Stories That Never Were

Christmas is hurtling toward us like an oncoming express train and we stand, transfixed by its lights and power, directly in its path, unable to jump aside.  At least, that's how I've felt this last week, as I've tried to complete my Christmas shopping.  Late evening shopping after working late in the freezing cold is a bad combination, as I found yesterday.  Not that I allowed the consequent exhaustion to deter me from completing another story for The Sleaze.  Still not a Christmas themed story, I'm planning that for next week, but there's nothing wrong in staying topical, even in the run-up to Winterval.  Anyway, the story, Wage Slaves, also isn't the story I'd planned for this week.  For most of this year I've had this idea for a story involving President Obama, the 'birther' movement lunatics and time travel, tentatively titled Black in Time, but every time I've decided that I was going to write it up and post it, either I've been struck by another idea which is easier to develop into a story, or something happens in the real world I feel compelled to respond to with a new story.  Subsequently, the Obama story has been constantly bumped to 'next story' status.  I meant to write it last month, but the whole Nigella cocaine allegations broke and I came up with High Office, instead.  Then it was going to kick off December's slate of stories, but just didn't have the energy to write it up, so expanded a post from here into Queen of Hearts. 

I felt sure that Black in Time would finally see the light of day this week.  But then I did that piece here at Sleaze Diary about Workfare and modern slavery earlier this week and decided that would make the basis of a better and more topical story.    Now, with the Christmas story slated for next week, the time travel story has even lost its perpetual 'next story' status.  In fact, it isn't even 'next story but one', as I already have the story I want to kick 2014 off with planned.  So, will Black in Time ever see the light of day?  Well, it remains a strong possibility for publication sometime in January or February, but if it never happens, then it will join the ranks of those 'stories that never were' which haunt the dusty archives of The Sleaze.  Down the years I've abandoned or shelved a number of stories for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it is clear that they simply won't work.  Other times, they get postponed and their moment of topicality passes.  Sometimes I'm able to cannibalise ideas from them for new stories.  Nonetheless, many simply linger in my memory, never to see publication.  Falling into this category are Tales of the Sea, a story about mermaids which was quite advanced before being abandoned and a football transfer story involving Harry Redknapp which I eventually dropped for reasons of taste.  There are others which might yet come to fruition in some form, such as that story about disabled sex I've toyed with for years, or the political fan fiction idea, not to mention the Angry Men story.  Perhaps 2014 will be their year...