"If we retrace our roots over hundreds and thousands of years, we are all immigrants."

Release day for The Naming of Moths by Tracy Fells!

Good morning Scribblers,

It’s publication day for Tracy Fells’ debut short story collection, The Naming of Moths!

A few weeks ago, I talked about finding a mutual language between author and publisher about a book. When I first spoke to Tracy Fells about short fiction collection, ‘The Naming of Moths’, I said it felt as though it came from the legacy of Angela Carter’s feminist, and often gothic, re-tellings of fairytales. Carter turned out to be one of Tracy’s favourite writers - and so the conversations began! We spoke to Tracy to celebrate publication day today, about the character and animal transformations of this collection - elements of strangeness and magical realism - and how this contrasts against empathetic stories depicting of refugees and war trauma.

The Naming of Moths is a collection of short stories in which tales of magical realism, myths and fairytales are retold and the lines between humans, animals and monsters have become blurred. What attracted you to the short story form? How do you ensure that you are able to fully develop plot and character in such a small space? What are the main challenges that come with writing in a compressed form?

I also write novels, but started my writing journey with short stories purely because there were more opportunities to submit for publication slots and competitions. I read a lot of short story collections before attempting to write one myself, and particularly loved the dark, gothic tales of Angela Carter. She (along with the novels of Joanne Harris) introduced me to magical realism, which was all the permission I needed to write my own uncanny tales. And I’m a little lazy, so the satisfaction of completing a story arc in several thousand words was tempting. Short stories are a quick hit if, like me, you want to explore multiple settings/time-periods/cultures and follow your obsessions.

For me, the golden rule of writing short stories is to work with a minimal cast of characters and then zoom into their immediate reality and the dilemmas or challenges they face. I usually have a clear idea of the story arc and outcome, along with the key themes and possibly the emotions I want to evoke. The length of the story is dictated by this plan, and then I write to that length. I always write straight into Word, and keep an eye on the growing word count. This helps me to know when I’m approaching the story mid-point for example, and where I should be in the story. Perhaps this sounds an unusual, or analytic approach, but it works for me. I’ve tried to ‘wing it’ and just kick-off a story without knowing the direction or conclusion but I usually end up with an overlong and confusing mess, so I stick to the technique that I know will deliver a workable first draft.

I discovered flash and micro fiction early in my writing career, and have had stories of 100 words successfully published to acclaim… I love the challenge of writing to a small word count; you have to narrow your focus as if using a microscope, use language precisely and, if possible, surprise both yourself and the reader with how the story lands. Honestly, writing shorter and shorter fiction is both addictive and freeing, and I urge anyone writing fiction to try it as it will improve your editing skills 100%!