Hello, Patrons! It’s time for another A LOOK BACK post, my reflective series wherein I’ll share some tidbits from my published stories, including my inspiration, personal details, and what the story really means to me now. In this second feature, I’ll be diving into one of my most shocking tales: “Better Places”:
In the midst of a zombie apocalypse, a lone woman finds refuge in an abandoned roadside hotel. It’s in the hotel that she runs into a Judah, a man well-prepped the threats of a zombie infestation. Judah reluctantly allows her to stay in return for sexual favours. The woman proves an investment to Judah’s reign, though only time will tell for how long he’ll live in luxury.
A Look Back
I wrote “Better Places” during the first WAR (in 2012, I think?), which was an unofficial bracket-style writing tournament held in my old LitReactor days. Writers were given a prompt and had to write a story in a week. Typically I went into these battles with some idea of a story I wanted to write. The prompt served as a device or a metaphor that I had to include, though I depended on what the prompt was.
In this case, the prompt I received for “Better Places” was a picture of a pagoda. I tried looking for the photo online but my search proved fruitless. Nevertheless, it was your standard stock photo of a pagoda near a lake with lily pads in the sunset.
“Better Places” was originally published in Pulp Modern #4, and then later reprinted in Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up to No Good by Upper Rubber Boot Books. It also appears in my short story collection, VILE MEN.
Inspiration
I’d actually come up with the idea for a zombie apocalypse story years before in a dream wherein I was a woman who’d found refuge in some apartment building and I stumbled across a man who was willing to save me if I only had sex with him first. So yeah, it was one of those weird power-struggle sex dreams but I woke up inspired and (in true Stephenie Meyer style) I thought, I HAVE TO WRITE THIS STORY!
I never managed to get the story right. Ultimately, I shelved the idea for years but when the photo prompt came in during WAR, I decided to give it another shot.
Not wanting to feature my story in an exotic location, I featured the pagoda picture as a jigsaw puzzle. Puzzles became a fun gimmick in which my antagonist, Judah, used to pass the time. This proved useful. I manged to convey character, tension, and drama through the use of those puzzles. It was probably my best use of a prompt in WAR.
Setting
The roadside hotel featured in “Better Places” is a fictionalized version of the Haymour Castle in Peachland, British Columbia. I first saw it back in 2006 while on a road trip. Back then it was dilapidated and abandoned and I knew I needed to set a story there.
Haymour Castle has a very intriguing backstory in that it was built by a man named Eddy Haymour, an eccentric barber-turned-businessman who moved to Canada from Lebanon in the 1970’s. He bought a small island on the Okanagan Lake called Rattlesnake Island, with the intention of building a Middle Eastern theme park. However, locals weren’t keen on the idea. Here’s a little video that explains the CRAZY details, along with the building of Eddy’s castle:
What “Better Places” Means to Me
Gosh. At the time of writing, the zombie genre hadn’t yet reached Walking Dead levels. The genre quite near was hitting its peak, however, so when it was accepted at Pulp Modern I was quite please with myself for breaking the mold.
The story tackles sexual violence and the male gaze. At the time it proved something a bit different from the norm of “the humans are the real zombies!” narrative. Nowadays I doubt I’d be able to publish it, partly because of its dated nature, but also because of its graphic depiction of sexual violence wherein Judah prostitutes the woman to marauders in exchange for wine, cigars, razors and other luxury goods.
Ugh, curse those early days when I had to be sOoOoOo EdGy.
At the time of writing, I also tossed a lot of sex in my writing for the purpose of shock. That shock value was appreciated by some audiences, sure. Now it makes me cringe a little. I didn’t need to be blunt.
The jigsaw puzzles could have conveyed things more creatively.
Like yeah, the woman kills Judah in the end and fends herself in the zombie world, but geez. What is the point of it all?
Am I Proud of “Better Places”?
Yes and no?
Back in the day, “Better Places” was my “go to” story, which I had to share with new readers. I would NEVER choose to share it now.
Of course, I want to hit myself for delving to deep into shock value. The #metoo movement has altered my perspective on literary sexual violence. My feminism has changed. I choose to writer about deeper matters. “Better Places” is hollow on substance.
I did, however, take a liking to Judah’s aesthetic. The silk bathrobe? The beans? The love of jigsaw puzzles? I confess to making a memorable villain. Admittedly, I still take pride in that.
Judah had some memorable lines, too. People got a kick out of them. 2019 Rebecca, though? She cringes a little, though I still want to laugh at the absurdity of a guy in a bathrobe during a zombie apocalypse saying this:
Extras
I made a playlist for “Better Places” long after the writing. This was around the time when I really got a kick out of making playlists and wanted to make one for every story I wrote. Admittedly, it is one of my favourite playlists, as I feel it effectively captures the story’s mood, as well as its setting in the B.C. Interior.
Alas…
Well, that’s it for my A LOOK BACK feature of “Better Places”. Hopefully I’ve shed some light on the story, but if you have anything further to ask me, don’t hesitate. I do, however, have some questions for you:
Do you have a published story you feel different about? Do you have a piece that hasn’t aged well? How cringe-inducing is some of your old work? Let’s dish in the comments below!
