Spring Pop-Up – Collectors & Collections

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 Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos
You can read poignant flash fiction, The Woman You Knew Nothing About HERE

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Q: What piece of writing advice/ crafting rule would you trash?

A: Less is more with adjectives & adverbs. I enjoy using both & writing long lists of adjectives (that drive my beta readers crazy). I think they can help create a rhythm in a short piece. They are not the enemy.

Q: Which writers and magazines do you go to to find treasure to read?

A: I spend more time reading magazines than books these days. Milk Candy Review, Flash Frog, Epistemic Lit, BULL, Roi Fainéant, The Hooghly Review come to mind, among many others. As for writers, there are too many to mention, but they all have in common carefully structured stories with beautiful sensory details, just the right amount of metaphors & similes, and a strong voice. 

Q: What trash animal do you most identify with?

A: The cat because they are loyal, loving, but they bite. They’re also unpredictable and entertaining.

Q: When your writing mojo is trashed, how do you recharge?

A: I take a break, take care of my plants, walk to work listening to music, people-watch in the public transports, I read the latest work by my favourite writers, and binge on movies, series and documentaries until an idea pops into my head or I know how to fix the story I was stuck on.

Q: If you could offer three tips to writing short treasures, what would they be?

A:  
1 – Feel. I’ve read many beautifully written pieces that left me cold. Put yourself in there and feel the feels. If you don’t, neither will the reader.

2 – Avoid too many filters (see/hear/think etc.) they really create a distance between the character and the reader and slow the flow. This being said, some of my favourite pieces rely heavily on them, so…

3 – There are no rules. Do you and have fun.

Q: What is one thing, if spotted in a crowded charity shop/thrift store, you would just have to buy

A: I love wooden statues or any object combining metal & wood. And boxes. I love boxes (it must be a cat thing)

Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos is a Pushcart-nominee Breton writer, teacher, mother, nature and music lover, foodie, dreamer. She is a contributor to Poverty House, co-founder of The Pride Roars, and the EIC of Raw Lit. Her debut historical novel Laundry Day was a Novel Fair 2024 Runner-up. She lives in Athens, Greece. https://delphinegg.weebly.com/