Interview with Jennifer Thomas, 2nd Place Winner in the WOW! Spring 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

 

Jennifer Thomas grew up in the wilds of Miami, Florida. She loved to watch the pelicans soar, so ugly they were beautiful. Seeing them die off from the effects of DDT in the 1970s made her a lifelong environmentalist. As a teenager she read vast amounts of science fiction, especially early feminist sci fi, which inspired her to imagine how the world could be different. For the past 40-ish years she has lived on the North Shore of Massachusetts, making a living as a machinist, science writer, and teacher (though not all at once). Recently she began writing flash fiction, delighting in how the Muse cavorts inside word count constraints. To Jennifer’s surprise, her stories have been accepted by several publications, including Flash Fiction Magazine, 365tomorrows, and now Women on Writing. You can find some of her work at www.jenniferthomas.net. 

 ----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: Welcome, Jennifer, and congratulations! What was the inspiration behind writing this particular story, "Who Will Kill the Spiders?" 

Jennifer: One Sunday I went to a bridal shower, where I gave the bride-to-be a cast iron pan. I went home to where my own cast iron pan—originally my late husband’s—was languishing on the stove. The story came to me as I pondered my motivation for giving the bride the pan, and for neglecting my own. I workshopped the story in a critique group, where many of the participants, it turned out, also had some kind of attachment to a cast iron pan. With their help my story improved, but I still felt it was a bit schmaltzy and flat. Out of the blue came the idea of weaving in the “guessing game” as a narrative thread, and I also changed the ending to be a bit more ambiguous. I was happier with the story and sent it off to WOW! 

WOW: I have to say I love that last line! Judge Emily Williamson noted how impressed she was that the top three stories in this contest used something familiar and concrete to "build a world both past and present, and to dive into the things unseen." Can you think of any other concrete items (like the cast iron pan) in your own personal life that would make a great anchor for another story? 

Jennifer: Hmmm, I’m looking through my running list of story ideas and not one revolves around a concrete, familiar object. So I’m taking a mental inventory of familiar objects in my house—there are none I’d regret seeing vanish before my eyes. Well, there’s one exception: a collection of a few thousand family photographs ensconced in plastic cases in a closet upstairs. You know, the photos you got when you took the film canister to Walgreens and drove back a few days later to pick up the envelope of prints and negatives. As you perused those photos, remembrance flowed from your hands to your gut—that goofy kindergarten graduation, the annual Thanksgiving debauchery, those corsaged almost-grown kids endearing their way to the prom. You could winnow the photos, digitize them, store them in a folder in the cloud—to join the (literally) 14 trillion other digital photos in existence in 2024. But should you? I think there’s a story there. Also upstairs, in a drawer, are five or six pairs of pantyhose. I am 100 percent sure I will never put on pantyhose again. I think there’s a story there too. 

WOW: I think you may be right, both about the photo prints and the pantyhose! Your bio says you have always enjoyed reading science fiction and this influence shows up in much of your published work. How have your recent stories been inspired by modern-day events taking place in our world? 

Jennifer: I still remember the thrill I had as a teenager getting monthly selections in the mail from the Science Fiction Book Club. What attracted me to those books was not rocket ships and outer space; it was how the authors reimagined the human condition. In Ursula LeGuin’s 1969 "The Left Hand of Darkness," for instance, inhabitants of the planet Gethen are “ambisexual”—moving between male and female—with far-reaching effects on their society. Quite the thought experiment, at the time! A lot of today’s speculative and science fiction pulls in a dystopian direction, understandably given our wobbly democracy, the creep of anti-human technology, and the spiraling climate crisis. Some of my published stories depict not-too-farfetched struggles in a not-too-distant future, extrapolating from what’s happening under off-the-hook capitalism. But I’ve also tried to write stories with optimistic, if not happy, endings, however improbable. 

WOW: You've also worked as a science writer. What are some of the topics that you've covered in this occupation? 

Jennifer: The topics have run the gamut, from worker safety to drinking water quality to marine pollution to climate change. It’s been gratifying to contribute to the (albeit Sisyphean) task of addressing these issues. Through this profession I learned to value clarity of message and economy of words, and to put myself in the reader’s shoes. I also had to make sure that every sentence I wrote was factual. Now, writing fiction, I get to make stuff up! My typical process is to think of a situation, put a character in it, and see what happens. 

WOW: Yes, writing fiction can be so liberating! Do you have any advice for writers who are just beginning to explore the craft of writing flash fiction? 

Jennifer: As a beginning fiction writer myself, I’ll offer a few things that helped me get started. First, get feedback on your work. I joined an online author’s group where folks are remarkably generous and supportive. When you get feedback, send away the gremlin of defensiveness; look for the kernel of truth and revise. I’ve never received feedback that didn’t make a story better. Second, take the leap and send your work to publications you like. What do you have to lose? Rejections mean nothing at all about you or your talents, and you might get valuable feedback. Also, use a service to keep track of your submissions; that will save you headaches down the road. Third, find ways to keep it all in perspective. I have a semi-regular meditation practice that helps me when I’m stuck. It’s amazing what shows up when I turn off the thought stream—a new story element (that guessing game!), an unexpected plot twist, greater equanimity about my writing and about life. It doesn’t have to be meditation—whatever gets you out of your head can open space for what you need.

WOW: All practical and helpful pieces of advice! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us on the craft of writing today, Jennifer.