I've written several thousand articles on lots of different things, mostly sports. But, I've only written two pieces of fiction. Both are what would typically be called short stories. The two are “Who Would Play In It?” and “Ring of Truth”. You can click either on at the left side of this page.
Note: “Who Would Play In It?” and “Ring of Truth” are public property. I, hereby, disclaim any rights to either story and I do not pass those rights on to any person or entity upon my death. Therefore, anyone is free to publish, modify, convert to film any or all parts of either story. My only request would be that I be given acknowledgement.
I originally wrote “Who Would Play In It?” in 1993 and modified it a couple times thereafter. My final revision was in 2013. No one has ever read it before now. I initially began “Ring of Truth” in 2002. It sat for years, but I worked on it again in 2007 and finally finished it in 2013. Only one person has ever read it - and that was an outline. However, I should say that I sent it to a couple screenwriters shortly before my death.
…is a story that essentially takes place from nine months after the movie Field of Dreams (1989) to four years after the movie (1993). The story simply continues on with what the movie might have been like had it continued. There is a twist at the end. The story contains footnotes which are there for the reader to understand why I did what I did.
Fiction is rarely as analytical as mine, but that’s who I am. The ability of the reader to understand why I did what I did is important to me. Obviously, you can read the story and not bother with the footnotes – and in my ideal world, you would do that first. The second time through, you might refer to the footnotes as they occur during the story.
The other thing about “Who Would Play In It?” is that it would be more interesting if a person had just watched the movie Field of Dreams. Many people reading this will have seen the movie, but the fact that it came out in 1989 will make it hard to remember. Knowing what happened in the movie will make the story “Who Would Play In It?” a lot more meaningful. I would also recommend watching The Natural from 1984 as my story takes a few ideas from that movie and essentially merges them with Field of Dreams.
Field of Dreams is my all-time second favorite movie. My #1 movie is Little Shop of Horrors (1986). I’ve watched LSOH many times. However, with respect to FoD, I never watched it a second time. The reason is in the same vein as the movie. I felt it was almost sacrilegious. Here is what I mean.
The movie FoD is mystical. It’s a combination of many types of movies – including sports, fantasy and love. It has religious overtones as does The Natural. I never wanted that magic to disappear so I never watched the movie a second time. I was in love with it and familiarity breeds contempt. I was always satisfied simply knowing it was my #2 movie.
Finally, when I realized I wasn’t going to be around much longer and I wanted to finish the story for this site, I knew I had to watch it again. I was nervous because I felt that any movie I had given a 10 rating and ranked as my #2 movie in 1989 very well might disappoint me in 2013 – 24 years later. Well, it didn’t. It was as fantastic as the first time I watched it.
It helps to know some baseball, but the truth is that doesn’t really matter. FoD is a great, great movie that anyone could appreciate.
“Who Would Play In It?” is 6,350 words. With footnotes, it is 8,265.
…is 100% inspired by myself. I did not take the idea from anything I have ever seen. In fact, it came to me in a dream.
In 2002, I woke up one morning having dreamt about a man in prison who was innocent… or was he not in prison and guilty? That was the question. I never (trust me) wake up at 4AM, but I jumped out of bed and ran down to the computer to put it on “paper” before I forgot the story.
Naturally, by the time I finished it in 2013, it was far more than my initial idea. But, the basis for the story is the same.
In my opinion, the ideas behind this story have never seen the light of day – at least not on film. Is it possible there is a book or story with the same idea somewhere? Maybe, but I kind of doubt it.
“Ring of Truth” is a story with a surprising twist. I suppose if a twist isn’t surprising, then it isn’t really a twist at all. There are movies that I would say are of a similar vein – such as Body Heat, Jagged Edge, Unbreakable and Fracture. There are many others with major twists at the end, such as The Sixth Sense. I believe RoT has just as impressive a twist as any of those others.
Unlike my other piece of fiction “Who Would Play In It?” I can easily see “Ring of Truth” made into a movie. The odds are slim of that happening, of course, but maybe someday someone will run with it.
“Ring of Truth” is 12,300 words.
Copyright 2013 Martin Manley Life and Death. All rights reserved.