Welcome to biome.
you the wrong directions in the deep dark woods.
I'm so glad you're joining me today for our latest author interview. Last week's interview with Steve Zisin was posted in written form which is available for free on Patreon and you can find that link in the show notes. The story behind the story is often just as interesting as the story
“we read on the page. That's why today I'm excited to share my interview with MD Smith, author of our”
eighth story, Bright Eyes and the Lantern Path. Listeners voted this story as the number one most favorite story of season one, so it's a real treat to get to chat with MD. Bright Eyes in the Lantern
Path is a wonderful story about a friendship between Bright Eyes, the Cat, and his person,
a witch named Tarantelina. In this story the duo face not one, not two, but three villains who threaten the piece of old New Orleans. MD Smith the fourth of Huntsville, Alabama, writer of over 350 flash stories, has published digitally in spill words, flash fiction magazine, flash phantoms, and many more. Retired from running a television station, he lives with his wife of 64 years and three cats, and now on to our interview. So obviously cats feature a prominent well a cat,
a certain cat features very prominently in this story. He's feisty, he's lovable and he acts as
the center of this story, as well as other stories you've written, I think you mentioned.
Is he the kernel of this story is Bright Eyes, the image that kicked off this particular story, or was there some image or idea that launched into this particular adventure? I'm written stories in the past from a cat's point of view, and it just occurred to me, when I'm telling a true story about some Tarantles, one of my sons had growing up, and I thought, you know, that could be a good name for a good witch, and that would
made up nicely with a bright eyes who has this strange power to melt wheels with his eyes.
“So that's how I kind of moved into it, and this is the third of stories using those two characters”
and from the cat's point of view. That's really wonderful, and I love his point of view. I'm curious, do you frequently write from point of view of non-human characters or is Bright Eyes kind of an exception to the role? Well, above all the stories I've written, I would say maybe one out of 15 or 20 are from a non-human point of view. I see, and do you find that that allows you to do something different that human characters don't typically and allow you to engage with?
Yeah, and I'm trying to have a little fun with it, too, and in some of my other pieces, the Bright Eyes is even more sarcastic, or a very sarcastic, but it goes along with Tarantula inya all the time. Perfect. Is there a certain reader or readers that you have in mind as you write the stories about Bright Eyes? Normally, I'm thinking a little more of an adult female and perhaps a slightly older audience, because that's kind of my point of view. And I try to
almost everybody has had an animal, and I've written from dog's point of view as well, because I think it's more relatable that way, and some of their ticks and the things they do, I work in the story, but it's a herd and rubbed up against her leg. I like to do that sort of thing. Yeah, and I think that inclusion of those details throughout this story really kind of gives it that sense of who Bright Eyes is and really brings this into that character, which really wonderful,
really delightful. Was there any part of this story that you were nervous about writing,
“scared about writing, not sure if you should write? I know that for the most part, it's a very”
positive kind of story, but was there anything that you kind of thought to yourself, maybe I shouldn't write this? This one was okay. I wrote one where there was a little more grim ending to it, and it has not been accepted yet. It may not work because of that reason. You just don't need anything too terribly heavy, although the outcome of these two kind of counterwishes in this tale is not necessary to happy for them, but it gets rid of a problem in the New Orleans area.
Right. Yeah, I mean, their ending is definitely pretty grim and gruesome for them. I think that
At the same time it sort of serves as a kind of poetic justice.
and it's not of wireistic sort of death either. It just kind of happens. And then we move on to
sort of the the biggest baddest villain of the mall in this story. What was the most difficult scene
“of this particular story for you to write? I think perhaps the meaning in her apartment”
when they came up the stairs, I knew I wanted a lot of conflict there, and I knew I wanted like a lot of stories to almost seem like the bad guys were going to win. And so that took a couple of rewrites to get that where I was happy with it. I see. And when you were rewriting it was that in order to work out pace, was it around dialogue, was it just around the general blocking of the action? Can you keep blocking of action more than anything else? To make sure it felt natural,
natural for the supernatural, of course. Absolutely. But you know, they're getting knocked up against the wall and how you would slump those are the things I polished more in that area of the story thing other parts of it. I see. Yeah. Oh, as I was reading it, I felt the blocking was very nice there, and I could envision the action. I could envision them throwing the sack over bright eyes and in that moment of, well, maybe maybe they won't get out of this. Maybe the sisters will get away with it,
which is a wonderful sort of escalation elevation of the situation of the danger.
