Writers in the Spotlight: Susan Tepper

                                         

Welcome, Susan Tepper! Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions. I am eager to discuss your new flash collection, dear Petrov, launching February 2 by Pure Slush Books. Congratulations on the new release!  I can’t shake these stories. They’re haunting and masterfully written.

The narrator in your book often writes to Petrov in a manner that depicts her reverence for the natural world and all its strange magnificence. Were there specific places that inspired these vivid descriptions?

ST:  To my mind the natural world is a spectacle that is unsurpassed.  I feel it in the everyday, and also when I see it in the great art of the museums. I’ve travelled extensively since I was a kid and I think the natural world, the varying countries, invaded me.  There was no particular place for this writing.  Other than what my mind perceives as old Russia.

  

In many ways, your narrator is as mysterious as Petrov himself; the complexity of their relationship steers the line toward larger, philosophical questions and examines the complexities of love and longing in a delicate but powerful way. I wonder how the concept of this book originated. Did you begin writing these stories with the narrator in mind, or with Petrov in mind? 

ST:  One day I sat down blank at the screen and Petrov emerged.  Or, should I say the narrator who loves Petrov emerged first.  The stories began after one of the worst personal times of my life.  My mother who is elderly had an apartment fire.  I moved in there, and lived with her under those conditions, putting the place back together and helping my mother get well.  It was grueling.  I never stopped working unless it was meal time or bed time.  I went about the tasks without any conscious awareness of my own personal suffering.  In a sense I became a soldier with a job to do.  I had no help, no doors opened from adjoining apartments to lend a hand.  Then a few days before I was to return home, I was assaulted in a Post Office by a deranged woman.  Again, people heard my screams and no one came to my aid.  Petrov, I believe, sprang from this feeling of intense aloneness.  After those experiences, my unconscious mind decided to set the story in war time.

  

The individual stories in dear Petrov, as well as the collection as a whole, allow the reader a certain amount of freedom to attach meaning or expand on the narrator’s exploration. As a teacher, this struck me as the sort of text that would be good to teach because I imagine it evoking lively discussions in the classroom. Was this intentional?

ST:  This is good to hear.  But nothing was intentional.  Each piece was written from the place in my brain that writes poetry.  In fact, the collection has been termed cross-genre by some people, since segments have been published as both poetry and fiction.

  

Which piece was written first, and how did the larger story collection evolve?

ST:  Dear Petrov was the very first story, and published by Cheryl Anne Gardner in her zine Apocrypha and Abstractions.  Then I wrote Floods which Richard Peabody took for Gargoyle.  The work seemed to flow out of me, nearly every day.  It was an outpouring of the pain and emotions I kept hidden from my mother during the fire.  I had to get her back on her feet so I couldn’t indulge myself.  I often write things that have no basis in reality, but come from an emotional stem in my brain that holds things.  (I wish I could release easier, it would make my life better!). 

Thank you so much for indulging me, Susan. Now for the writing practice questions… What attracts you to the flash fiction form?

ST:  Actually I’m attracted to all forms of writing.  I love the long flow of novel, and have written several which are not yet published.  Flash fiction is fun because you can get it all done in bite-sized pieces and it’s challenging.  I love a good challenge.

Who and what inspires you to write?

ST:  Jen, nobody inspires me to do anything.  I’ve always been intensely stubborn and self-motivated.  Plus I have a high interest level, a curiosity that doesn’t quit.

Do you ever get blocked creatively?

ST:  Nope.  I like to talk to people.  I like hearing their stories.  I like telling mine to them.  Writing is an extension of that.

  

Do you ever use prompts?

ST:  Only if someone presents them in a journal challenge that could lead to publication.  But on my own, never.

  

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (writing related or no)?

ST:  A brilliant man once said the following to me:  “It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose as long as you don’t quit.”

Thank you so much for taking the time to swing by. I would love to know what you’re working on currently, and where readers can find your work.

ST:  I’ve written some short stories that have been picked up for the spring.  One is coming out in Thrice Fiction Magazine, it’s pretty wild and entirely different from ‘dear Petrov’. I’m also going to start a revision on a novel that’s been pending for a few years.  That should be fun, I’m really looking forward to re-working that one.

Susan Tepper is the author of five books of fiction and a chapbook of poetry.  Awards include Second Place Winner in story/South Million Writers for 2014, and 7^th place winner in the Zoetrope Contest for the Novel, 2006.  She has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize, and once for a Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel ‘What May Have Been’ (co-authored with Gary Percesepe).  Tepper writes the column ‘Let’s Talk’ at Black Heart Magazine where she also conducts author/book interviews.  FIZZ her reading series at KGB Bar, NYC, is ongoing these past eight years.  

Writers in the Spotlight: Erin K. Parker

Hi, Erin!

Welcome to Literary Exhibitionism. You recently released a short story collection, The Secret and the Sacred, with Unknown Press. Congratulations! I want you to know that I devoured it over vacation. 

