We published a wonderful flash at The Forge ~ Sapphires by Melissa Goodrich ~ please do read it. And she was a joy to interview for Smash Lits.
1) What is your favourite cheese?
I love the sharps. The sharper, the better.
2) You are wallpaper. What is your pattern?
Lots of diamond shapes. Deep purples and blues.
3) Who is/was your unlikely crush?
Aladdin.
4) Have you ever read someone else’s diary?
I want to say yes. I probably just wish I have.
5) Bacon VS Tofu – who wins? Why?
Bacon every time. The snapping sounds (in the pan, in the mouth).
6) What colour is Thursday?
That promising raincloud color—high and pale.
7) Have you ever had a nickname?
Mel. Mel G. Love. Bee.
8) How much money did you spend yesterday?
*logging in to USBank* $10.32.
9) Do you believe humans can spontaneously combust?
Kind of. I definitely think cars can. I’m worried any little thing (putting diesel in by accident, low tire pressure) will “make my car explode.”
10) What sandwiches would you make for a picnic with Paul Auster?
The tallest turkey-ham-sprouts-celery-avocado-MiracleWhip(fightme)-cheddar-lettuce beauties you can imagine. I would also pack cookies.
11) Do you have a recurring dream?
I dream almost every night. In my dreams, I run for my life a lot. I dream of alligators rising from a lake of fog. I’ve dreamed up every teaching nightmare you can imagine. Just last night I dreamed of moving and unpacking in a new house and not being able to find ANYTHING I was looking for. Once my partner told me he had a dream about Disneyland—waiting in line for rides—and I was immensely envious of that simplicity. When I dream, my heart is in my throat: always.
12) What’s your favourite swear?
Goddamnit.
13) What is your default pub drink?
Whiskey sour. Or a cider.
14) Sapphires, diamonds or rubies?
SAPPHIRES ALWAYS.
15) Can you write a haiku about your flash?
Sapphires
What if all I am
is sharpening points, dark blue
like a not-body.
16) Do you have a favourite quote?
For advice: “You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.” (Hemingway) For love: “I would like to be the air/ that inhabits you for a moment/only. I would like to be that unnoticed/& that necessary.” (Atwood)
17) How much money did you spend yesterday? What on?
$10.32. A cheeseburger and a chocolate shake (because I love those things). (Especially chocolate shakes.)
18) Do you have any writing rituals?
I always start with first sentences. I mean, I like my first sentences to have a spring-forward mechanism—I basically open the door with a first sentence and then let that dog run wild through the woods. The next sentences chase it. I also like to read aloud what I’ve written—sometimes as I’m writing, always when I’m reading it over. Hearing it helps.
19) Who is your favourite Neighbours character?
I’ve never seen it…but if you had asked me who my favorite “Good Place” character is, the answer is Chidi. And Janet. ❤
20) What question should I have asked you?
What natural disasters have you been in? (Mine: fire, flood, monsoon, tornado.) What natural disasters have you always wanted to be in? (Mine: Lava flood?) Also: favorite/least favorite figurative language? Also: if you were a type of figurative language, what would you be? Also: weird pet peeves? Also: four words you think are gorgeous.
21) I seem to have asked you the how much money did you spend yesterday question twice though, which means you still have one to go, so “favorite/least favorite figurative language?” Also—your haiku ROCKS!
Thank you! Favorite: hyperbolic simile, Least favorite: idioms.
I’ll be adding your question suggestions to my list. Thanks 🙂
Sara Crowley 