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Sensible Swim: From Marine Biology to Fiction Writing
Simon Ailes interviews Greg Sanders |
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by Greg Sanders
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3:00 |
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Greg Sanders’ collection of short stories, Motel Girl, was published by Red Hen Press on September 1st. His story, “PS2 Mouse Adapter” starred in Opium4: Live Well Now (No Matter What). In the same issue his story “Iz Tart Fook,” was also a finalist for the Shya Scanlon 7-Line Story Award. Simon Ailes and Greg Sanders are friends from childhood.
Ailes: When we were in high school we both wanted to be marine biologists—what happened?
Sanders: I guess we played it safe. It was brought to my attention by my father that as a marine biologist I’d probably spend my life broke. The irony is that writing short stories does not exactly make you rich. I still think about it sometimes and wonder what it would have been like out there on the water, maybe working on a research vessel, dredging silt for hidden life. It actually seems like a decent metaphor for writing fiction.
Ailes: We’re sitting here at the Grampus pub in Lee, North Devon, on our second of what will probably be four or five pints of bitter. What’s your take on alcohol? It’s been credited with great writing and early deaths—where do you stand?
Sanders: I sometimes have a few drinks if I’m having a problem with a story, or if I’m not sure where to take it. But I never edit my stuff if I’m buzzed. I’ve written some terrible stuff drunk, but sometimes the bit that remains after I soberly edit the hell out of it is better than I might have managed sober.
Ailes: Your stories often explore areas of moral ambiguity. Is this a risky strategy?
Sanders: I set out to explore ambiguity in general because it can be a truer reflection of reality than most fiction admits. A typical writing workshop tells aspiring writers to fit their work into the so-called dramatic arc, and to develop characters with neatly defined traits, but life is rarely so simple or so pat, thankfully. Anyway, yeah, maybe it’s risky, but I like the results.
Ailes: It seems like living in New York City provides positive inspiration for your writing. Would you be lost without New York?
Sanders: Absolutely lost…at least for a little while. The East Village, where I’ve lived for fifteen years is, or was, punk. Back in the day it inspired rebellion. Even though the neighborhood is depressingly gentrified at this point, there’s still enough frenetic energy in the air to keep my creative battery charged.
Ailes: What’s your plan to follow up Motel Girl?
Sanders: I’ve got two new stories coming out in the Fall—one in The Warwick Review and one in the Los Angeles Review. So I’m working toward another story collection. And I’m working on a novel…it’s preliminary at this stage.
Ailes: A bit of a cliché question—who are your influences?
Sanders: In no particular order: Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Kafka, Nabokov, Chekhov, Borges, Flannery O’Connor. There are many others too. Gogol had a knack for writing about the absurd, and he did it well before any Americans got it into their heads to do the same. Nabokov was such a stickler for language and imagery that I can’t put his stuff down. Chekhov reaches into your soul, Borges into your mind.
Greg Sanders wrote a collection of short stories, Motel Girl, which was published by Red Hen Press on September 1st, 2008. His story, “PS2 Mouse Adapter” starred in Opium4: Live Well Now (No Matter What). In the same issue his story “Iz Tart Fook,” was also a finalist for the Shya Scanlon 7-Line Story Award.
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