SmokeLong Quarterly

I admire greatly the structure of “Partners”—how did you decide on this structure and how did you work the driving of this story? For instance, did “the history of their running away” come upon you in a linear fashion? In blocks or segments of location (jungle, sea, volcano, suburb)? Was there a plan all along to have this segmented?

I picked several extreme environments to test the footing of these two, places you only get to because something’s gone wrong. I knew I wanted them to end up in the suburbs because there was no way they could last there. It is always the aftermath of something, and there is always a plan to get derailed.

The inspiration for this story?

People who love each other but who at times hate each other too. Prickly people.

There are so many terrific lines in your story, but tell me more about this one, “We won’t last long before we’re discovered.” Will there be more about these two? Will they be discovered in another story?

They’ll be discovered if they’re not careful. They have a looooong history, so there’s lots more to say. Plus there’s the others, before they met. Oh God, the others. And the folks they’re running from. Yes yes, there will be more. Reams.

Where did you write “Partners”—tell us about the setting behind the writer.

I wrote it in a hotel room in Israel over the summer and on the bus. I needed something to cheer me up. It did the trick. Now I’m back at school and I need more cheer. So I’m writing LOTS.