With the publication of my collection of stories, Of Stars and Space, this is part 2 in a series of posts about the inspiration behind each of the twelve stories.

Writer’s block is frustrating. You sit at your computer, stare at your screen, wanting to write, longing to write, and yet your brain produces nothing. Maybe you manage a few lines, but then you reread them, hopelessly disgusted, and hit delete.

In a recent bout with writer’s block, I told my wife, “I need some ideas.” She thought for a moment and began to list some out. One thing that she mentioned was “love story.”

If you know us, you know the gist of our story. If you don’t, let’s just say that I was a little awkward (I’m being kind to myself). “First Date” is a love story that captures some of that awkwardness. On the whole, the story is fictional, of course, but as I wrote parts of the story of budding love between a widower and his first wife and then between him and a new love, several aspects were quite familiar.

You can read an excerpt of “First Date” below.

Of Stars and Space (and other stories) is available at Amazon in both Kindle and print formats. Kindle is immediate delivery; print is print-on-demand and may take a few days before the order ships.

“First Date” and Of Stars and Space, © 2020, Michael Bergman

Excerpt from “First Date”

“Dad, we need to talk.”
“Um. Okay.”
“We’ve been worried about you.”
“Yeah, we want you to be happy.”
“We were thinking that you need a lady in your life.”
“Boys…”
“You work so hard to care for us, but we’re older now.”
“Yeah, almost grown.”
“So, we set you up on a date.”
“You did what?” I stared at my three boys who stood between me and the tv.