Interview with a Flash Fiction Writer

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“Mr. Hogan, how are you?”

“A little hungover but outside of that fine.”

“Beer is very much a part of your life style.”

“There’s a lot of beer drinking in my flash fiction, too.”

“And sex”

“Sexuality.  No one’s actually doing it.”

“Well, Mr. Hogan, let’s get to the flash fiction.  How long have you been writing?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“All right.  How long have you been writing flash fiction?”

“At least fifteen years.  I discovered flash fiction when I attended the University of Pittsburgh from 1999 to 2006.  I started as a fifty-something-year-old sophomore.  The university accepted 75% of the credits that I had from a two year degree I got in 1973, about five years after I got back from Vietnam.  I went on through to get my MFA.  I was introduced to the writings of Raymond Carver.  That’s when my flash fiction career started.  Up until then I wrote regular-length short stories with no success.  No one would publish me.”

“Raymond Carver is one of your writing heroes.”

“I was amazed that he made great short stories out of the life of people down on their luck.  The working class.  People like myself.  It meant it was okay to write about myself and the people I knew about.  I found out I had a knack for writing very short stories even if he wasn’t really a flash fiction writer.  He was a “minimalist” or that’s what people called him.  I just realized how much a writer could leave out of a story and still have it work.  That’s what made me a flash fiction writer.  That’s when I started getting published. He taught me I could write about the life I was living.”

“So, your stories are autobiographical?”

“Hardly.  Let’s just say I write about what I know.”

“Mr. Hogan, what one piece of advice would you give to a young writer starting out and trying to master the art of writing flash fiction.”

“Write flash fiction for the love of writing flash fiction.  There’s very little money in it.”

“It did get you a full K. LeRoy Irvis fellowship with stipend for the graduate writing program at the University of Pittsburgh which must have been worth $60,000.”

“So it did.”

“I’d like to continue this interview at another time.”

“You know where to find me.  Have your readers check out Thoughts on Writing the Short Story in the meantime.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been interviewing Guy Hogan, Editor and Publisher of the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette and the author of numerous flash fiction stories and articles published by both online and print publications.”