Harry Chapin’s third studio album, “Short Stories,” includes ten songs. Two of them, presented consecutively on the album, are the stories of a skilled craftsman and aspiring singer who has his dreams unceremoniously crushed, and a young woman fleeing her circumstances with no certainty of what, exactly, she is fleeing to: “Mr. Tanner” and “Mail Order Annie.” Both songs became favorites among Harry’s fans, and his brother Steve continues to perform both even to this day.
Some time ago, I got the idea to try to bring the two stories together for the good readers of SOL. It seemed simple enough: He falls in love with her. She falls in love with him. Throw in a few Easter eggs for everyone in the Cheap Seats... and poof! The story will be written by midnight. (My apologies to the late Jerry Orbach.) And then, my writer’s block cleared, I can pick up with “The Inches Between Us” again! No problem!
Well... two problems.
First, I started posting “The Inches Between Us” more than six years ago – and, in fact, its basic origins are in a story I started writing in 2003. Not wanting to have another story get slapped with the dreaded “Incomplete and Inactive” label, I resolved that I would have this new story completed before I started posting it.
Second... it’s the strangest thing. These characters have lived in my head for most of my life. But when I brought them off my playlist and onto paper, they turned into three-dimensional people and developed minds of their own, doing things Harry never wrote about and that I never anticipated.
One of the driving forces behind the 1985 charity single "We Are the World" was the late Ken Kragen, who had been Harry Chapin's manager. Ken was interviewed for Harry Chapin's "VH1 Behind the Music" episode, and he said that at one point during the night it was recorded, "I felt Harry Chapin crawl up my nose and start directing." I now fully understand what he meant; as I've been writing this, I have periodically felt Harry's ghost take over my keyboard to introduce new storylines for his creations, and new characters for them to interact with.
Also, a third problem: I really need an editor. As one example, one of Annie’s early mentors is her teacher, Miss Howard, who then gets married and becomes Mrs. Fields. (Howard Fields was Harry’s drummer.) I have found at least half a dozen places where I get the names mixed up, and I’m sure there are others hiding in this story, which is well over 18,000 words at this point.
I have reached out to my friend jetson63; hopefully he is still offering his services. I am accepting requests from anyone else who would like to join this merry little bandwagon as well. If you happen to be one of Harry’s fans, that’s a bonus. (If you’re not, who knows, maybe you will be by the end.)