Fond

Scraping morsels from the pan — TBIN June Interview

1

As a writer, how do you come up with new ideas? How do you capture them so that they are ready when you sit down to write?

When I was five, I heard a rumor you could get a wild bird to hang out with you if you sprinkled salt on its tail. This would override the bird’s impulse to take off and fly away when you reached out, in your innocence, wishing to connect, to hold the creature in your hand. So on a chill autumn day, I went out into the back yard with a shaker full of salt and sat alone, low to the ground for hours waiting for an opportunity. What the rumor failed to clarify was that you’d have to be close enough to the feathers to work this salty magic — a bird would have to land and linger in your presence. Some part of me remains in that state, eager for some wild thing to land within reach so I can lure it in and know it personally.

“Unbraiding,” a short story I published recently on Medium, formed purely from a desire to create a new work of fiction I could share in this arena. While I’m working long-term on a novel, it felt like a worthy challenge to push through the tighter form of a good, old fashioned short story.

The idea came from a character I already know well, plucked from a time in his life before we “met.” Because character drives everything in short fiction, I spent a couple of weeks actively discovering who he would interact with to expose his inner workings. Notes sporadically handwritten, pecked into my phone, fragments of dialogue dangling in the back of my mind. With a list of tangents sorted into gems kept and clutter abandoned, these supporting roles stood out:

• The three women who would teach him, and serve as subtle spurs to his epiphany — they had to be central without upstaging him.
• The ex-wife and her lover, known only from his point of view, emerged to show there’s an edge to him at this time in his life. He’s successful. He’s thrilled by what he does. He’s focused on soothing his child — becoming better at being there for her. And he’s also raw, angry, sexual. His ex opened a window on those aspects, a way to make that visible.

But you wanted to know where the idea came from? Salt grains in the Ether. I have no clue other than to say, I invited seduction — it came and I stayed still long enough to let it have me.

2

On the spectrum of introvert — ambivert — extrovert, where would you place yourself? What are some reason(s) you think you might place in that position? Does it change depending on context?

I used to define myself as a shy kid. In retrospect, what posed as shyness was actually my way of being the eye within a constant storm. Context determines how I act with others, absolutely. I’m a metamorph.

3

What is your relationship with sound? Whether you interpret this word to encompass awkward silences in interactions to the connection found through music, take us on a journey on how you relate to the external world through this sense.

I want the volume up, on the verge of breaking glass and speakers, bringing down the roof. I want bass, grind and beauty and I want it vibrating every cell of my body. Or, I want it off completely.

4

How has your culture or context shaped your beliefs about relationships and what they “should” look like? How much do you subscribe to those expectations?

My formative examples were steeped in mixed messages. Chaos, confusion, divorces, betrayals, misplaced anger — lots of falling apart. By default, I carried some of that with me into early adulthood, gradually chiseling away at it to break free and debug how I experience love.

The culture I arrived in wanted everything by the book, as the book had been written in black and white by previous generations. That book’s sorely outdated. I’m so glad I figured that out before I met my partner and our daughter was born.

5

What is one food that reminds you of childhood?

Yorkshire pudding with homemade gravy rich in fond.

Top fives!

Who are 5 of your favourite musicians/ bands?

• Throwing Snow
• Mogwai
• Daniel Pemberton
• Cibo Matto
• Kodō

What are your top 5 favourite fruits?

• Starfruit
• Lemon
• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Mango

What are your top 5 least favourite vegetables?

• Parsnips
• Fennel
• Green bells (love red bell peppers)
• Cooked cabbage (raw, on a taco — bring it on)
• Heartless artichokes picked too early

What are 5 reasons that get you out of bed each morning?

• To write
• Sunrise
• Love
• Curiosity
• Magnanimity

Articles to share

A piece that deserves more love

“Unbraiding” has enjoyed a few wonderful readers so far, mixed in with incidents of drive-by claps. I’d love for you to give it a read!

• A creative piece: Dream Transcription
• A piece shorter than 2 mins: Boundary
• An article from your favourite publication: Purple Onion and a Knife
• A self-published piece: Real Enough (flash fiction)

You’re up, Darling! Here’s the prompt you can’t resist:

💛🌻☀️🥚 You delight, inspire and educate me daily, Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) ✨💖 Thank you! The Brain is a Noodle = happiness.