Bewildering Stories introduces and welcomes...

Rozanne Charbonneau

Rozanne was born in Texas but has lived for most of her life in Switzerland and Italy. She has an MFA in Screenwriting and blogs about food and memories. Some of her short fiction has been nominated for awards.

“A Four-Course Lunch” will hold the attention of serious short-story writers for the same reason it will keep ordinary readers on the page with it: characterization and description are accomplished with a remarkable economy of language. But the narrative does not read like a screenplay; it’s fluent, concise prose.

Consider the first four paragraphs. In the space of 155 words, we are introduced to Lucy, Sophie and Chef Jacques. Sophie also makes a surmise about the hairdressing skills of Lucy’s mother and, presumably, the care Lucy’s mother has for her daughter. And that’s the “hook”; the story will reveal the truth that Sophie learns about Lucy’s mother, Lucy and her family and, especially, Sophie herself.

Writing instructors can find in “The Four-Course Lunch” many more such examples to encourage students in writing prose fiction. In this short story, readers will feel they have entered the world of a novella or even a novel, and they will come out not exhausted but, on the contrary, with a sense of refreshing fascination and enlightenment.

Rozanne Charbonneau’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Rozanne. We’re glad to have you with us.