The Centifictionist

Laura Davis Hays’s 96 word microfiction, “The Ear,” will appear in the third issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 2, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2021). Laura graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below.

1. What inspired the story “The Ear”?

As a child, I was very afraid of wolves, and dark snowy forests. A nightmare, a fairy story, or a deep past life memory accessible to the very young? The desperation of “The Ear” springs from that frightful place, and the possibility of going to great lengths to survive the worst.

2. What inspires you and your writing?

All the stories in my head. I want to put them on the page.

3. What keeps you going when experiencing times of misery and despair?

Writing always brings me back to the creative, and the creative heals.

4. What advice do you have for microfiction writers?

Microfiction is difficult for me. I suggest many attempts without self-judgment. Start with freewriting. Write in the morning, in notebooks, then edit like crazy until you discover the nugget within.

5. Is there anything else that you would like people to know about you and/or your writing?

Readers make the writer’s world go round. Thank you. Besides stories, I write novels, and novellas, some literary, some fantasy. I’m currently working on linked stories set on a fictional Danish island, including “The Clever Bear” about a man, grieving his wife, who journeys into a dark northern forest, where he has inherited a remote cabin.

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Laura Davis Hays lives in Santa Fe, NM with her husband and two cats. She works as an accounting consultant, writes fiction, and composes and performs music. Her first novel, Incarnation (2016), a past-life thriller, is set in Santa Fe, Belize, and antediluvian Atlantis. The sequel, Chosen, won first prize in Southwest Writer’s fantasy novel contest, and awaits a final edit. Laura has recently published stories in Persimmon Tree and fictionontheweb.co.uk. Website: lauradavishays.com. Twitter: @gotoatlantis. Facebook.