Megan McGrath - Author Interview: Short Story Writer

What kinds of fiction did you read as a child and teenager, and did you have some favourites? Would you say your childhood and teenage reading has had a distinct influence on how you write fiction now, and why?

My teenage years aren’t that far behind me. I read a lot of Australian writers when I was growing up. Joanne Horniman, Tim Winton, Gary Crew and John Marsden. As an older teen, I shifted to the grittier Americans like Bret Easton Ellis and Raymond Chandler. Influences from reading Horniman, Chandler and Easton Ellis are all pretty evident in my short fiction.

Pick one of your favourites among your fiction stories or a story which is an interesting example from your fiction. What makes this story one of your favourites or an interesting example of your fiction?

Earlier this year, I wrote my first crime fiction. I enjoy reading thrillers but had not tried to write my own. Friends Like These was published in the Dexian Racking anthology, The Swamp in September. While I have by no means mastered crime-fiction, this piece was breakthrough for me and I believe I will carry elements of this genre into my short fiction from now on.

Who is another author whose fiction writing you admire and why?

Emotional powerhouses Cormac McCarthy and Michael Cunningham are in my list of most respected writers. Their fiction combines staunch narrative with characters of such depth it is really their journey that drives the story. For short fiction, J.G. Ballard and Jhumpa Lahiri are among my favourites for their exquisite prose, their range and their deft ability to manipulate the form.

How would you summarise one of your short stories in one paragraph?

Farewell, the Sea was published in the Australian Literature Review in early November. This story is about mistakes not made.

How would you describe the appeal of this short story to readers?

The unusual premise in the opening of this story is a lure for the reader to continue reading. I believe there is a sense of sorrow and longing in the title that adds to the mood of the opening sentences. The appeal of the story overall is a chance for contemplation, and to experience a range of emotions on the journey with this unlikable character.

How would you summarise a scene or sub-section from this short story in one paragraph?

There’s a scene at a restaurant in this story where the protagonist sneaks off to the bathroom to touch up her lipstick. She has a shift in attitude in this moment, and returns to the table as though entering an alternate reality – a space for her to see what her life would have been like if she’d made different choices.

How would you describe the contribution this scene or sub-section makes to the short story?

The characters are very disconnected in this story due to their individual emotional struggles, but in this scene, they become aligned by their selfishness.

Do you aspire to primarily write novels in the future, or are you more interested in writing short stories, and why?

Due to the more commercial nature of novels, I do hope to write them in the future. They are recognisable successes and command attention from readers and critics alike. But the short story though underrated by many readers, is very precious to me. I find it succinct, subtle and a beautiful craft. It is a form I will continue to work in.

Do you read many short story anthologies, and why?

I love reading short stories. I read a lot of fiction anthologies and subscribe to literary journals, as well as seek out short works online. I often buy collections by single authors. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower, Einstein’s Monsters by Martin Amis and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies are among my favourite collections.

What lengths of short stories do you usually write, and why?

For the Australian market, I write in the range of 2000 to 3000 words. Most competitions and journals accept work in this length and it is a range I have been able to work with successfully. I personally like short stories I can read in one sitting. Works of 5000 to 8000 words struggle to sustain my interest. I would rather the complexity of a full novel than be subjected to baggy short story.

Do you submit for many short story competitions, anthologies and magazines, and what are your main motivations for this?

I often write with specific markets in mind. I thrive on deadlines. Entry cut off dates or approaching calls for submissions are the perfect motivation to get me to finish a piece. I write to be read, but I am also traditional when it comes to publishing. I will give a piece the greatest chance of being published in a journal or anthology, or winning a competition before I’d consider self-publishing it or sacrificing it to the bottom drawer.

Author website:  www.megansfictions.blogspot.com



Megan McGrath - Author Interview: Setting

Pick one of your favourites among the settings from your published fiction stories or a setting which is an interesting example from your published fiction. What makes this setting one of your favourites or an interesting example from your fiction?

I write many coastal tales. Not so much for the beauty and power of the ocean, but because of the kinds of characters that forge lives on and near the sea. From small and sleepy fishing towns to picturesque holiday escapes, the ocean attracts the most intriguining people and for me, it is what makes the setting so diverse. My favourite coast-story to date is The Lunar Coast (Winner of the Queensland Young Writers Award 2009, published in The Griffith REVIEW Edition 28: Still the lucky country?) set in an imagined town in the north of Western Australia.

What is a setting from a published fiction story by another author you would compare this setting to and why are they similar?

I drew inspiration from J.G. Ballard’s dystopian short story The Cage of Sand (1962) when considering a familiar landscape made alien by a change in the weather. In The lunar coast, the tide goes out and does not come back in. Ballard’s short fiction is full of ordinary settings made surreal and he helped me imagine my world without water.

How would you describe the way you introduced this setting to readers of your story?

In short fiction, I believe it is important to set up a believable world in the first instance. To paint a coastal fishing town that has long been barren I did this with the first line, “I was seventeen when the tide went out.”

How would you describe the integration of characters and setting in this story?

In both Ballard’s story and mine, it is the harshness of the setting that drives the characters to act the way they do. In The lunar coast the two central characters respond to the changed landscape in their own way, but it is this comparison of opinion and their opposing actions that drive the narrative.

How would you describe the interaction of story and setting in this story?

Despite the dystopian nature of this story, the setting is ultimately a fishing town with a disrupted dynamic. The conflict in this story arises from the characters coming to terms with their futures and friendships in response to the setting.

How much research did you do for the setting of this story, and what did that involve?

My experiences growing up on an island in south east Queensland forms much of the research for my coastal fiction. But I rarely write about the island. For The lunar coast, I developed the idea when travelling around Australia. I was sea kayaking in Broome when I came across a rock formation that disappears under the ocean during high tide. That region has some of the biggest daily tides in the world, and the way the landscape can change in as 12 hours was part of the inspiration for The lunar coast.

To what extent would you describe the setting of this story typical or atypical of the settings in your fiction stories?

Small towns and coastal towns will be a constant in my fiction. From experience they are full of characters with quirk, locations that inspire and most importantly; secrets.

How do you usually decide on or develop a setting for your fiction stories?

My settings are generally constructed from a handful of known places. Towns I’ve driven through, houses I’ve been in. I tend to move things around to suit the story and I avoid being too specific. I would never set a story in a real place. I like my fiction to be fictitious.

To what extent do the settings of novels you read have an impact on why you read them, and why?

I dislike narratives that rely on specific street names and read like stage-directions (I left the hotel and went west on Broadway, for example). But I rarely judge a book specifically on setting. However, the settings I love are highway towns, remote properties, Alaskan villages and of course, stories on the coast.

Author website: www.megansfictions.blogspot.com