The Red Penny Papers

Next up, a return author. T.J. McIntyre’s been with us here at RPP before, and we’re so glad to have him back with this weird little story…

1. Can you describe “The Comfort of Shadows” in one sentence for those who haven’t read it yet?
“The Comfort of Shadows” is a romance, sort of, that takes place in a surreal world where shadows have suddenly grown autonomous.

2. Both of your RPP stories have played with gender concepts a little — this time you’re writing from the other end of things. What inspired you, and what is it that you like best about doing that?
When writing a story, I typically start off with just a basic idea or image, sometimes it may even just be an opening line. The characters kind of develop on their own from there. Sometimes I write one gender and then realize another gender might make for a more fitting protagonist. However, both of these stories do intentionally examine gender and, perhaps more to the point, examine relationships from different perspectives.

“House of Endless Skies” is a male take on the classic feminist ghost story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” In the case of “House of Endless Skies,” the meaning of the story hinges on the gender of the protagonist. I don’t think the gender of the protagonist, while still important in its way, is quite as pivotal in “The Comfort of Shadows.” The voice I heard in my head just happened to be female, so I went with it. The gender examination is there – how she collects herself, how she sees things, her role as a career woman, how she interacts with men, etc. – but I think “The Comfort of Shadows” is more about the central relationship than about the gender of the characters.

In fact, I wrote it as a lighthearted piece with the intention to write a happy ending. After reading it again, however, I see the ending reveals a subtle tragedy. It is a tragedy that shows up in both of my Red Penny Paper stories when I think about it: namely the difficulty two different people in a relationship are always going to have seeing things eye-to-eye on some measure. Gender makes a huge difference in perspective on many things, I think. Those differences cause difficulties at times. So, the ending of “The Comfort of Shadows,” while written as a “happy ending” reveals a tragedy if you really think about it. The characters, on some level, did love each other. Unfortunately, they were more in love with the ideal of the other person than the actual person. Reality gets in the way, and, since none of us are perfect, this couple chooses to love the ideal over the always flawed real thing. I find that kind of sad.

As far as writing from the perspective of a different gender goes, I find it important to really think about those differences in gender (not to be confused with differences in sexuality or the range of genders some trans people experience which are distinctions I won’t go into here because of length). The differences between boys and girls are ultimately much deeper than the “boys have a penis, girls have a vagina” stuff we all learn as children. Hormonally we’re different, our brains are different, we mature and reach puberty at different rates, for better or worse we tend to be subject to different social expectations, etc., etc., etc. While there is a certain measure of overlap in how different people see the world around them, these biological and social issues make for real differences in perspective. I try to take these things into account to some extent when writing outside my own gender. A female perspective is ultimately a perspective very different from my own, and that makes it a lot of fun for me to write, a challenge.

But at the same time, I have to admit, it often comes naturally to write a female protagonist for me, at least in a first draft (I often have to refine statements/thoughts to be consistent with gender in later drafts because my own perspective leaks through). It helps that I was raised in a household often dominated by females. I was the middle child and, other than my dad, the only guy in my family. Having been married for so long helps. Also, for a very long period of time, I was the only guy in my old department at work. (And, let me tell you, my coworkers never let me forget it!) I learned a lot about female perspectives from listening to those around me, from being observant. And, ultimately, that’s the writer’s job: to be observant. Writing a different gender allows me to use some of those stored-up observations.

3. Definitely true — great observations, and it explains a lot about your voice and subject matter, for sure. Thanks for that! So what’s up next for your fiction?
Well, I have a short story, “How Did the Catfish Get a Flat Head, You Wonder?”, coming up in the upcoming FISH anthology from Dagan Books in 2012 alongside some other great writers. This anthology is being put together by a couple of … ahem … wonderful editors to work with. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of it! Also, Southern Fried Shorts is moving along, featuring an original piece of flash fiction every other week or so.

As far as current projects go, I’ve been focusing on a couple novel-length projects. I have a short novel that is a modern-day retelling of the Orpheus myth in the editing stages. But that one’s on the shelf while I work on an emerging first draft of another book that just kind of popped into my head and keeps begging to be written.

I tend to always be working on something …

Too true! Thanks so much for visiting us again, T.J. (And for that thing about the wonderful editors, of course… ahem.) If y’all haven’t checked out “The Comfort of Shadows” just yet, well, we sure think you’ll enjoy it.