Interviews with the FABULOUS authors in The Trench Coat Chronicles!
- What is the name of the story? “Saving Time.”
- What was your motivation in writing it? I wanted to write a trench coat story that really changed the way that the reader viewed the trench coat. Yes, the coat has the traditional traits, but I wanted to make it something else, something bigger and more meaningful. And then, in the end, rip it away and have it just be a trench coat after all. While the trench coat appears to be a focal point of the story, it isn’t really; as with most stories, it’s really about a person and emotions.
- Does it have special meaning? Is the motivation special? I have a tougher time letting go of things than most people I talk with, so I loaded my character with regret, the desperate wish to change the past. So that goal begs the question: What would you do if you thought you could change the past? How far would you go? How many times would you go back and try again, if there was a real cost to you every time you failed? What if you faced the ultimate price of potentially losing your life? Would you go back again? That’s the real question I wanted to explore.
- Bio: Oh goody, a chance to use third person. By day, Gary Zenker is a marketing professional, creating marketing strategy, implementing it, and writing copy in nearly every medium known to man and woman. By night he collects photography and other people’s home movies, reads graphic novels, and runs two local writers' groups dedicated to helping authors better their craft, get published and form relationships with other writers. He also finds some time to write flash fiction, run sessions on writing, and try to be the best father he can be.
- What draws you to write short stories vs. novels? I like the challenge of telling a story using the fewest words possible. "Saving Time" is actually twice the length of my other stories, but only because I needed that many words to get everything across. This was more complicated than most of my stories in terms of the multiple elements involved. Time travel does that to a story. I should mention that I also have the attention span of a radish; long stories with endless metaphors and extended descriptions of scenes bore me. I can appreciate the craftsmanship in the work, but there are many kinds of storytelling. I believe that the readers are perfectly capable of filling in some of the more descriptive details for themselves, so I let them, if it isn’t important to the overall storytelling.
- When did you write your first story, unpublished and then published? I wrote miniature comic books for hamsters when I was eight or ten. I had a column in the college newspaper during my senior year, which is where I found my voice. I also had a column in a couple of newspaper weeklies and didn’t come back to writing fiction (well, unless you call business copy fiction) for another ten years when I founded two local writers' groups – The Main Line Writers Group and the Wilmington-Chadds Ford Writers Group. I’m not super prolific as a writer, but people like my work and my writer's voice. I enjoy working themes into my pieces that make people think.
- Where have you previously been published? Several anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Soul: Laughter Is the Best Medicine, “Going Commando,” a true story about my son and me; The Twofer Compendium, “Second Thoughts,” the story of twin teenage girls told from the perspective of one; Running Wild Anthology, Volumes 1 and 2; Sheepshead Review, “Three Words,” the ones that change our lives in every way; Down In the Dirt, “Soup For One,” an example of how a father relates to his son; and a bunch of others. Plus, a handful of online flash fiction sites.
- What is the name of the story?
“Eerie Justice”
- What was your motivation in writing it?
“Eerie Justice” is another in my series of Detective Bragg mysteries.
- Does it have special meaning?
The story gives Detective Bragg a dilemma. He knows the murderer, but can he bring him to justice?
- Bio
Joe Giordano’s stories have appeared in more than one hundred magazines including The Saturday Evening Post and Shenandoah. His novels, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story (2015), and Appointment with ISIL, an Anthony Provati Thriller (2017) were published by Harvard Square Editions. Rogue Phoenix Press published Drone Strike (2019) and his short story collection, Stories and Places I Remember (2020).
Joe was among one hundred Italian-American authors honored by Barnes & Noble to march in Manhattan’s 2017 Columbus Day Parade. Read the first chapter of Joe's novels and sign up for his blog at http://joe-giordano.com/
- What draws you to write short stories vs. novels?
I began writing short stories to improve my writing. Now, whenever an idea pops into my head, I’ll put it on paper. My novels have required about a year to draft, whereas I often can write a short story in a couple of days. Both express my observations about life.
- When did you write your first story, unpublished and then published?
I first tried my hand at historical fiction about the Greek-Persian wars, but my prose was terrible. I had to learn how to write. Short stories were a means to improve. My first short story was published about nine years ago after a landfill worth of rejections.
- Where have you previously been published?
My stories have appeared in more than one hundred magazines including The Saturday Evening Post and Shenandoah.
- Optional-what do you do in real life? (more than bio)
My wife, Jane, and I travel, golf, play bridge and dote on our little Shih Tzu, Sophia.
What is the name of the story?
“A Murder on Ganymede”
What was your motivation in writing it?
I wanted to challenge myself as a writer, and trying to find a creative and unusual way to center a story around a trench coat, of all things, seemed a good way to do that. I mulled over ideas, discarding one after the other. Only after I decided to write a science fiction tale — as opposed to a traditional noir story — did it all come together.
