Robert Garner McBrearty – 3 Questions & a Cover
A short interview wherein one of my favorite authors answers three questions about the writing life.
Question1
What’s your Go-To source when you need inspiration?
Reading stories by other writers is a main source of inspiration. I will read a few pages of a favorite book, or sometimes something new that has come to my attention. When I’m reading for inspiration instead of just enjoyment, I read more for a sense of sound, of the writer’s voice, though it also helps to note the subject matter. What are the situations, who are the characters, where is the story set? One book I like to read Is Best Microfictions. The stories are very short and varied, so I can read several in a row and experience different sounds and types of stories. This often leads to creating my own story. I also find that doing this kind of reading works better for me when I’m out in a coffee shop. I can focus in more then, unless the coffee shop gets too loud.
Question 2
Do you create elaborate outlines for your books? If so, can you explain the process (briefly)? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants? If so, do you have any tricks you use to keep yourself from crashing?
I don’t use outlines, but I need a fairly clear sense of where the story is going, or it tends to fizzle. I may change my mind about what happens as I go along, especially the ending, but I can’t write with a totally blank slate for very long. Some openings lead me on to the next paragraph, to the next, and some openings are dead ends. A good opening, for my own purposes, creates a kind of outline to follow, that is, there is a natural progression that builds from the opening. I might write an opening paragraph that I like, but I may not see the way forward, so I usually don’t finish writing the story. Maybe later, though, I do see where the story might go. No doubt there are some writers who wing it all the way, or nearly so, but I think there are fewer of them. But everyone writes differently. What works for one writer may not work for another. While I talk about a natural progression, I am most happy when I surprise myself, when the story takes an unexpected turn. Readers tend to like surprises, too.
Question 3
Do you have a funny/scary/quirky story about interaction with readers or other writers? We all want to know.
I once submitted a short story that had a typo, so the story read: “All he wanted was a bit of peach.” I had meant to write “All he wanted was a bit of peace.”
The editor wrote back and cited that line with the typo, and he said it was his favorite line and he wished I had developed the part about the peach more.
Well, peach or peace, the story didn’t get accepted.
If there’s a lesson here, it might be that the unusual line, the quirky line, sometimes perks up the interest.
& a Cover
Published by: University of New Mexico Press
160 Pages, 5.50 x 8.50 in Paperback 9780826367730 $16.95
EPUB 9780826367747 $9.99
The Sisyphean characters in The Problem You Have may not be pushing a giant rock up a hill, but they are unlikely to ever get where they are going. Yet despite knowing that, they push on and work with graceful resignation. In McBrearty’s newest collection a diverse group of characters encounter turning points. A minor criminal seeking warmth on a frigid night climbs through a farmhouse window to discover more than he ever expected. A dying soldier recalls the man he left behind. In one horrible afternoon, a college professor realizes the only sanctuary is love. An over-the-hill pitcher refuses to get off the mound. A young couple meets the couple they never want to become. Some of the stories hold dark themes, yet McBrearty masterfully infuses the work with humor and compassion, rendering the characters within them relatable. Even with themes of loss or what might have been, the collection sings notes of what might yet be, for both the characters and the reader.
About the Author
Robert Garner McBrearty has received a Pushcart Prize, a Sherwood Anderson Foundation Fiction Award, and fellowships to MacDowell and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and he is the author of five books of fiction including the short story collections A Night at the Y, Let the Birds Drink in Peace, When I Can’t Sleep, and the novella The Western Lonesome Society.
His short stories have appeared in over one hundred literary magazines and anthologies including The Pushcart Prize, The Missouri Review, Narrative Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, New England Review and North American Review. His stories have frequently been performed at Stories on Stage in Denver and at the Arts and Letters Show at the Dallas Museum of Art.
He has taught writing courses for many years, most recently at the University of Colorado.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, he now lives in Colorado with his family. His new collection of short stories is forthcoming in University of New Mexico Press.
You can learn more about Robert on his website: robertgarnermcbrearty.com