This week we talk to Rebecca Lehman about ‘One Day’ which appears in Landmarks, the latest anthology curated by Spineless Wonders. During this interview, Rebecca talks about her favourite landmark, who inspires her writing and what inspired her micro-lit piece.
Tell us about a landmark that is significant to you.
I don’t know if a specific landmark is significant to me, but I do know that landmarks are part of the way I see my world. The Mall’s Balls were where my friends and I would meet on weekends, the giant fibreglass apple is how I know I’m almost to my childhood home, and a particular playground is a reminder of childhood holidays to Tasmania. They may not be important or renowned landmarks, but they are woven into my life’s story.
What inspired you to write ‘One Day’ ?
I liked the idea that future landmarks are all around us, and all that is needed is for one great moment to occur. The house down the street may one day be home to the greatest writer since Shakespeare. That building may be where the cure to cancer is discovered. The potential for something amazing is everywhere and I think that’s exciting!
How do you find the experience of writing to a theme?
I may be one of those strange people who find themes, deadlines, word limits, and other constraints to be rather freeing. If left to my own devices I will either waffle on forever, or become paralysed by choice. Having a constraint as a starting point gives me focus. I also like to see how much I can get away with in terms of style and content while still adhering to the constraint.
Describe your writing space.
The scribbling of ideas, concepts, semi-coherent thoughts, and random bits of dialogue can happen anywhere. I never leave home without a pen and paper. When it comes to actual writing it usually occurs in my bedroom during the quiet of night, with my cat doing her darnedest to add her own contribution by walking over the keyboard. My bedroom is a lot like my brain: Cluttered but cosy, and filled with weird and wonderful things.
Tell us about a writer or work that has inspired you as a writer
Neil Gaiman is quite possibly everything I want to be as a writer. The first book I picked up of his was Smoke & Mirrors, which is a collection of short works and poetry. It is still one of my favourite books and I return to it often. In particular, I love the story ‘Chivalry’. He mixes the fantastic and the mundane in such a charming way.
Rebecca Lehman is a short story writer who won the Reader’s Digest 100 Word Story competition, was highly commended in the Langhorne Creek Writers’ Festival, and was recently won the Katherine Susannah Pritchard Speculative Fiction Prize.
Feature image via NASA