Does it have special meaning?
Not really. The trench coat in my story is that worn by Deckard in the film version of Blade Runner. I have mixed feelings about the film as a whole, but I absolutely love Batty’s speech at the end.
Bio
Rebecca Buchanan is the editor of the Pagan literary ezine, Eternal Haunted Summer, and is a regular contributor to ev0ke: witchcraft*paganism*lifestyle. She has released three short story collections and one poetry collection.
What draws you to write short stories vs. novels?
Time! Seriously. I work a full-time “real” job, which leaves me only a few hours every week to write. I’ve started at least four novels, all of which I have had to set aside because I just couldn’t work on them consistently. So, my creative outlet is short stories, which I can usually write in only a couple of days to a week.
When did you write your first story, unpublished and then published?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I have notebooks tucked away in a trunk filled with stories I wrote out by hand in elementary school.
My first published story was an African-based fantasy, “How Kpodo and Lishan Met, and the Adventure They Had After.” It was accepted by Luna Station Quarterly back in 2010.
Where have you previously been published?
A wide variety of places, from short story anthologies to print magazines to online journals. A few include Abyss & Apex, Eye to the Telescope, Faerie Magazine, The Future Fire, Gingerbread House, Mirror Dance, Polu Texni, Star*Line, and Three Drops from a Cauldron; and, of course, The Trench Coat Chronicles!
Joel Burcat
- What is the name of the story?
"The Truth"
- What was your motivation in writing it?
I wanted to write a story about someone who gets into trouble for telling the truth. I spent some time thinking about how that could happen, and this story pretty much wrote itself.
- Does it have special meaning?
Yes. Never tell a lie … unless you have to.
- Bio
Joel Burcat is a novelist and environmental lawyer. His debut novel, Drink to Every Beast, about midnight dumping, was the first in his series of Mike Jacobs environmental legal thrillers. His latest novel, Amid Rage, is the second in this series. It is about a coal mine permit dispute and was released on February 2, 2021. He is at work finishing the third book in the series, Strange Fire, about fracking. He is also finishing up a young adult novel, Hush Little Baby. Drink to Every Beast and Amid Rage are published by Headline Books.
His novels have received awards from PennWriters, ScreenCraft, N.Y. Book Festival, and Readers’ Favorite. In addition, a number of his short stories have been published.
Burcat was selected as the 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Environmental Litigation (for Central PA) by Best Lawyers in America. He has also received “Super Lawyers” and “Best Lawyers” designations for environmental and energy law, and he was selected by the Pennsylvania Bar Association as a recipient of its annual award in environmental law.
Burcat lives in Harrisburg, PA with his wife, Gail. They have two grown daughters, a son-in-law, and a granddaughter.
- What draws you to write short stories vs. novels?
I have been writing both. I like reading both. Sometimes you can say everything you need to say in under 5,000 words. Sometimes you need 100,0000 words. Often an idea lends itself to a longer treatment than I can write in a short story and it becomes a novel.
It is very different writing short stories and novels. Both require conflict and interesting character development. Writing a short story requires a precise use of language, precision, and clinical attention to detail. Generally, a short story describes a single event or setting. In a short story, unless you are writing about an anti-hero (as in "The Truth"), one expects the protagonist to change, to become a better person, or learn some lesson as a result of what happens. In a novel, readers are expecting a lot more character development, subplots, movement through events and settings, and detail.
- When did you write your first story, unpublished and then published?
I doodled on paper for many years and took writing courses in college. I actually had a poem published while I was an undergrad. My first published short story was called "Surviving Forty," and was published in Harrisburg Magazine in 2000. I laid writing aside after that and didn’t start writing again until July 4, 2007. I was lucky, and that next story, "The Best Beer I Ever Had," was published several years later in Hobo Pancakes. Since then, I’ve written about 35 short stories and have had seven or eight published.
- Where have you previously been published?
Harrisburg Magazine
Kaleidoscope
Ragnarok
Diverse Voices Quarterly
Hobo Pancakes
Montreal Review
Euphony
Two anthologies
- Optional-what do you do in real life? (more than bio)
I’m very fortunate. I’m now retired (disabled, actually) and am able to devote every day to writing. I start writing in the morning, generally between 8 and 9 a.m., then write until lunch time. After lunch, I work on the “business of books” and may get in a little more writing. I try to fit in exercise during the day, either very early, or after my creative sprint. Like everyone else, COVID has impacted my life in ways large and small. Fortunately, my writing space is on our third floor, so I haven’t had to change anything about the actual writing process.
One more thing. I have a motto: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never …” –Winston Churchill, Oct. 29, 1941, speech at Harrow School.
