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Smoking With Nance Knauer

(Read the Story) December 15, 2003

Nance Knauer

Art by Marty D. Ison

From Minnesota to the south of France!? What inspired this story?

I’d say this story arose from memory and lingering desire.

This piece is so visual! How important are scene and setting to you in flash fiction?

I enter most of my stories through the setting. Once the characters are grounded, I learn a great deal about them and their connections.

What books are on your nightstand right now?

Story Quarterly 39, Conjunctions 13, Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction and the Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t think it’s a question of want. I tried everything else I could think of, and nothing else held the complex twist of pain and excitement that writing brings to my life. I think I’ve always wanted to “be” a writer, but only recently have I begun to write.

If you weren’t busy writing, what would you be busy doing?

Sorry, I don’t understand the question. No, seriously, everything seems to relate to writing now, but I do have other interests. Give me a minute, I’ll think of one. Well, you know, I’ve always wanted to yodel.

About the Author

Nance Knauer is a transplanted southerner who gathers wool all day and knits it together all night. Published at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, now dealing with the fame of it all.

About the Artist

A native of Ohio, Marty D. Ison lives with his wife transplanted in the sands of the Gulf of Mexico. He studied fine arts at Saint Petersburg College. In addition to the visual arts, he writes poetry, short stories, and novels. See more of Ison’s work here.

This interview appeared in Issue Two of SmokeLong Quarterly.
SmokeLong Quarterly Issue Two
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