Ask the Author: Erin Fitzgerald, Celebreality Addict

Erin Fitzgerald edits The Northville Review and has three short short stories in the August issue. Today we talk about what happens next, gaming and VH-1 reality programming. (Note: This interview took place before we learned one of the contestants on Megan Wants a Millionaire was a crazy killer who would flee to Canada and turn his murderous sights upon himself.)

1. In Early Decision, we don’t see what happens next but we’re left with a rather disturbing sense that there isn’t a happy ending for whatever or whomever is behind the door. If there was an epilogue to this story, like in the movies, how would it read?

The narrator’s college application personal statement, using that unique and memorable experience to illustrate why she’d be a terrific asset to an incoming freshman class.

2. My brother plays WoW religiously and one of the things I like to do is watch him jump around and twirl and whatnot. It’s very relaxing, the way the little figures move so fluidly. Anyway. Are you a widow or a gamer?

Hibernating gamer. Once you’re hooked, you don’t ever quit completely. I expect to be playing Aion this fall, and stocking up on Hot Pockets for Star Wars: The Old Republic next year. Have your brother emote /dance on some characters — the Horde male dances are especially good.

3. What we particularly enjoyed about these stories was the subtlety of them, with these quiet endings that were also very loud. What kind of magic potion did you use to make this happen? Be specific about ingredients and where we might obtain them.

Diet Vanilla Pepsi. I was concerned when they changed the can design, but so far it’s been all right.

4. Seriously, though. What inspired each of these stories?

Early Decision came from a prompt — the opening phrase. “We set out at dawn.” I love working with random prompts, they let me sneak up on things. I’ve written about gaming a lot, but a few minutes of a Dr. Phil episode made me try it from the widowed point of view in Riposte. Waiting Room came from the town where I live, almost by osmosis. It’s hard for me to imagine that story without it.

5. Waiting Room has an almost surreal quality to it. The title also seems to have a double meaning that adds to the surreality of the piece. Was that intentional?

I’m not that clever. For me, titles are like playing the claw game at the bowling alley. It’s usually when I get sick of trying that the Beanie Baby finally falls in the chute.

6. Do you mostly write short short fiction or do you also write longer stories?

Short short fiction is a relatively new discovery for me, and mostly what I do these days. I like tinkering with things on such a precise scale. I miss having longer authorial relationships with characters, though, so I’m not done with longer stories, novellas, etc.

7. A writing teacher once told me that you’ve found your groove as a writer when you think you’re writing the same story over and over in different ways. Do you feel that sense of different sameness in your writing?

Sometimes — but there are definitely times when it’s a warning that I need to think about the world a little more, and maybe amuse myself a little less.

8. Are you watching Rock of Love Megan’s new show on VH1? If so, is it worth a look or is it as horrifying as I expect?

I wasn’t going to watch it, but you know how it is. Sunday night….nothing to do…oh look, Celebreality! The millionaires look like the dads of all the guys in Daisy of Love. They each have a giant black credit card. When Megan does an elimination, she cuts the giant card in half and says “Your credit is no longer good with me.” I think the show developers at VH1 read a lot of George Saunders.