Winter General Issue – Monstrous
Following the launch of each of our issues, we cajole one or more of the contributors into a mini interview with the Trash Cat.
Here they will reveal some writing wisdom and tell you what trash critter they identify with most. Important stuff like that.
Today, we have Heather D Haigh, author of the darkly musical flash, The Mercurial Whore in our Winter issue. Read it HERE.
Q: What piece of writing advice/ crafting rule would you trash?
A: Anything that involves forcing my bum onto a seat and churning out words. NaNoWriMo would either kill me or all desire to ever write again. Like everything else, what works for one person is anathema to another. Long-term plans, goals, and routines don’t work for me either. I treat every day as a new day, assess my health and energy levels and decide what I need to do and want to do. Something writing-related nearly always finds its way in there.
Q: Which writers and magazines do you go to to find treasure to read?
A: My taste in literature, like my taste in most things, is hugely eclectic. I have weird collections of random music and clothing. I suspect I’m emotionally stuck somewhere around the age of fourteen and still trying everything for size.
But. I know I’m almost always going to adore Flash fiction by Sumitra Singam, Mairead Robinson, Chris Cottom, Emily Rinkema, Mathew Gostelow, Kathy Hoyle, Myna Chang, Lindz Mcleod, Jo Gatford, Jude Potts, and absolutely not forgetting JP Relph. I could add so many more to that list. For short stories, I love A.L. Kennedy, Cherise Saywell, Emily Flouton, and many more. With novels, my true home is fantasy, although I read across many genres. I adored The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and a good selection by Jim Butcher and Terry Goodkind, and I loved Harry Potter. I make no apology for enjoying books that some deem badly written. Sometimes I want cerebral stimulation; sometimes I want emotional resonance; sometimes I just want magic and fun.
Q: What trash animal do you most identify with?
A: I’m a turtle (Trash Dinosaur) – prone to come out and snap at all the things in the world that need fixing then pop back in my shell and hide. Also, I love the sea. I can have a seafront, sea-gull crap-spattered trash can, where I can be fed fish and chips scraps, right?
Q: When your writing mojo is trashed, how do you recharge?
A: I don’t really think of it that way. If I’m not in the mood for writing, I’ll be doing something that feeds into my writing later so it’s all good. Sure, I have days when I think I’m the shittiest writer that ever put pen to paper, but I’m a firm believer that people are allowed to write shittily, dance shittily, sing shittily, draw shittily, etc. I’d rather focus on what I can do to make myself or someone I care about happy than worry about measuring up to anything. I’ll leave that to the Enneagram type threes.
Q: If you could offer three tips to writing short treasures, what would they be?
A: I update this constantly as I learn, but for now I’ll go with:
1. Write it with passionate abandon.
2. Stew it till it hurts then stew it some more.
3. Edit savagely.
Q: What is one thing, if spotted in a crowded thrift store, you would just have to buy?
A: Yet another hat. I make hats. I buy hats. I swap hats. I give hats away. And repeat. This may be because I cut my own hair. Atrociously.
Heather is a sight-impaired spoonie and emerging working-class writer from Yorkshire. Her work has been published by Fictive Dream, The Phare, the Timberline Review, Free Flash Fiction, WestWord and others. When not writing or napping she can sometimes be found waving her camera around or making messes she optimistically calls arty. She knits silly hats to hide self-inflicted hair disasters. Find her at heatherbooknook
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