This Friday’s mini-interview from our winter crew comes from the author of the quirky, charming seaside story “The Gill Bride”, Jan Stinchcomb.
1. Can you describe “The Gill Bride” in one sentence for those who haven’t read it yet?
This is a love story that doesn’t work out the way the key players expect it to–as in all love stories, idealized intimacy meets thorny reality.
2. The voice is so strong and individual, and there are some really fantastic visuals in this, not just of the ocean. Was there a particular place, event, story, or person who inspired it in some way?
For a long time I tried to write a story about a male creature from the sea who couldn’t conform to human reality. I’m sure I was overly influenced by my beloved Creature From the Black Lagoon series. None of those versions worked out. I don’t know where Lucy came from; I suppose she’s a gift from the unconscious. As far as setting is concerned, I lived half my life very close to the sea and considered it a daily source of wonder. The mail-order bride theme came from the years I spent studying Russian and being generally obsessed with that language and culture. Occasionally I would meet men who were planning to marry Russian girls because they assumed that women from that culture would be sweet and traditional and passive. Knowing the strength of Slavic women, I shuddered to imagine the fate of those unsuspecting bridegrooms.
3. I know you’ve had a couple of other pieces published recently — can you tell us a little about them and what’s coming up next for your fiction?
The other recent pieces are from the same project. I’m too superstitious to say much about it, but all the stories in that collection have to do with animals or mythological creatures. Or people acting like animals.
We’ll have to keep our eyes open, then! Thank you so much, Jan. And for those of you who haven’t had a chance to hit up “The Gill Bride” yet, well, here’s your weekend read!
