An Interview with Kristina Fahl

Congratulations! Eyes Pretending was selected as a Runner Up in the 2018 Short Shorts Flash Fiction Competition. Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
I grew up in California and earned a liberal arts degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I’ve lived in Taiwan and Germany, Virginia, and now the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been an English tutor, an administrative assistant and a library clerk. In between scheduling appointments and shelving books, I would think up scenes for a story. Eyes Pretending was one of them.

What was the inspiration behind Eyes Pretending?
I was inspired by a good friend of mine and the adventures we’ve had from our teenage years into adulthood. Although I’d like to think that we’ve never really grown up.

What fuels your writing?
When I write, I feel like I’m trying to piece together a puzzle, or I want to capture a moment of something I saw or experienced, whether it be funny, sad, fearful or joyful, and everything in between. I find my ideas and inspiration through interacting with people, my childhood memories, through dance, reading, music and travel. 

What is your writing day like? Is there a particular environment that stimulates your creativity? Do you have any writing routines or rituals that you practice?
I don’t write every day, although I probably should. I daydream a lot about scenes I want to write and listen to music that inspires me, depending on the scene I want to capture. When I feel stuck and I haven’t written in a while, I trick myself into writing by telling myself, “All right, just write one sentence.” And then three hours later, I’ve written a scene that’s been playing in my head for the last week. And then I’ll write another scene, and another, until these little mosaic tiles of scenes eventually form a picture.

---

I would say these are words I try to live by, “Don’t forget to save room for mistakes and moments of joy.”

—Kristina Fahl

---

What is your writing kryptonite?
I can sometimes be paralyzed by the fallacy of thinking that I have to have everything planned out before I can do it. It simply isn’t true.

How long have you been writing? Was there a defining moment that led you down this path or a person who encouraged or helped shape you as a writer?
When I was in high school, I took a class called Film as Literature and I was encouraged by my English teacher to create a portfolio of an original film I was to write and direct. This assignment opened a door to so many possibilities, namely, the idea that I could actually write down the scenes that had, up until then, only been in my head.
Are there any authors who have influenced your writing?
Isabel Allende, Louis de Bernières, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Mark Twain, Erich Maria Remarque, Octavia Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, Peter S. Beagle, and José Saramago.

What are you reading right now?
At the moment, I’m reading S.A. Chakraborty’s The City of Brass.

What other forms and genres do you enjoy writing?
I enjoy writing speculative fiction and historical fantasy. I also enjoy writing poems and scenes for graphic novels and animated film.

Of your other published works, do you have a personal favorite you would like to share with our readers? Where can we find it?
In 2014, I published a historical fantasy novel called A Thousand Faces. It can be found on Amazon and Goodreads by searching for Kristina Fahl.

What’s next? Do you have any writing projects on the horizon?
I have the beginning scenes of a children’s/juvenile fiction story that may or may not feature a character by the name of Geraldine Gigglepea.

What words do you live by? Do you have a personal motto?
I would say these are words I try to live by, “Don’t forget to save room for mistakes and moments of joy.”

If you could share any advice for aspiring writers, what would it be?
Keep going and keep trying. Read your work aloud. You’ll be surprised by the things you catch when you read your work aloud.