Winter Pop-Up Issue – Feline Flash

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 Athena Law. You can read her quirky, off-kilter flash here: A Portal to the Primary

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

A: Not trash entirely, but as the first writing comp I won challenged participants to break the writing rule “avoid cliches” then I’ll let it sit on the bin lid (Shout out: Not Quite Write Prize!) That particular round, the shortlisted stories proved that when used sparingly, a well-known phrase can do a lot of heavy lifting, or better still can be effectively flipped on its head in the very next sentence.

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

A: For small treasures I find daily treats in my inbox from Rat Bag Lit and Micromance, and I love browsing Vestal Review, Brevity, Beautiful Things, the Ekphrastic Review, and of course Trash Cat! I belong to a Discord group with loads of very talented writers and there’s always something fabulous to read in there.

Q: What trash animal do you most identify with?

A: As a lifelong “night owl”, and as the owl is the symbol of the goddess Athena, who I was named after, it’s definitely an owl. I recently bought fancy $15 reading glasses from the pharmacy so the transformation is complete.

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

A: Wine first. Trashy telly second. Reading a different genre to what I’ve been writing third. After that I write something purely for pleasure, usually silly but sometimes murderish. If all else fails then a regular prompt-based comp is guaranteed to get something moving (shout out: Furious Fiction).

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

A:
1. Try writing micro or flash in every genre, I promise you’ll surprise yourself

2. Find your ‘people’ – whether it’s one supportive beta reader or a whole Discord group

3. Write first, worry about wordcount later. Some of my favourite flash began life a few hundred words heavier

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

A: I rescue plants from bins quite a bit, and in thrift stores can’t go past vintage books, nicely framed (but often crappy) paintings, and crystal glasses. Side note: my husband is a minimalist and is 15 years into a losing battle against the above habits!

Athena Law is an award-winning, Pushcart nominated short fiction author & poet, whose stories have appeared both in print and online. She lives on a hillside in the lush Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia, where she collects pencils and has all her best ideas at midnight. Her writing support animal is a ragdoll named Tolly, who is 90% floof and 10% chaos goblin.
Website: https://www.athenalawauthor.com.au/