An Interview with Novella-in-Flash Author Margo Rife
author of SNOWBIRDS, a new novella-in-flash forthcoming from Fiction Attic
Snowbirds by Margo Rife is Fiction Attic Press’s second serialized novella-in-flash*. We asked Rife about the form and her writing process. Enjoy! We’ve saved a couple of questions that contain spoilers for a later interview.
FA: Why did you choose the novella-in-flash form for this story?
I embraced flash fiction a decade ago because I loved its brevity, liveliness and immediacy. Upon discovery of the novella-in-flash, I greeted it with open arms. Without much deliberation, I signed up for an online novella-in-flash workshop led by Meg Pokrass and dutifully followed her guidelines and prompts for the two-week session. The form suited the episodic nature of Snowbirds and encouraged innovation and boldness. I made the right choice.
Name a book (or two or three) that you read repeatedly—a book you return
to at different points in your life. What brings you back, again and again,
to this book?
The Great Gatsby. When I tutored high school students Gatsby was a reading requirement, so I was forced to read it repeatedly. Luckily, it’s the perfect book for reexamination. Even though few high school students live with regrets (yet), they could relate to Jay Gatsby’s unattainable dream. The famous quote at the end about boats against the current always stirs me.
I recently reread The Secret Garden for my library’s community event. On second read, even though I enjoyed the book and the metaphor of the garden, some of the cultural colonial elements were problematic. In Snowbirds I tried to recreate the wonder of discovering a decaying secret garden.
What is your favorite writing snack? Your favorite writing drink?
I’ve given up snacking which makes me sound incredibly boring. My writing drink is coffee. But I struggle to keep it hot and make frequent trips to the microwave. Maybe I need to develop a taste for iced coffee.
Where do you write?
I love my writing room. It’s my son’s former nursery. I’m an empty nester. (It’s a sad sounding label but can be freeing). I haven’t yet removed the Day Glo alien face stickers that weakly light the ceiling at night. Even though the room faces south and has three windows, it’s always cold. Hence, the hot coffee. One set of IKEA Billy bookcases holds my dramatic writing scripts. Another bookcase displays my fiction library and resources. It’s a challenge having a foot in the world of theatre and fiction.
What are you reading now?
I’m a longstanding member of my library’s science fiction book club. It’s a small group because the sci-fi genre struggles to bring in readers. Our selection for the November meeting is a Manga graphic novel of H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountain of Madness. The reference librarian who leads our group taught us how to read Manga-start at the back and read right to left. I’m also reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. Sometimes exceptional Middle Grade Fantasy is the right choice for the moment.
What advice would you give to other writers who want to explore the
novella-in-flash form?
Novella-in-flash is a welcoming form that encourages experimentation. Snowbirds is patterned after the classic form that suits its sequential nature. There are five archetypes as identified by Michael Loveday in his book Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash. I’d suggest becoming acquainted with these categories and then reading examples from the form that most suits your project and writing style.
About the author: Margo Rife loves writing flash fiction. Her work has been published by New World Writing Quarterly, Reflex Fiction and a variety of literary publications. Snowbirds was developed in a Meg Pokrass Novella-in-Flash Workshop and edited by Michael Loveday, author of Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash. Margo is also a playwright whose dramatic monologues have been staged in New York City, Raleigh, and Chicago. Margo produces a seasonal podcast from her hometown library that features local writers.
*Publication of Snowbirds will begin in February of 2025. In the meantime, you can read our first novella-in-flash, Center of Center by Chris Wiewiora, published in 2023.
Do you want to write flash fiction? You might enjoy the Fiction Attic Press Flash Fiction Intensive, in which you will write 12 flash fictions in four weeks. In week 5, we explore the novella-in-flash.
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