There are at least as many ways to title a story as there are to write one. An author might conjure up a title that points to a story's symbolic weight ("A Perfect Day for Bananafish," say) while another might employ a seemingly benign phrase ("Family Furnishings") only to have it churn and reverberate in the mind of a reader throughout the reading experience. And then there are the deceptively simple titles like Cheever's "The Swimmer," which, yes, is literally about a swimmer, but that doesn't … [Read more...] about Online Fiction Interview: Amber Sparks
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Online Fiction Interview: Alison McCabe
Alison McCabe's "Heirloom" deftly trades in contrasts. Over the course of a few hundred words, the diction evolves from the colloquial to the lyrical, and the strangest of details—a cat toy mistaken for a rodent, a son-in-law's name long forgotten—are also the story's most humorous. We recently emailed McCabe to ask about her work, about how she approaches the drafting process, and about how she manages to move so dramatically in time and in tone in such a short work. Nate Brown: “Heirloom” … [Read more...] about Online Fiction Interview: Alison McCabe