Many authors discuss the book or books that inspired them to take up writing, or perhaps shape they way in which they choose to write their own novels. Often it was a book they discovered at school that has lived with them for their whole life and one that is re-read often.
Although I enjoyed elements of my English classes when I was at school, I didn’t ever have that moment of euphoria reading a book or novel. Often I struggled to get through the books I was made to study and, with the exception of one or two, they didn’t really stay with me. It was, however, a short story that affected me, and influenced my writing, to this day. I discussed my love of the shorter format stories in a recent blog, the link to which is noted below.
It will not come as a surprise that the short story in question was a crime/mystery one. What may come as a surprise, especially for those only aware of one element of his writing, is the author. The story is called Lamb to the Slaughter, written by Roald Dahl, who is better known for his children’s novels.
The story was written in 1953, and actually rejected initially which I personally find astounding. If you are not aware of the story, I would recommend seeking it out. I won’t place any spoilers here, but I found the story shocking, fascinating and brilliantly written when I first read it as a teenager in the late 1980s. I re-read the story again today, for the purpose of this blog, and it still holds up.
The story has also been dramatised twice, once in 1958 for Alfred Hitchcock presents and again in 1979 for Dahl’s own TV series, Tales of the Unexpected. I have seen the latter, which includes the wonderful Brian Blessed.
The idea for the story was actually given to Dahl by his friend, and James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, during a meal together. The story is only around 10 pages long, but I find it a perfect template to a short crime/mystery story. The story packs a punch and I was reminded of it when I received some positive feedback on one of the first short stories I ever had published.
‘In Hiding’ was included in the Dark Scotland anthology, which is sadly now out of print. I had the idea for the story when watching an episode of Poirot, which I actually reference in the story. It was a throwaway comment that is made by one of the characters that got me thinking about a particular twist in the story. I received great feedback from two authors, one stating that ending came like a knockout and another who said that they wanted to immediately re-read the story upon the reveal at the end.
So proud of this story as I am, I have decided to re-publish it for others to enjoy. In the coming month, I will be publishing a new, standalone, novella to raise money for charity. I have decided to include In Hiding as well as some other short stories that have been previously published, as well as a further unpublished short story. More information on this will be released in the coming weeks, so please keep an eye on my socials and subscribe to these blogs, if you have not already done so, to ensure you don’t miss out.
Hopefully you may enjoy some of these stories as much as I enjoyed Lamb to the Slaughter when I first came across it all those years ago…
Thanks again for reading this blog. I am hopeful that this will be a busy publishing period, with the charity book being published soon and my collaboration novel due out in the coming months also. Remember you can check out my current work within the Books tab of this website, or read a selection of short stories at that tab in the meantime.
Ross Alexander Writer 