IDEA
This story had its origins as a piece written for a contest. The contest consists of three prompts, and you have to come up with a story that incorporates them. My prompts were “second chance,” “podcast host” and “statue.” As disparate as those prompts were, I knew immediately what kind of second chance story I wanted to tell. What happens to maternal energy when it no longer has an outlet? Where do you put those feelings and that focus? Thematically, it was something I wanted to explore for a while, and the contest prompts gave me the push I needed.
DEVELOPMENT
I wanted to have transcripts from the podcast interspersed as a framework to advance the plot and bridge the time jumps. But I worried they might feel gimmicky or dilute the emotional weight of the story. I struggled with both what they should be and where they should be. Ultimately, the transcripts ended up improving the story so much, but finding the right balance was a challenge. Once I realized that the podcast episodes didn’t have to be in chronological order to work, the story became much easier to manage.
EDITING
Something I’m trying to improve on as a writer is not overexplaining things. I want to let the reader draw their own conclusions and have their own perspective without my heavy hand on the steering wheel. I’m an editor for a trade publication, which means constantly making sure there’s enough clarity in the articles we publish. I personally love ambiguity in fiction, but I struggle at times to create it! That was probably what I spent the most time with while editing—making sure I left space for the reader decide how they felt about Penny and Nell and their choices. There was also a rawness in the initial draft that I liked. I didn’t want to lose that quality by polishing too much.
SUBMITTING
My daughter McKenna passed away at 23. Because this story has elements drawn from our lives, at first, I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable submitting it anywhere. I want to be clear though that this isn’t the story of what happened to my daughter. McKenna loved to sing Janis Joplin (loudly, badly and often!), and she was an organ donor. But the other “truths” in this story are rooted in the emotions surrounding her loss, not the specific details of it. WestWord was the first place I sent it to. I love what Amanda has built, and I think this is 100% the right audience for Bonus Mom.
FINAL REFLECTIONS
I’m just so grateful that this story found a home at WestWord! I really love the stories published here—there are always inspiring throughlines of hope and perseverance that resonate with me. I’m very honored to share space with writers who create such beautiful work. It’s incredibly humbling and a bit of an ego boost, too!
Author: Lisa Robertson is a Texas-based magazine editor and features writer. Her work has appeared in Rock and a Hard Place, WestWord, Elegant Literature, Writer’s Playground and Stone’s Throw, among others. She loves baking and reality television shows and reality television shows about baking.
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