We’re so excited for you to join the team as our Spring 2021 Quarterly Guest Editor! Your most recent collection, And I Do Not Forgive You, came out one year ago and the paperback will be released in April—with a new cover! I’ve heard you describe writing these stories as “little revenges” which intrigues me. Can you tell us about the writing process for this collection? How did these stories come about?
Sure! I started writing these stories starting around 2016, after Trump was elected and the #metoo movement picked up steam. My daughter was just a baby, so I was writing during lunch at work, and on the metro, and later after everyone had gone to bed. They were honestly just catharsis – my little revenge stories, I started calling them. But as I told friends what I was writing, people (mostly women) kept saying I should turn them into a book, and finally, I put them together and sent them to my publisher, and they agreed!
I’m also curious about your thoughts on flash fiction versus longer stories. Do you have a favorite to write? Do you know before you start writing a story whether it will be flash or not?
I definitely always know if what I’m writing will be longer, and it’s going to sound odd, but it has everything to do with whether the story is character driven or plot driven. If it’s character driven, that’s always going to be a longer story, because it needs time to open up, to show this character or this relationship and unfold the story at the same time. But if it’s plot driven, I hate long, drawn-out plotty things – I tend to find there’s more power in the compression of flash when you’re trying to use plot to create impact. I love writing both kinds, though I’ve been writing longer pieces lately.
What have you read and loved recently?
Oh gosh, there’s so much good stuff that came out last year, and I’m only now just starting to dig into half of it. I bought so many books! I just read Matthew Salesses’s book on craft, CRAFT in the REAL WORLD, and I’m so glad to have it in my staple of craft books now, especially given how few craft books there are by people of color and how there’s so much the writing program world still needs to wrestle with in terms of diversity and perspective and style and who gets to tell what stories. I’ve been following Matt on this topic for a long time, and I’m so glad this book is out in the world now. And speaking of flash, I just finished Lydia Davis’s Essays I, and I highly recommend for anyone who writes. They’re just masterful. I also just finished Deesha Philyaw’s THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES, and I get what all the hype is about – it’s a truly excellent collection of short stories, and really absorbing to read, too.
You’ll be teaching in our upcoming online flash fiction workshop! Can you give us a teaser of the topic you’ll be teaching?
Sure! I’ve been thinking a lot in the last few years about the kinds of things that make me uncomfortable as a writer, and how I can learn from those things. There are certain weaknesses we have, and a lot of times as writers I think we get used to just sidestepping those things, to not doing them. And I think that’s fine, but I think writers can actually make use of these weaknesses, to lean into them, to push themselves into really uncomfortable places. Because being uncomfortable is the only way that you can actually grow, and learn new things, and I want writers to learn how to do that by given them the tools, once they’re in that uncomfortable place, to start to examine and probe and experiment. You may never get great at the things you’re not good at, but you might be able to use them to move in new directions, and take your art new places. And that’s what I’m excited to explore. I do it a lot in my own writing, and i find that some of my best stuff is generated in these uncomfortable spaces.
What will you be looking for as you read our submission queue this quarter? Are there particular themes or styles that you’re drawn to as a reader?
I’ll be looking for good writing and good stories, and innovative writing and innovative stories. I’m a catholic and voracious reader; I love almost every genre and style and I’m really open to any writing if it’s good. My big thing that I look for is this: do I feel like I’m in the hands of someone I can trust, a truly expert and assured writer? If the writing feels unsure of itself, I’m usually apt to run the other way. Big confidence in writing for me is key, even if it’s faked. Just go for it.
The core workshop of SmokeLong Fitness is all in writing, so you can take part from anywhere at anytime. We are excited about creating a supportive, consistent and structured environment for flash writers to work on their craft in a community. We are thrilled and proud to say that our workshop participants have won, placed, or been listed in every major flash competition. Community works.