"Chasing the Great Comet" by S.G. Benson
– “We can’t let her know what we’re up to.”
We clambered up on the breakwater and made our way, in the dark, out to its very end.
S. G. (Sandy) Benson lives in Warne, North Carolina, where she is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network-West. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and she received awards from the Nebraska Press Women. She published her first book in 2021, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. Her second book, Dear Folks: Letters Home from World War II, 1943-1946 was released in 2024. She is working on a collection of autobiographic short stories, Girls Can’t Do That. Details at https://www.sandygbenson.com/
Author’s Talk
S.G. Benson
My lust for adventure began at a tender age. I’d become a veteran swashbuckler by the time this escapade took place when I was eleven. Some of my antics turned out well, others not so much. The “Foiled” topic for this anthology focused me on the latter—and I discovered plenty to choose from when I combed through my memories. My previous two tales in Personal Story Publishing Project anthologies spotlighted misadventures involving physical danger. This time, I wanted to delve into disappointment after careful planning gone awry. That, in fact, has been the story of my life.
In my younger years, I felt called to write, but I never seemed to have time to do so. I stayed busy working, playing, and exploring. Only after six and a half decades of misadventure did I finally realize that this is how I get my material.
Now I’m retired and still adventuring, and I also have the time to share these anecdotes. I started jotting them down a few years ago and then began reading them at a local monthly “Open Mic” event. It surprised me when audiences engaged and asked for more. I learned how much fun it is to make people laugh and, often, to reflect on their own life experiences.
It occurred to me that a memoir doesn’t have to be a regular book with chapters. Perhaps I can share my memories as a collection of short stories. With that in mind, I’m thinking I can publish the first one as soon as I’ve written enough to fill a book. And, from the looks of it, there may be several volumes.
