Interview with Rebecca Song, 2nd Place Winner in Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest

Rebecca was an English teacher before developing ME/CFS. She was privileged to help young teens wrestle with big questions, stretch their intellectual limbs, and find their written voice. While her illness forced her to relinquish her vocation as a teacher, being sick has also been a gift, teaching her how to live with far greater presence and loving-kindness. She’s only just dusting off her own practice as a writer, but as she’d tell her students, Rebecca believes wrapping language around our experiences is one of the greatest (if most impossible) tasks we can undertake. We are sentient tourists in a multiverse with newborn fingernails and undersea volcanoes; we have ancestors who were shamans and atoms in our bodies that were crafted among the stars. “Who am I to write?” is not for us to ask. Who are we not to write?

Please read Rebecca's eye-opening story, The Change, and then come back here to learn more about the author.

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

WOW: Rebecca, thank you for being here and welcome! I love your mantra about "who are we NOT to write?" Well said. You've shown that you are adept at writing fleshed out and compelling flash fiction. Do you also like to write longer fiction pieces or creative nonfiction? What is your favorite form and why?

Rebecca: Most of my work consists of long-form short stories. This is my first flash fiction piece, and it's also my first time sending a story "out"! I really appreciate WOW giving me an entryway into this form.

WOW: That's wonderful that you made such an impact with your first flash fiction piece! We look forward to seeing even more of your work in the future. Your bio states that you have ME/CFS. Can you explain a little more about your illness and how it has impacted your life?

Rebecca: I went from being someone who rode their bike to and from work, who was consumed by her (beloved) vocation as a high school English teacher, and who would regularly spend until the early hours of the morning writing to being someone who on bad days can barely tolerate light, sound, or movement. Clearly this changed a lot about my attitude toward life, but it also changed my writing. I have to treat myself with more compassion than ever before, and this means I'm much less of a perfectionist. It's no coincidence that I only sent my first story out after getting sick; before that, my Inner Critic would get ahold of my work, and nothing was never "good enough" to release into the world. So while I can't write as much as I used to, when I do I'm a lot less inhibited and critical of my work, which is a tremendous gift.

WOW: I'm so sorry to hear that your illness has robbed of you of a vocation you loved, but hopefully writing will help you with the healing process. "The Change" is a metaphorical and lyrical look at the metamorphosis of a young woman named Teresa. How did you first come up with this idea, and what was the writing and editing process like for it?

Rebecca: Most of my stories come from asking myself "what-if" questions. In this case, a friend was telling me about her experiences of sexism as a female software engineer, and I thought to myself, "What if she wasn't a woman...what if she wasn't a human at all but something else? How would her experience change?" and the ridiculous but fun idea of having a young woman turn into a powerful animal came from that chain of thought. I definitely overwrote on my first draft. Having the flash fiction constraint was helpful because then I could cut the weaker material and focus on what the story absolutely needed.

WOW: Flash fiction definitely limits any story to only the most important aspects! What books are on your wish list to read right now?

Rebecca: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (The NYT called this "part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable" so it sounded like something I needed in my life) and Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (A) It's Lauren Groff and B) NYT Book Review praises its "comedy, tragedy, erudition, and unmistakable glimmers of brilliance throughout," which sounds like tremendous fun to me).

WOW: Those sound fascinating--thank you to alerting us to these! If you had had one piece of advice to give to a writer just starting out (young or old) what would you say?

Rebecca: Write about characters who interest you. What keeps me writing (and writing things that surprise myself) is wanting to find out what happens to these odd fictional friends I've created.

WOW: That seems like a perfect piece of wisdom to end this interview. We wish you the best of luck with  your writing and your health.





Rebecca:

Read More »

1 comment Contestant interview, Rebecca Song, Renee Roberson, Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest

Interview with Valerie Burton, Runner Up in Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest

Valerie Burton's Bio: Around the time I was turning 30, I decided to leave my dream job in the New York publishing industry to join the Peace Corps. At the time, I was writing short stories and taking classes at Gotham Writers’ Workshop. After two years as a volunteer in Guatemala, I got a Master’s degree in Social Work and have worked for over 12 years investigating abuse and neglect of elderly and disabled adults.

