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Jody Rathgeb has been a journalist and freelance magazine writer for many years, but she was inspired to start writing fiction when she lived for four years in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Her short stories have been in The Battered Suitcase, Ink-Filled Page and Tongues of the Ocean, and her novel, Fish-Eye Lens, is due from Belle Isle Books this fall. She now divides her time between Richmond, Va., and North Caicos Island. Her weekly blog and information about the novel and stories can be found at www.jodyrathgeb.com.

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the top ten in our Spring 2011 competition! What inspired you to enter the contest?

Jody: Whenever I finish a story, either flash or longer, I begin looking for a proper “home” for it. The character’s dilemma in “Slave Hands,” plus its flash form, seemed to make it a match for WOW.

WOW: Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story?

Jody: All of my stories deal in some way with the islands and their people, and one issue that’s been rattling around in my head is the ambivalent relationship today’s islanders have with their history of slavery. I wanted to show that people can in some way “own” the past, even if they were slaves. Joseph, who is on the verge of adult thinking, seemed a fitting character for that.

WOW: It's an excellent story. After living for four years in the Turks and Caicos Islands, you now divide your time between Richmond, Virginia and North Caicos Island. What led to this living arrangement, and can you describe the Caicos Islands for those of us who haven’t been there?

Jody: Quite frankly, it’s because my husband flunked retirement! We were doing a two-phase move to the islands, with me as the advance guard … but after Tom arrived he decided that he missed his work. When his former boss indicated that he would like to see Tom return, I knew that’s what he wanted to do. Living apart no longer made sense, so I came back to the U.S. But we still have a home on North Caicos, and I spend chunks of time there several times a year.

The Turks and Caicos Islands have spent the last 15 or so years emerging as a tourist destination, but the results have been ragged. Some islands, especially Providenciales, are deep into the “tropical paradise” marketing game, but other places such as North Caicos are quieter, less developed and more connected to cultural traditions and the old ways. Think of the Bahamas in the 1950s. This makes it an interesting place, poised between the past and future.

WOW: It sounds like a fascinating place to live. Your novel, Fish-Eye Lens, is coming out this fall. You must be very excited! What has your novel writing journey been like?

Jody:

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