Aesthetic

My fiction carries an emotional subtext. I let my characters live on the page and keep my writer-self out of the way. 

The writing tells no lessons and pushes no messages. It tries for goodness and lands in the vicinity of hope. 

I came to writing fiction with training in poetry. Critical to craft is voice. The sound in my prose, more rhythmic than lyrical, drives the narrative.

I go toward difficult subjects; it takes courage. I’m hopelessly drawn to flawed characters, and crank conflict by throwing barriers in front of what they want.

This way, I find out what is true for them, and the story as a whole, even if that truth is different than logical truth.

—Mary