Several years ago, my desire to be a writer resurfaced. I dedicated myself to trying to write daily, worked with a coach, and took some workshops. I’ve learned so many things through writing, including how to enjoy the process and to honor the muse. I have always been inspired by Raymond Carver’s straightforward, powerful stories. My hope for my stories is that they reflect observations of life in both humorous and poignant ways. It’s always been a dream to have one of my stories win a contest, so I am ecstatic to have been selected for the top 10!

When I am not at work or writing, I coordinate scholarships for students in Guatemala, advocate for animal rights, run, and play tennis. Please connect with me on LinkedIn.

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Summer 2018 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to enter the contest?

Valerie: Thank you so much! Placing in the top ten in the Summer Flash Fiction contest is the achievement of a lifelong dream for me. Through the years I have entered various writing contests, and I actually decided to stop since it seemed like I was spending a lot of money and I wasn’t getting any results. What I loved about the WOW contest was the opportunity to receive a critique, for a very reasonable price, so at least if I didn’t place in the contest I knew I would receive some constructive feedback. I actually entered this story in the Spring contest and scored a 12. I made some revisions, incorporating feedback from the critique, and submitted it again for the Summer contest. I found the whole experience very positive and supportive, and I definitely look forward to entering again.

WOW: : Your entry, "Mister Softee," is a good reminder that we never really know what someone’s motivations are, and that kindness matters. Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story?

Valerie: I am the type of person who is easily distracted by background noise—well, beyond distracted, I find it extremely difficult to concentrate if someone is playing music or even just talking too loud. Since it is pretty much unavoidable that there will be noise in the world, I have tried to find ways to either accept it or not focus on it. I think when I wrote the first draft of Mister Softee, I was trying to convince myself that although outside noise might be annoying to me, it is not about me. The possibility that something I find to be a nuisance and a distraction could actually have a purpose I am not aware of, that I would wholly support if I were aware of it, I think is where the idea originated. There is an ice cream truck in my neighborhood that really does play Christmas music. But I have never gone out and yelled at the driver!

WOW: We’d love to know more about your writing routines. Could you tell us when and where you usually write? Do you have favorite tools or habits that get you going?

Valerie: Most days, usually early evening, I sit at my desk and write to a prompt from one of my books. Sometimes the hardest thing is to just get started. My goal is to write one page, and usually I do more. Sometimes these exercises turn into stories and I continue working on them. I discovered that writing in the third person and naming characters in my exercises helps me with writing fiction, because otherwise the exercises come out too much like a journal. I also have found that being part of a group is where some of my best writing comes out; I’m not sure why but my muse seems to like for me to be around other writers and not writing alone all the time.

WOW: Are you working on any writing projects currently? What can we plan on seeing from you in the future?

Valerie: Ever since I discovered flash fiction, which was earlier in 2018, I have found it to be a fun challenge to try to tell entire stories with a limited amount of words. I definitely plan to continue writing short fiction. I love reading novels, and I attempted writing one a couple years ago that is about half done, so maybe one day I’ll be inspired to get back to that or start another.

WOW:  Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Valerie. Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?

Valerie: I would encourage other writers to take advantage of the critiques offered by WOW. I am so glad I decided to put my story through the process, because that is what helped me get over the hurdle and achieve this dream. Many great achievers in life encourage us to never, ever give up, and that is why this means so much to me. Receiving recognition for "Mister Softee" is inspiration and motivation for me to keep writing and searching for what other stories are waiting to be told.

****

For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.

Read More »

3 comments contest critiques, Contestant interview, flash fiction, flash fiction runner up, Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest, Valerie Burton, writer inspiration, writing routine

Interview with Diane Elayne Dees, Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Runner Up

Diane Elayne Dees’s poems, short stories and creative nonfiction have been published in many journals and anthologies. Diane published the progressive blog, The Dees Diversion, for many years, and she also blogged for several years for the Mother Jones Mojo Blog. Diane, who is a semi-retired psychotherapist in Covington, Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that covers women’s professional tennis throughout the world. When she isn’t writing, Diane spends her time reading and working out at the gym. Connect with her on Twitter @WomenWhoServe.

