About this project

Hello! My name is Sheila Wilson. Thank you for taking a moment to learn about my project. 

My project is a collection of short stories to be published on Amazon. The stories will depict childhood in America. Each of the stories will be fiction, but based loosely on a childhood memory provided by a friend, a backer, or me.

I have many years of experience writing short stories. I've won a couple awards for short stories and poetry. I don't mean to brag. There are no Pulitzer Prize medals sitting on my coffee table. However, I want to assure you that any childhood memory that you provide as the inspiration of a story would be handled with care and woven into a quality short story.

This is not a completely new concept for me. I have written short stories for a few of my readers based on memories that they provided. Even though the short stories were not intended to be completely accurate depictions of what occurred, the readers were very happy with the outcome. I found the process of taking a memory and giving a fictional account of it to be truly fascinating and inspirational. What more can an author want than for someone to invite them into their lives for a moment?

Everyone has a story to tell. I'm not looking for over-the-top, unbelievable stories about childhood prodigies or the horrors of child abuse. I want to see life. Tell me about a real memory of playing with childhood friends, celebrating a holiday with family, or an experience at school and I will turn it into a short story.

An example of what type of material that I am looking for would be the movie "A Christmas Story" in which events that could be described as a normal childhood are the basis of the story. Ask yourself why you remember a childhood incident. What did you learn? What did you love? What did you hate? Chances are there is a reason why that memory stuck with you and is now begging to be a short story to be shared with others.

This project is focused on American life. Therefore, only people who were raised in the United States or at least have the memory from living in America will be included in the short story collection. I love to learn about different cultures. I would welcome the opportunity to write more from people in other parts of the world. In my experience, writing about another culture takes considerably more time and effort. Because it is incredibly interesting to learn about life in other countries, I may try to construct a future project about that topic if this one succeeds and I am happy with the finished book.

People may wonder why I don't just ask my friends and family to provide childhood memories for inspiration. I want to try to capture a broader American experience than my circle of friends in my location could offer. I might get a good idea of what it is like to grow up in Pennsylvania by asking my friends, but what would I be missing that I could have shown about growing up in other parts of the country?

Please consider being part of my project and sharing a favorite childhood memory with the world. Perhaps, you would rather share a touching, but sad memory of childhood. I would welcome that as well since it would add depth and realism to the book. Feel free to ask me any questions about the project.

I will send an email to backers who are sharing a memory with me. The email will ask questions to help me get a vivid picture of the memory. Backers will also be able to add additional information about the memory. Anyone who shares a memory with me to be included in a story will need to sign a release form before sharing the memory.

The money raised will go towards the necessary expenses for publishing and promoting the book in order to give it a professional appearance and a chance at succeeding. The project goal includes costs for book cover design, formatting, editing, registering an ISBN for the book, copies of the book, and advertising.

Thank you for being a part of my project.