Thanks, Jen.  I am so pleased that you enjoyed it. 

I noticed that all of the stories in your book, with the exception of “The Photo Album,” are told in first-person narration, creating an intimate feel, as though your narrators are confiding in the reader. Did you set out to achieve such a confidential tone, and how do you decide what point of view you adopt when writing your stories?  

Some of the stories were written in the third-person, and even published that way originally in other publications.  But when Bud Smith, at Unknown Press, read the collection, that was the first note he gave me:  to try telling these stories in first-person in order to create a more intimate, confessional collection.  I did some rewriting, and I had to agree.  It did dial the book in a little tighter, so we went with it.

How long did it take you to write this collection?

It took a few years because I didn’t originally set out to put together a collection.  I was fortunate to start getting work accepted by various publications, and Bud Smith would occasionally tell me that he liked my work and to let him know when I was ready to put out a collection because Unknown Press was interested.  I worked on it very slowly, but steadily, for a couple of years – there were a lot of other things going on which took priority.  At one point, I sent a lot of the stories to Bud so he could see if there was enough for a solid collection that he’d be interested in.  Once I got his comments, I had a clearer direction on where to go with it.  When I saw them all together, I liked the intimate tone, the confessional theme of the stories, and felt they could stand together.  I suddenly realized that I really did have a collection.  There were all these moments or situations where the character stops and looks around and sees clearly what is going on in her life.  Where the only thing to do is to keep going.  Just keep walking.  Either walk away from something or walk toward something else.  The cover art is perfect for the book.  It’s a photo by Brooke Shaden, a very talented photographer who let Unknown Press use her art for my book.  I absolutely love the cover.

I too love the cover. It really introduces the writing well. When did start writing fiction?

I started when I was young, maybe 6 or 7.  I wrote quite a bit growing up – journals, stories and poetry.  I’ve always loved language so much, and have always been an avid reader too.

Who/what inspires you?

I am greatly inspired by authors like Mark Helprin, Margaret Atwood and Hemingway.  They are masters of the art of storytelling and the use of the sparest, most perfect combination of words.  I am really  inspired by art and design.  Stories I see visually can often open a path for the words to come.

Do you ever find yourself blocked creatively?

I do, but not for long periods of time.  I have found that the way to get unstuck is to look at art, design or to pick up a book and start reading.  This helps me get going again, it shakes things loose.  My career is in design, so I can’t afford to panic when I get blocked creatively.  I figured out a long time ago that creative inspiration can be found in so many places, and sometimes it’s just a matter of relaxing and opening up to other mediums.  Get quiet and stay open.  Also, I don’t treat creativity with any kind of reverence, so it isn’t bigger than me.  It’s a puzzle I want to put together, and the trick is to stay open so I can see the pieces.

What is your favorite prompt?

I had never used prompts until I worked with Kyle Schruder and Robert Vaughan for a piece that I was submitting to Lost In Thought.  Kyle sent me a group of photos to choose from to use as a prompt.  I was drawn to a photo of a young woman standing on the street, dressed for work, holding a coffee, and looking completely overwhelmed.  Her whole story came to me right away:  she had just left home and moved to her first apartment.  She had a futon and was hoping to save up for a real bed.  She had an entry level office job that she was excited about.  She was getting used to her new life, finding her routine which consisted of stopping at the neighborhood coffee shop in the mornings on the way to work.  She looked forward to going grocery shopping because it was still so new and it made her feel like she was an adult.  At the same time, she was terrified of messing up at work and afraid of her car breaking down because she didn’t have enough money for a car repair.  You know, that kind of thing came to me, I could see her whole life in that picture.  I remember what that was like and I just started writing.  That story became "Red Velvet Couch."  I will definitely use pictures as a prompt again.

Can you describe your writing routine?

I don’t really have a writing routine.  I write when I can’t stand to keep the story inside anymore.  The lines start screaming to be heard and I have to get them out.  That’s the best feeling in the world.

How many revisions do your stories undergo?

Not very many.  I rework the details or the rhythm of the lines quite a bit when I am done, but the bulk of the story is fairly close to how I first write it. 

Any advice for beginning writers?

When you are ready to submit to places, it’s better to have a pile to choose from, so just keep writing.  Also, once you find someone’s piece that you like, read their bio to see where else they have work.  That will lead you to find new publications where you might want to submit.  At the beginning, it’s almost like a scavenger hunt!

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (writing or no)?

To write things that I would want to read. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to swing by Lit Exhibit, Erin. I would love to know what you’re working on currently, and where readers can find your work.

Thank you so much for this interview, Jen!  I am working on new flash fiction pieces and short stories for the next collection.   I can be found at www.erinkparker.com

Prompt: Based on Erin's answers, let's write an ekphrastic piece of flash fiction based on a photo -- either one you own or one on a post card (there are great ones at bookstores). Find a photo, set a timer, and go! Let us know how it goes.