Be sure to give Diane's poignant story "Woman in Blue," a read and then check back here to learn more about the author.


----------interview by Renee Roberson




WOW: Your bio states that you publish a blog devoted to the sport of women's professional tennis, and you contributed to the Mother Jones Mojo blog (and another blog called The Dees Diversion) for many years. What are your tips for producing quality blog content and getting your work picked up by a national publication?

Diane: I was fortunate that, when I published The Dees Diversion, it was read by someone from the Mother Jones editorial staff, who then invited me to also write for the MoJo Blog. My only advice to bloggers is: Be authentic. Write what you want to write. Social media now makes it a little easier to get a readership—when I joined Twitter, I immediately got a shout-out from a colleague who wrote for Sports Illustrated, and that helped me. I’ve never been too interested in how many people read my blogs, as long as some people are reading them!

WOW: Your work has been published in a variety of forms: poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, etc. Could you give us one example of how you came up with an idea for a piece and the writing process behind it?

Diane: A good example would be a series of poems I wrote on sled-pushing/load pulling, one of my primary activities in the gym. Pushing and pulling different types of weighted sleds is very demanding, sometimes very maddening, but the results are profound—and not just physically.

I was going through something very painful in my life when I began writing the series. I knew that sled-pushing (as well as other forms of physical training) was helping me to hold myself together, and I was led to explore why. The answers appeared in the poems. It came to me that the extreme effort I was making in pushing the weight was, in many ways, a perfect metaphor for the extreme effort I was making in trying to just exist day by day. The poems also led me to acknowledge some gratitude.

I write formal and free verse, and have a preference for formal verse. Four of the five sled poems are formal, which also makes sense in the context of the rhythm that is established when I’m pushing or pulling weight.

WOW: I love that description and how you were able to channel your energy into such a unique project. Speaking of energy, what did you specialize in as a psychotherapist and did your work inspire any of your writing pieces?

Diane: I still work as a psychotherapist (part-time now), and my specialties include the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder. When I was writing fiction, I think that my knowledge of how the mind works made it easier for me to write both internal monologue and dialogue. It also made it easier to understand what would realistically motivate my characters to do the things I had them do.

In writing poetry, my understanding of mental health issues has helped me to explore more uncomfortable themes. And once, I wrote a sestina memorializing a client who had committed suicide.

WOW: What is your favorite line from "Woman in Blue?”

The last line!

WOW: Isn't it such a great feeling when you can write such a zinger of a line and know you have reached the end? There's no better feeling, in my opinion. What is your favorite writing space to work from?

Diane: Maybe the one I have. I often write in my home office, next to a window overlooking a birdfeeder and wooded property. Other times, I write in my living room, the room in my house where I hang out the most. This year, I wrote my first sonnet corona almost entirely from my sofa.

Once, years ago, on a long train ride, my writing brain “lit up,” and I was able to write with great freedom and creativity. A few years ago, I learned about a group of New Yorkers who write while they’re riding subway trains, and I thoroughly understood that. If I lived in New York City, I’d want to join that group.

WOW: Thank you so much, Diane. I hope others are feeling inspired to walk away from this interview and pick up their pens! What a wealth of information and inspiration.

Read More »

4 comments Contestant interview, Diane Elayne Dees, Renee Roberson, Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest, writing advice

Interview with Ashley Memory, 1st Place Winner in Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest

Ashley Memory finds inspiration in the ancient Uwharrie mountains surrounding her home in rural Randolph, County, N.C. She enjoys preserving what she grows in the garden she tends with her husband Johnpaul. She’s learned the hard way about wearing gloves when making jalapeno pickles!

Ashley’s poetry and prose have recently appeared in The Birds We Piled Loosely, Gyroscope Review, The Ginger Collect’s 2018 Halloween Mini-Magazine and numerous other literary journals and anthologies. New work is forthcoming in Okay Donkey and Coffin Bell. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a two-time recipient of the Doris Betts Fiction Prize sponsored by the N.C. Writers’ Network. A previous story, “Eula Dare Hampton Agrees to Edit the Quaker Ladies’ Cookbook,” earned honorable mention in the WOW! Winter 2018 Flash Fiction Contest.

