As you know, I'm a fan of Rivecca's debut short story collection Death is Not an Option. I had a chance to exchange some email questions with her and the result is up at LAist now - go check it out. Here's a sneak peek:
Your short story collection explores a very specific emotional territory. Each character has an interesting journey from the lies they've been telling themselves to an arrival at emotional honesty. An arrival at seeing themselves and others for who they really are and what that means for their future. This is something that folks often take years of therapy to fully recognize and own. Yet, in these stories, we are seeing characters at that exact moment of realization, at the precise point in their lives where this shift occurs. What about this shift, this moment of realization, interests you?
I'm intrigued by how, more often than not, those "a-ha" moments are fleeting, just momentary flashes of grace, and people don't really recognize or feel their impact until years later. In most of my stories, that shift is too much for the characters to process and they aren't able to translate it into action. But that moment of standing at the precipice of some huge and potentially disturbing mystery is one of the most ennobling moments I can think of. It's like standing in front of a burning bush. In that light, we are all fleetingly burnished with meaning.
Rivecca will be reading on Sunday at 7pm at The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Barnsdall Art Park as part of The New Short Fiction Series.
Haven't yet picked up her debut collection and won't be able to see in her in LA? You are in luck. I'm giving away my hardcover copy of her book to one lucky reader. Leave your "entry" in the comments and tell me why you'd love to have this collection sent your way. A randomly-selected winner will be announced on Monday so get your comments in by midnight PST on Sunday & spread the word - or don't, if you want to be selfish like that!
If you're in LA, come on out to the reading Sunday to support a great writer! Be there or...
