WEST HICKORY, Pa. (EYT) – After this year’s loss of musician David Bowie and actor Alan Rickman, a West Hickory woman and her fellow group of forty online writers created an anthology dedicated to the two influential men in order to benefit cancer research.
Georgette Frey, of West Hickory, wrote a story for a compilation titled Stardust, Always: A David Bowie and Alan Rickman Tribute Anthology. The collection contains stories inspired by Bowie and Rickman and the writers’ own experiences with cancer.
Frey wrote about her father and his battle with cancer over a period of six weeks in her story titled “He Wasn’t Sick in April.”
“It helped release a lot of memories that I had put aside. My father became ill very quickly that it seemed like none of us had time to breathe,” Frey said.
Frey began writing short stories in junior high and continued the craft by writing poetry after her daughter was born. She shared the poem with a woman she met in an online chatroom, and the woman asked to use the poem in her work with domestic abuse victims. Frey said that was the first time she realized people enjoyed her writing.
While Frey has had a poem published in a poetry anthology, this will be her first published short story.
Frey met her current online writing group through an annual event in November called “National Novel Writing Month.” The goal is for writers to pen a 50,000-word novel within a month.
Frey and her writing companions began the anthology shortly after Bowie and Rickman died. The collection contains 31 short stories and 11 poems by writers from around the world.
“Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way or another. This is sort of a touchstone that everyone can see something in, something that can make them feel they are part of something bigger. Cancer tends to make people feel very alone and isolated. You think you’re going through a disease by yourself, but you’re not, and in some cases, cancer does seem to affect many people,” Frey said.
Frey’s other upcoming projects include a children’s book on how to deal with death in the family and a fantasy novel set in the local region.
A special virtual release party will take place on the Stardust, Always Facebook page from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST on June 5. The release party will feature Q & A sessions with authors, snippets from the anthology, and giveaways.
Stardust, Always: A David Bowie & Alan Rickman Anthology will be released on June 5 in ebook and print format. It will be available for purchase on amazon.com.
All proceeds will benefit St. Jude’s Cancer Research.
For more information on the Stardust, Always anthology, visit the Stardust, Always Facebook page or blog page.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