Ashley loves sharing what she’s learned as a part-time instructor for Central Carolina Community College’s Creative Writing Program in Pittsboro, N.C. Follow Ashley on Twitter @memoryashley or visit her fruit-inspired blog at ashley-memory.com.

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on your first place win in our Summer 2018 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to enter the contest?

Ashley: I love entering writing contests! A deadline is an excellent incentive for finishing a story, and a little healthy competition is good for every writer. I’m also a big fan of the WOW contests and their community in particular, which I first learned about from a writing friend many years ago. The WOW prizes and support of their writers is outstanding, and unique of its kind. The entry fee is very reasonable and the judging is blind, two factors which equalize the playing field for everyone. This means that even someone like me (from the little town of Asheboro, N.C.) can earn a place along with the best writers across the world. Oh, and it’s also judged by a literary agent. How cool is that?

WOW:  Love your enthusiasm for our contests! Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story, "Dear Derinda?"

Ashley: Years ago I heard about such a situation—a cell company offering big bucks to a rural community to install a tower and how it fractured the neighborhood. But I just tucked it away in my head as an anecdote because for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to turn it into a story. And then in May of this last year, I participated in Julie Duffy’s Story A Day project and one of her prompts was to write a story in the form of a letter. The two elements just clicked – one friend mad at another and so she writes a letter – and the story finally came to life. The “turn” in the story, how one friend forgave another, was a bit of a personal journey. Having to work that out, as I’m not sure how I would have personally handled that dilemma, meant I had to imagine that I could forgive such a betrayal, which turned out to be an exercise in humility and grace. Does writing make you a better person? In my case, I think it does. At least I hope so.

WOW:  What key elements do you think make a great piece of flash fiction?

Ashley: A flash fiction should have all the elements of a traditional story – a strong character or two, sense of place, imagery, conflict and some kind of resolution – but within an extremely tight space. Beyond this, the writer Vanessa Gebbie says it best. “What a good flash ought to do,” she says, is to “catch you as you turn away, hold you, and when you’re finished reading, it should echo and resonate.”

All of these things make flash fiction one of the more challenging pieces to write, but it’s a wonderful exercise for writers of any level, from professional to beginning because it hones your skills so sharply. It’s also just plain fun! I am fortunate enough to lead a couple of workshops a year on flash for Central Carolina Community College’s Creative Writing Program, and we have a blast. There are so many possible formats for flash, from emails to text messages to even overheard conversations. The sky is truly the limit!

WOW:  Are you working on any writing projects currently? What can we plan on seeing from you in the future?

Ashley: For the past year, I’ve focused on improving my writing, through close study of the masters and a disciplined writing of the short story in particular. Eventually, once a theme emerges, I may produce a collection of stories. I’m also exploring creative nonfiction, particularly the essay. I’m taking my second Chelsey Clammer workshop – one on humor and loving it.

Interestingly, I recently revised a flash story that placed in a WOW contest last year and gave it a holiday twist. “Holiday Party Etiquette for Insects Recently Transformed into People,” will be published by one of my favorite literary magazines, Okay Donkey, in December. I also have a long form narrative poem, “Orchard #9,” about a haunted cherry orchard that will be published by the evocative and eerie Coffin Bell in January.

WOW:  Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Ashley. Before you go, do you have any tips for our readers who may be thinking about entering writing contests?

Ashley: First, enter! Second, you, yes you, I’m talking to you! What are you waiting for?!! Seriously, I encourage all my writer friends to enter contests, especially ones like WOW offers because of the blind judging and great prizes. Look at it like this. The judge may very well be looking for a story just like yours, and it’s your responsibility to share it with her! :) But the best part of entering a competition is the opportunity to join a terrific community of fellow women writers and continue to grow, rewards that endure well beyond the contest itself.

****

For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.

Read More »

3 comments ashley memory, flash fiction winner, Marcia Peterson, Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest, WOW Classes, writer advice, writer inspiration, writing ideas, writing tips