baseball game. It could be that the fascination began when I bought a simple yellow straw hat with a white flower at a garage sale. I was twelve. From there, I collected hats and vintage garnish from the ‘40s. Classic pride, stunning beauty, dedicated sacrifice, and pure simplicity begged my attention to such a strong era. Even though I had just started writing a western fiction series, I didn’t decide it would be World War II- themed until I was fifteen; but at twelve, the idea was forming.

That sixteen-book semi-western series developed into a World War II home front trilogy set in my hometown. To give myself some deeper hands-on experience with my trilogy, when I was in college pursuing a professional writing degree, I would take sections of my trilogy and see if I could write a short story. That’s the hardest part of writing—to take something large and pare it into a stand-alone. Of course, there were a few stories where even though they did stand alone, the reader knew there was more to the story.

One of those stories didn’t even come from my trilogy. A classmate told me a story about a deaf girl who got into a lot of trouble because she was adopted and was still learning sign language.

I decided to give the story a try—in my own words, moral lesson involving tomatoes, and favorite era.

My writing instructor loved it.

When I decided to submit it for the Commencement Contest my senior year, I was delighted and surprised that it was a finalist in the Original Narrative Fiction category. There comes a moment of sheer delight that what we’ve written wins the heart of whoever we’re trying to impress. It was that moment for me. I had entered commencement three years running and only made it in the top ten choices. To actually be a finalist!

 After a grueling month of prayer, re-writing, and research to get the details just right, I slid “Puddle of Remorse” underneath my instructor’s door and awaited the final results.

Two weeks later. “Congratulations,” the email said.

I was ecstatic. Honored. Blessed.

My story will be published in the 2015 Fountains, the student literary publication. It’ll be my first story in Fountains. Now that’s an exciting detail.

Meet Tisha Martin

Tisha Martin graduated from Pensacola Christian College with a bachelor’s degree in English and

Professional Writing. Even though she is pursuing a master’s in English Education, freelance writing is the heartbeat of her life’s calling. She has been published in several print and online magazines; Faithwriters’ anthology, Come Away with Me; and Answers Magazine (Oct.-Nov. ‘13 Impact section, “Keeper of God’s Word” and “Unleashing the Lion,” and the July-Sept. ‘13 online promotional). Her World War II historical fiction series is a work in progress, which she hopes to publish in two years. Her commencement winner, “Puddle of Remorse,” will be published in spring 2015. For more Fountains book information, please visit www.pcci.edu. For more information about Tisha, please visit www.tmartinwrites.wordpress.com or LinkedIn.