Did you consider any alternative endings to this particular story, or did you always kind of
“feel like this was headed in a particular direction? I think perhaps of the very beginning I did”
because in some of the other stories, the foes are like putting a barge in the Mississippi and floated out to who knows where. And there is no death in it. I thought about that, but then I thought, no, I've already think I want a little more definite. This is all for them, kind of conclusion. And I had a short version of the story, a flash version, too, that didn't have quite the detail. I didn't have exactly the same ending, but it did for the sisters.
Yeah, I mean, I think now you have me curious, the previous ending was it just ending with the
sisters, or what can you tell us a little bit about how that one looked? Well, that was the ending,
right there. I see. But Bright Eyes was still the hero there. Yeah. That was wonderful. Are there any sort of little details, little Easter eggs within this story that folks might not
“notice, but that you would love to point out and say, you know, there's this little reference here?”
I believe the part that I enjoyed writing was the set up of a meeting and the fact that midnight came and nothing happened. And I think dimensionally it says something like, well, it's just like them, there probably be a half hour late. Well, 30 on the button. And then how they kind of glided up the stairs, almost like ghost. Their heads didn't bubble at all. That was the details that aren't particularly like writing in this story. Yeah. And it's very vivid. It's very cinematic.
I mean, between the raven and the sisters, you can really kind of get that mood that atmosphere, which is one of the things that I loved about this story is how very atmospheric it is. It really brings me into the scene. So would you ever consider writing any of their adventures from Torrentialina's point of view? I know we have several from Bright Eyes, but does she ever get kind of her perspective? No, I don't think I would. I've written other stories from a human point of view.
Generally a woman, women read more stories than men do. But this is a pair. And in my mind, it's fixed very well. And the more you revisit these, there's another story that we're written after this, where she buys an old haunted house. She and Bright Eyes confront five ghosts and rises particular sarcastic about this rundown house. And she says, it just needs a good painting and Bright Eyes says, "No, it needs a
priest and an actresses of the fire. It's what it means." And Bright Eyes gets a really sarcastic and that's the fun thing. And I know it from the cat's point of view and she can kind of insult her. And of course, Torrentialina, while there's no dialogue, she knows everything the cat says. That's the story. Yeah, and I think any pet owner who's lived with an animal for a long time, you just sort of know what they're thinking. You have that communication where
you feel each other's hearts. And that's that's evident from this story as well. I think it's beautiful. So now I'll move on to our flash round of questions. We'll really quickly go through some
Ways to see what kind of writer you are.
Are you a plotter or are you a pancer? I'm a plotter. Okay, always. I'm written just starting
out where the character you go from that. Okay. And what would you say is your sort of preferred
“power hour? Do you write your best in the morning? Do you reserve your energy for the evening?”
Or is there a time during the day where you feel like you're at your best? I think my best times are in the morning. And I have regularly meet with a group that meets from nine to 11. My time. And we just introduced what we're planning on doing and doing there two hours. And everybody gets muted on the Zoom session. We write, we have a little coffee break on the hour. And then at the end, we sew it up. So it's just a good time to sit together and to dedicate to write
money through friday. And all the weekend, I don't do all that much. So I'll often spend the same morning time, sometimes later in the morning. Then I have another afternoon session. And I'll
always never write after dinner. I just, I don't. I'm not sharp then, so I'll ever write after dinner.
