Our hardworking Slinkies Editorial Team have cooked up some questions for the latest batch of emerging writers to be published as part of our Slinkies Under 30s platform. Below, Tyler Mahoney responds to questions about his writing and what work of art inspires him.
You can grab a copy of ‘Headlights Like Satellites’ by Tyler Mahoney by clicking the link below and parting with just $1.99. If you live in Sydney you can hear actor, Nick Radinoff reading Tyler’s story at Little Fictions @ Knox Street Bar, Chippendale on Monday, Feb 8. Show starts 7pm, tickets at the door. Or, join Tyler in discussion with the Slinkies editors on our online bookclub, Thursday, Feb 11, details here.
1. What inspired you to write this piece?
I was visiting my twin sister back home. People were warning each other to watch out for fresh spray paint on their properties, saying dogs were being taken. That was the catalyst anyway.
2. Tell us about your writing process.
Writing has never felt like a process. I try for a certain colour and work with themes that are close to me. I used to try and map out my ideas but now I prefer to work from a single document I can build on and edit. I also keep notes everywhere I can write ‘em. It is a structured kind of babble. I do listen to music while I write though.
‘My writing lets me share something of how I navigate my world and of the home I’ve made inside myself. I don’t mumble through my hand in a south coast drawl or drape my flaws in camouflage. Writing, for me, is a history of ideas that I’ve never fallen out of love with.’
3. Tell us about one work of art – from any discipline, from any era – that you rate and why it has left an impression on you.
There is a film by the legendary Jonas Mekas called: As I was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I saw Brief Glimpse of Beauty. It’s an amalgamation of small moments caught on Mekas’ signature shaky camera. Once these vignettes of everyday life are arbitrarily assembled, the clips lose their individuality. Mekas’ films are less like memories and more like living. As I was Moving Ahead reminds me that the act of creating can be pure pleasure. It reminds me that I am a bunch of moments strung along a linear conscience. I reminds me that life doesn’t need be all grand gestures.
4. What’s next?
I’ve been asking myself that. I feel like I’ve just taken a giant breath out and everything’s up for grabs.
Tyler Mahoney is a graduate of Australian Film, Television & Radio School. He has just completed his undergraduate degree while moonlighting as a media demonstrator at The University of Sydney. He’s had film scripts accepted into international film festivals and debut at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. He continues enjoying the momentum of his life, making music with his fellow Swamp Monsters and tending his vegetable patch.
Headlights like Satellites is Tyler’s first piece of fiction.
Book available at Tomely