"Water Lessons" by Landis Wade
– some lessons flow throughout life
Mishaps, mistakes, foolishness, and frolic around water can teach us what is important and enduring.
Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer, award-winning author, and host of Charlotte Readers Podcast (charlottereaderspodcast.com), where authors give voice to their written words. His third book—The Christmas Redemption—won the Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. His essays, “Shelby,” “Two Good Swings,” “Southern Tides,” and “What Luck These Friendships,” appeared in Bearing Up, Exploring, That Southern Thing, and Luck and Opportunity, four earlier anthologies published by the Personal Story Publishing Project.
Author’s Talk
Landis Wade
I am grateful that Water Lessons is my fifth story in the Personal Story Publishing Project anthology series, because these stories never would have been written without the enticing prompts by Daniel Boone footsteps. Bearing Up, Exploring, That Southern Thing, Luck and Opportunity, and Trouble gave me the few words needed to open my mind to the past, and when that happens, it’s a gift to the writer.
Water Lessons was originally titled “The Trouble With Water.” As the story demonstrates, I experienced plenty of trouble around water in my life, and I remember the stories because of the fear and the laughs. But as I wrapped the story, I realized it was the lessons from these stories that mattered more than the trouble. The trouble was simply a good way to remember.
As a recovering trial lawyer, I once wrote briefs, and like most briefs lawyers write, they are never brief enough for judges. I’ve written a trilogy of novellas where lawyers save Christmas called The Christmas Courtroom Trilogy, and my first full length mystery novel, Deadly Declarations, will release in the spring of 2022. Writing 750 word stories like Water Lessons is a much different exercise than writing novellas and novels. It forces the writer to choose their words carefully. Every time I do it, I think of the old saying: “If I’d had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.” I appreciate the challenge.