“I see. Well, that is, that is very inspiring. I think for people to hear, to hear that dedication,”
to hear that the value of having that group of people around you. Do you prefer always to write by on computer, by hand, or do you mix it up? Always computer. My hand writing is so sloppy. I can barely read my own book. What used to be script, you're writing, and so almost everything is done on the computer. And that makes it editing so much easier. It's instantly there. And I can go through it, you know, I'll run it through Grammarly, usually, and you know, get some, some ideas and spell
check. And then, you know, often I try to write my first graph quick and finish it, so that all the ideas fall out from this plot in my head. And it's really in the second and third revisions that I really come alive. That's where the dialogue and the metaphors come from. And I think about it, what a nice, similarly work here. And then, you know, fiddle around with two or three until I come up with one. So the polished stages is what really makes the story good. Well, I'd be so embarrassed.
“I didn't see anybody my first draft. I see. Well, I think that the results speak for themselves.”
I think the polish really comes out and you end up with some wonderful stories. Another question for you is your drafting vibe. Do you prefer to write with music or some kind of sound in the background or as a dead silence or do you start with music and then turn it off? You can't even hear the music in the background because it's very, very low, but I did a lot of shot gun, hunting, coil hunting, duh, hunting, and didn't use earplugs. Well, he's hungry. So I have this ring in my ears.
That reason, I even go to sleep at night with soft instrumental music playing on the CD player.
And I'm right always at my office, which I attend until two o'clock, come home,
and my home where I am now in a downstairs M.D.s room. It's, you know, his cave reminded me I don't have music playing even right now because it helps the silence is an unnerving because I hear that ringing all the time. I see. And do you, do you listen to music that inspires the piece you're working on or is it just something in the background? It's almost always background, instrumental, on the cave in the form of particular story where sometimes even built
around the characters and some pop songs of whatever time here and I'm writing, I'll put that music on because we'll put you in the mood and you get in the mood so to speak. I've done that. Wonderful. Well, I have one more final letting her end question for you. If you were going to have a nice dinner and drinks with one author, a living or historical, who would it be and why, and what would you talk about? Well, that's so many of them. What is probably because
I'm also a teacher and I teach a creative fiction writing class at the Senior Center on Thursday afternoons and we're currently covering Ketcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger. And this is my fourth reading of it going through it and we're having open discussions about it and I've just seen his life story on Netflix is something like phony in the Rye. I can't remember the word there, but it's all about his life and he only wrote one novel just that Ketcher in the Rye and he would never
let them make a Hollywood movie out of it. He just felt like they wouldn't get hold in coffee or
Right.
then a lot of writers are. I would enjoy that. And in terms of what you would discuss,
“would it be his technique or his choices? I'd like to know more about, you know, he finished”
the story after the World War II and he was in the War for two years, the last two years. I'd
like to know did that war influence holding in coffee. Holding is really not completely settled.
He begins the story and a rest institution somewhere, this parents have put him in. And you
“understand why as a story continues, it over just five nights from the Saturday night, he flunked”
out of school until the Wednesday when he supposed to be off the Christmas break. And offlaw happens that are unsettling, paper claims, all the things he dislikes in the story and then turns out to do just those things. Yeah. I'd like to know, you know, Mr. Sam, Sam, did there was any of that
“you in there? Yeah. What part of yourself, what part of the author's psychology author's story is”
part of the character? Absolutely. Well, MD, thank you so much for joining tonight. I'm really glad we got to chat here a little bit more about this story about Bright Eyes. I loved hearing your perspectives on J.D. Salinder as well. For everybody listening, I hope you go back and check out Bright Eyes in the Lantern Path that is our eighth story. Absolutely wonderful, remarkable. And thank you again so much. Please go check it out. Alex, it was my privilege. I certainly enjoyed
it. I'm ready to speak any time you want to review it again. If you enjoyed this interview, make sure you're subscribed to this podcast. I also hope you consider sharing this podcast with somebody who loves great fiction. Next week's interview with River S will be released as a written exchange exclusively on Patreon. The interview will be available for free, but I hope you
consider signing up to support biome so I can keep sharing amazing stories and interviews with you.
You'll find the link in the show notes. But for now, dear listener, for well, wherever the days take you.
