SmokeLong Quarterly

This was an excellent piece. What inspired you to write it?

Thank you. I wasn’t inspired as such. I was zoned into a free-flow session, tapping away and hoping for the best, when out it popped.

What draws you to flash fiction?

Laziness, and the fact that I can write three or four flash pieces in the time it takes to do a short story.

Who are your favorite authors? How do they inspire you?

I don’t really have favourites. Anyone who can take a pile of words and build them into a thing of beauty and depth is an inspiration to me.

What are your favorite books?

How long have you got?

Red was a dominant theme in this story; is it a dominant theme in your life?

Definitely. I’m completely dominated by the red bits they put in Strawberry Haagen Dazs.

Were you lucky enough to have a mentor growing up to get you into writing, or is it something you came into on your own?

Nope, there are no mentors to blame, just me. At least, not until very recently when I wandered into the online camp of writer/novelist Alex Keegan, who is mentor to many. He’s a fantastic teacher, a bit like a ninja Dalai Lama in a pair of steel toe-capped boots. But I’ve never known anyone in “real” life who writes, and I don’t know that I “came into” it as such. Writing is something I’ve always done. It’s just as vital to me as breathing and eating ice cream.