#91 Inside the Emotion of Fiction "TENDER CUTS" by Jayne Martin

Chris Rice Cooper 

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****Jayne Martin’s TENDER CUTS  is #91 in the never-ending series called INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction writer wrote that specific excerpt.  All INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece. 

Name of fiction work? And were there other names you considered that you would like to share with us? “Tender Cuts” is the title of the collection and also the title of the first story, which is about a six-year-old beauty pageant contestant trying to please her demanding mother. Titles have never been my strong suit, so to come upon one I liked was a big accomplishment. I wasn’t going to press my luck.

Fiction genre?  Ex science fiction, short story, fantasy novella, romance, drama, crime, plays, flash fiction, historical, comedy, movie script, screenplay, etc.  And how many pages long? Flash fiction: Thirty-eight stories, all but two under 300 words, with illustrations. I’ve nicknamed it “Tiny tales for the time challenged.” The book is 92 pages in total.

Has this been published? And it is totally fine if the answer is no.   If yes, what publisher and what publication date? The publisher is Vine Leaves Press (https://www.vineleavespress.com/) and the officially publication date is November 4^th, but it should be available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell’s any day now.  

What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I believe the first story was written in 2011. But is wasn’t until about 2016 that I began to glean through all the stories I’d written to create this collection. It was finished in 2017 and then the search for a publisher began.

Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work?  I live in a tiny house high on a hilltop in the rural part of Santa Barbara County, California. It’s very peaceful there. I’m not one of those who can write in busy places. I can’t even have the radio on.

What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? I tend to write best in the early morning, before the demands of the day begin to wear on me. By afternoon, I’m spent. When I wrote movies for television I would write the first drafts in longhand, but now it’s directly into the laptop. I’ve got to get thoughts down fast these days before I forget them.

What is the summary of this specific fiction work? In these 38 tiny tales, everyday people do their best to manage the wounds life inflicts on all of us: A six-year-old beauty pageant contest strives to please her demanding mother; a woman marries a 1985 Buick LeSabre; in a laundromat bored wives fall under the romantic spell of a lobster, a grown woman is still being fat-shamed by her deceased mother via a Ouija board; a widow carries her husband’s ashes around in Baggies. With pathos and humor, all of the characters in this collection will speak to the reader’s own wounded heart.

Can you give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on in the excerpt? It’s hard to give excerpts from these stories as some of them are under 100 words, but here are a few:

From “Pinky Swear,” A story about a dying woman’s memories of a summer spent with best high school best friend:

We stroll the sandy boardwalk, smoke cigarettes stolen from my mother’s purse. Our bodies distort in fun house mirrors and we wonder who we will become.

From “I Married a 1985 Buick LeSabre,” a story where car becomes a metaphor for a woman’s marriage:

He was solid, dependable, and had a spine of steel. Never a small woman, I felt dainty when I sunk into his embrace, his ride snug and gentle.

From “Family Time,” a story of domestic abuse:

My father’s fury thunders down upon us as we cower on the cracked and cold linoleum floor. He says he is going to kill us, but it is our terror he most enjoys.”

As you can see, there is quite a variety in the type of stories, and each has a minimalist illustration with a tiny heart somewhere in each drawing.  

Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write?  And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? Every story in the book is about some type of heartbreak. None of us gets through our lives without these tender and sometimes not so tender cuts and I relate to and love each one of these characters. Writing these stories reminded me to be kind to people. We never know what burdens someone else carries.

Other works you have published? I have a collection of humor essays out called, “Suitable for Giving: A Collection of Wit with a Side of Wry” that’s also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Kirk Douglas (yes that one) sent me a lovely note saying he found a laugh on every page. Who am I to argue with Spartacus? 

I also have a movie I wrote for Animal Planet called Big Spender about a prison program where the inmates take care of unwanted and abused ex-racehorses, giving both the men and the horses a second chance at life. If you like horses, you’ll love Big Spender.

Anything you would like to add? I hope your readers will visit my website at www.jaynemartin-writer.com where you can read more excerpts and see some of the illustrations from “Tender Cuts.”

          Jayne Martin is a Pushcart, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfictions nominee, and a recipient of Vestal Review’s VERA award. Stories in New Flash Fiction Review, Spelk, Crack the Spine, Midwestern Gothic, Barren, MoonPark Review, Blink-Ink, and Bending Genres among others. Her flash fiction collection, “Tender Cuts,” from Vine Leaves Press is available now. She lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she rides horses and drinks copious amounts of fine wines, though not at the same time. Find her at www.jaynemartin-writer.com

Facebook: Jayne Martin-Author

Twitter: @Jayne_Martin

Instagram: jayne.martin.writer

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001   11 15 2018 Nathaniel Kaine’s

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002   11 18 2018 Ed Protzzel’s

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004   11 29 2018 Christian Fennell’s

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005  12 02 2018 Jessica Mathews’s

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006  12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s

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007  12 12 2018  Adair Valerez’s

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075 08 23 2019 Jonathan Brown’s

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078 09 15 2019 Linda Hughes’s

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079 09 19 2019 Max Elliot Anderson’s

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080 09 22 2019 Danny Adams’s

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081 09 24 2019 Arianna Dagnino’s

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082 09 29 2019 Lawrence Verigin’s

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083  10 05 2019 Emma Khoury’s

Fantasy

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#084 10 07 2019 Steve McManus’s

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

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#085 10 08 2019 Sheila Lowe’s

Mystery/Psychological/Suspense with Scientific Bent

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#88 10 14 2019 Kate Maruyama’s

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“THE TRUNK”

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#91 10 19 2019 Jayne Martin’s

Flash Fiction Short Story Collection

“TENDER CUTS”

https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/91-inside-emotion-of-fiction-tender.html