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Once Elizabeth's high school English teacher asked the class to rewrite lead sentences to a short story they had analyzed, she was hooked.
She's worked as a columnist for Parent and Kids/Boston for the past eight years. An excerpt from her novel, The Trouble in Her Mirror, appeared in the Fearless Voices section of The Huffington Post. One of her short stories, "Sylvie Has Gone to the Deli," was featured on Lit 103.3's Fiction For the Ears. Elizabeth also has works published in Amarillo Bay, The Baby Journal, The Boston Globe, Shine, and Static Movement. Want to check out more of her pieces? Check them out at RedRoom.
Elizabeth grew up in suburban New York and currently lives outside of Boston. She's now revising her second novel.
If you haven't had the chance to read Elizabeth's story, "Nothing Left Unsaid," visit WOW! and linger through its words. You'll be glad you did!
WOW: Elizabeth, congratulations on the runner up honors in the Winter 2010 Flash Fiction contest! Nothing Left Unsaid has a delightful twist of playfulness coupled with serious undertones. How can writers establish a tone/mood and use it to keep the storyline progressing?
Elizabeth: Tone has to do with the intention of a story's words - it's really the voice of the work. I think the key with getting the voice down is to be authentic in what you're trying to say, be honest and consistent - you and your characters should always tell the truth. I love what Noah Lukeman says, "Strive to write from a place of truth and love." If you have the voice down, the words will follow.
WOW: That's excellent advice. Thanks for sharing it. Another important facet of storytelling is creating memorable and identifiable characters. Mother-in-law / daughter-in-law conflict can strain a relationship. Why is it necessary to create empathy with characters?
Elizabeth: I got the idea for Nothing Left Unsaid while browsing the book section in a local store. All the books were self-help books and the titles seemed funny to me, so I decided to write a story about two characters, at odds, communicating through book titles. I decided to use a daughter and mother-in-law as characters, (not because of my own relationship with my mother-in-law. We get along great!) but because of the inherent conflicts and difficulties within that relationship.
Empathetic characters are believable characters. If you can get the reader to understand where your character is coming from, to witness and feel what they are going through, even if the experience is foreign to them, they will happily go along for the journey.
WOW: What you say about creating a believable character is spot on! (chuckles) I'm glad your story isn't based on your relationship with the inlaws. Not everyone is so lucky, if you believe the media hype!
I find it interesting that you balance fiction writing and column writing. For you, how does that writing process differ? <
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