Candi’s Bio:
Candi Sary has written seven novels. Five made it to the finals in competitions. Black Crow White Lie was a top six finalist in the 2009 William Faulkner William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition; Finding Grace made the short list for finals in the 2007 William Faulkner Creative Writing Competition; Love Me Madly won second place in the 2007 Dahlonega Literary Festival Novel Contest; The Sound That Red Makes and Thrown Away were finalists in the 2002 Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Award. Lavender Roses is her first short story, inspired by a writing exercise on Janet Fitch’s blog.
Candi graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in psychology. She lives in coastal Orange County, California with her husband, their two teenagers and three dogs. She finds spiritual connection in surfing, running, listening to music, and filming the life around her. Visit her website at http://candisary.weebly.com.
Check out Candi's winning entry, Lavender Roses here, then c'mon back for our chat with her.
Interview by Jill Earl
WOW: Candi, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today. First, congratulations on your winning entry, Lavender Roses! How does it feel to be a runner-up in our contest?
Candi: I am thrilled to be a runner-up! Thank you. This was my first short story.
WOW: You did a marvelous job with it! What prompted you to write your story?
Candi: Janet Fitch has a writing exercise on her blog called 'The Word'. She posts a word, and writers are supposed to come up with a two-page story using that word somewhere in the story. The first word she chose was ball. The phrase "I had a ball" came to mind. And I could hear my grandma saying it.
WOW: That’s a great example of how writing prompts can lead to publication! Think I'll check out Janet's blog myself for some inspiration.
Moving on to your story, telling it from the point-of-view of your five-year old narrator was a fresh idea and added some levity to an otherwise heart-rending situation. P.O.V. can have its challenges. What made you decide to do this?
Candi: I chose the five-year-old narrator because I knew her well. My grandma had Alzheimer's Disease. I was that five-year-old who found magic in the way her mind worked; the way she could look right at me and believe I was my oldest sister. As I got older I understood the tragedy of the disease, but there was a short time when my love for her wasn't burdened with understanding, and the resulting sadness. I thought it would be interesting to go back to that innocent time.
WOW: I thought it was an interesting perspective and I could be wrong, but I don't think y
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By: Jill,
on 7/27/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Winter 2010 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up, Candi Sary, Jill Earl, Add a tag
By: Annie,
on 7/20/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: LuAnn Schindler, Winter 2010 Contest, Winter 2010 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up, Elizabeth Esse Kahrs, Nothing Left Unsaid, Add a tag
By: Margo Dill,
on 7/13/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Margo L. Dill, Winter 2010 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up, Marina Sabatini, Add a tag
Marina Sabatini is one of the outstanding runner-ups in the 2010 Winter Flash Fiction Contest. If you haven't read Marina's story, "The Remedy," yet, check it out here.
Marina has always been a writer, but her parents told her she needed a back-up plan while she pursued her dreams. As a result, she is an itinerant teacher for children with hearing loss in Houston, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Robert E. Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and went on to complete her master’s in multicultural urban special education at The University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Currently, she is a student in the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program at Rice University. When she’s not teaching, she can be found sitting at home on her computer, delving into her imagination, writing her fiction.
WOW: Congratulations, Marina, on being a runner up in the flash fiction contest. Your story "The Remedy" is one that readers will remember long after they finish the last sentence. Where did you get the idea for a story?
Marina: I honestly laugh out loud whenever someone asks me where I got the idea for the story. I enjoy watching Ghost Adventures on The Travel Channel, and one evening, I saw an episode involving the team's investigation of Poveglia Island. During the episode, locals refused to discuss the legend of the island with the host, Zac Baggins. It piqued my interest enough that I wanted to research the background of the island and write a story on it.
WOW: That's a great story! Inspiration comes from all different sources. Was it difficult to write about such a heavy topic with a main character so full of emotion in so few words? Why or why not?
Marina: Cramming so much emotion into 750 words was definitely a challenge! Two things, though, made it easier for me: having a backstory for my main character and doing research. By having some sort of backstory, I could just focus on the moment I was presenting in this woman's life. Through research, I was able to figure out what would be the most important elements to my story that would allow the reader to know the setting and become involved in the character's plight.
WOW: We could apply those same ideas to writing longer fiction works, too--it would tighten our prose. So, what do you find easy about writing flash fiction? What do you find difficult?
Marina: I did find it challenging because I tend to be very descriptive in my writing, but I enjoyed my first attempt at flash fiction because I learned a lot throughout the process. I used to think that having an emotional connection with a character automatically meant that you needed a lot of pages to develop that bond between the reader and the character. This contest taught me to ferociously edit my words and narrow my scope. I had to make every word count, so if something didn't contribute to the overall theme I was intending, it had to go--no matter how much I might have loved how it sounded. In the end, it became fun for me to think of creative ways to pack as much punch