I am quite surprised I am writing this Author’s Note. Black and White Night started off as a writing experiment after being inspired by a number of different sources, however, after I came across [Untitled] magazine call for submissions on the theme of Black and White, what could be better to submit. Luckily [Untitled] accepted my story and it can now be found in issue three of the magazine.

Below the break you’ll find out what the two stories and the one place in Edinburgh that inspired my story are.

The Stories

The two stories that inspired Black and White Night are quite different. The first is the comic Silent Night from Frank Miller‘s Sin City series. The story is about the character Marv going to rescue a girl called Kimberly during a snowy night and contains only one line of dialogue and no colour. I wanted to try writing a story like this and Black and White Night was my attempt at this. Whether I was successful is up to you.

The second story that inspired me was the film Gran Torino directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. One of the later scenes in the film is Eastwood standing outside a house belonging to a local gang and “shooting“ them with his fingers. I loved this image and wanted to use it myself. I hope the great man doesn’t mind!

The Place

The setting for Black and White Night is taken from a subway/underpass in Edinburgh I walk through at least once a week. It is called Telfer Subway and this is what it looks like:

You can see why I use it for a story like Black and White Night. It is quite hidden with, I think, odd lighting. I’m sure I’ll use it again for another story in the future.

I should say in it defence I have never met a group of NEDs or other similar unpleasant group in the subway. It always feels very safe when I walk through it.

I hope you enjoyed Black and White Night. If you would like to read others check out my Short Stories page.