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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