a talk with Mary Miller
by Kelly Spitzer
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Diverse.
What about this issue is representative of Mary Miller?
A whole bunch of my very favorite writers are in this issue and I'm so happy to gather them together.
What would you say your style of flash fiction is?
Sad, jealous self-obsessed girl wants what she thinks everyone else has.
What did you learn about editing, or at least editing for SmokeLong?
Oftentimes, rejections aren't personal. There's a lot of luck involved, sending the right story to the right place at the right time, and even then your story may be rejected for a variety of issues beyond your control (i.e., the issue is full or they just published a story with a similar theme).
You brought many great stories to our attention—Steve Almond’s "When the Toasts Stopped Being Funny," and the previously unpublished works of Robert Bradley, Jeff Landon, Kuzhali Manickavel, and Teri Davis Rouvelas. How much fun is it to "discover" writers and stories? Are you always out there, seeking, or do you stumble upon such gems accidentally?
Except Teri, whose work I (happily) stumbled upon recently, these are some of my favorite writers. Steve's My Life in Heavy Metal was one of the first short story collections I fell in love with; I've been a fan of Robert's flash fiction for almost two years now; Jeff combines sad and funny so well and Kuzhali's stories are as beautiful and complex as poetry but still easy to read, which is nearly impossible to pull off, in my opinion.
Overall, how did you like the experience? Is editing something you’d like to do in the future, or are you more inclined to stick with writing?
I liked it, though I had no idea how many submissions SLQ gets! If I wasn't such a slacker, I might have been overwhelmed. I'll probably stick with writing.
You’ve had quite a productive year, with stories appearing or forthcoming in The Oxford American, Mississippi Review, Swink, Quick Fiction, Black Clock, Salt Flats Annual, elimae, Storyglossia, and many others. Where do you hope to be next year?
Right now, I'm in the process of revising my novel. I'm afraid it's too short. Some days I think it's brilliant, other days I'm fairly certain it's shit. That being said, I hope to finish it and get it published, though I think this takes a lot longer than a year, unfortunately. Mostly, I just want to keep writing and working and getting better.
I’ve heard stories about how driven you are to write. What is it about writing that gets to you?
It is seriously the only thing I have any talent for.
Finally, since it’s tradition, I’ll ask you the same final question I asked our contributors: Since this is my first issue with SLQ, I thought it’d be appropriate to discuss firsts. Writing firsts. First time you called yourself a writer, first publication, first check. Those sorts of things. So, dish. What is your most memorable writing first?
I don't remember the first time I called myself a writer. Even now, it's embarrassing, having to explain online publishing and literary magazines to non-writers. And when I tell someone I'm writing a book, they invariably tell me how their cousin/sister/uncle wrote a children's book. My first publication was a short story called "Go Fish," which can still be found at Barrelhousemag.com, though I published some (terrible) poetry in a couple of small print mags I won't name before that. My first check was from Vestal Review, a penny under fifteen dollars, which I cashed.
