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Interview
with Lindsay Hunter
The
Short Review:
How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collection?
Lindsay Hunter: It took about two and a half years, maybe three. Most of them I had read
at my reading series, Quickes!, or at other readings around Chicago.
TSR:
Did you
have a collection in mind when you were writing them?
LH: I didn't! I actually didn't expect to compile them until I was
approached by featherproof. Zach Dodson said "When are you gonna write a
book for us?" and that's when I started wondering if I could compile
these nutty stories into something cohesive. Thank the sweet Lord for a
press like featherproof!
TSR:
How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
LH: I chose the ones I was the most proud of - that might sound lame but
it's true! There were actually a few I had in there that we later took
out, because they just didn't seem to fit with the rest. The order I
originally had was different as well, but then I got a really
impassioned and thorough email from Jonathan Messinger suggesting a
different order (though I believe it always started with My Brother,
which is perhaps my favorite story in the collection), and I really
liked where he was coming from, so I agreed.
TSR:
What
does the word "story"
mean to you?
LH: It means a glimpse, a lush peek into a character's life or a moment in
which something small or something huge happens, and you as the reader
get to experience it too. Stories have always felt, to me, closest to
life in that there is often no "closure." Or at least, the stories I
hold dear are that way. Something happens, but at the end of the story
the credits don't roll.
TSR:
Do you have a reader in mind when you write stories?
LH:
I think I most often picture my dad! That just occurred to me. He's
this sarcastic libertarian type with an obsessive personality when it
comes to music and books and art and politics, and I have always wanted
him to think I was cool. I just want to impress the hell out of him. I
don't think he read Daddy's, though, which is probably for the best.
TSR: Is
there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read your collection, anything at all?
LH:
Are we still friends?
TSR: How does
it feel knowing that people are buying your book?
LH: It feels so thrilling and so strange. It's a dream come true. I was very
worried that people would hate the book - not that I wasn't proud of it
- but it's dark and there's a lot of sex and I was worried that's all
people would see. So far that hasn't been the case, which has been so
rewarding.
TSR:
What are you working on now?
LH: I'm actually compiling another collection, which I didn't expect. I am
working on a novel but also writing stories, and the stories are piling
up.
TSR:
What are
the three most recent short story collections you've read?
LH:
Museum of the Weird, by Amelia Gray; We Know What We Are, by Mary
Hamilton, and These Strangers She'd Invited In, by Jac Jemc. Also Big
World, by Mary Miller.
And I can't help but mention two that I'm beyond
excited about: Short Dark Oracles, by Sara Levine, and Tongue Party, by
Sarah Rose Etter, both of which are coming out in June (I think).
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