Tuesday Mar 19

ComptonSheldon Sheldon Lee Compton's work has appeared in numerous journals including New Southerner, Keyhole Magazine, Emprise Review, BLIP (formerly Mississippi Review), Staccato Fiction, and elsewhere. Most recently, his work was included in Bottom Dog Press's anthology Degrees of Elevation: Stories of Contemporary Appalachia, alongside work from Ron Rash, Chris Offutt, Silas House, Rusty Barnes and many others.  He edits the online journal A-Minor and lives in Eastern Kentucky.
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Anything you want to share with our readers about the inspiration for this story?

The story "Helen and All Her Properties" was my attempt to write something that spoke to the beautiful but dangerous aspects of affection.  I've attended many weddings from which I left as a groom.  Many times I have experienced both the gorgeous nature of a woman, the same way a bolt of lightning strikes across a gorgeous night sky, and also the power and danger mixed somewhere within that moment.  The protagonist in this story is learning that.


Do you have a specific writing schedule that you adhere to and/or any tricks that help you, that might useful to our readers?

I have no set schedule, but prefer to write at least a line or two each day when at all possible in a quiet space without distractions.  There are no other specific needs to speak of beyond that.  I've thrown out two dozen or more methods I'd heard or read about other writers keeping.  Output schedules, time schedules.  We all have to find what works for us, I suppose.


What are you reading at this time?

Pinckney Benedict's Dogs of God, A Room Forever, a biography of the West Virginia writer Breece D'J Pancake, and re-reading Chris Offutt's Kentucky Straight.  This, of course, in addition to a steady stream of online short fiction from journals too numerous to name.


Name the top two or three most influential writers in your reading life and maybe a note on why
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I would say Michael Ondaatje, Larry Brown and William Gay in no particular order.  Brown and Gay reminded me that I could write about where I'm from and make it interesting.  Ondaatje's work influenced my style of writing.  He proved to me that poetry and prose could be combined without sacrificing story.
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