As you know, one thing I was so impressed with was the technical skill displayed in this piece: your use of time and POV. Do you consciously work on these things?
This was incubating for a long while. After decades I reunited with friends from my past and I thought it interesting how many of us who went to Catholic school didn�t have any children of our own. In high school one of the Catholic schoolgirls, whose family really did own Hiawatha Island, her older brother, some other friends, and I rowed to Hiawatha Island. Connecting the scene back to my elementary school class mates as adults just seemed right. Was it conscious though? It mostly felt right, although the POV was definitely chosen consciously.
Who are your writing influences?
Sometimes I think picture books from childhood are my biggest influence. As far as flash, I started writing it as a reaction to not understanding much of the work of a well-known practitioner, kind of as a joke, but then it became a good way to ease into longer works and was kind of fun. When I first started writing, I wrote poetry, and although I wasn�t very good, I had success publishing it. I look at flash as similar in that way.
Do you have a writing group?
A core of three of us has been meeting for more than twelve years. A fourth member has been with us about seven years, and our newest member joined in April 2013. Sadly, our other long-time member died last August.
Can you describe your writing space for us?
A mess! This particular piece was composed at a local coffee shop, Wild Boar, which is in a Craftsman-style house with tile fireplaces and lots of woodwork. The editing was done in my red and gold office at the computer desk my husband made out of reclaimed beams from the Manitou Springs Hotel, which was built in the 1800s. But basically, I write and edit in a messy room at a cluttered desk.
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