Susan Perabo has published four books with one publisher, Simon&Schuster--something we are seeing less and less of these days. Her latest is her second story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, which was published back in February 2016.
EWN: Your short story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, was published in 2016. What story within the collection had the earliest publication history outside of being in the collection, and what was that history?
Susan: This collection includes work written over about a dozen years. “This is Not That Story,” which explores a number of characters impacted by the death of a college student, was published in The Sun in October, 2005. A couple months later, “Treasure” – a coming-of-age story that takes place in the almost literal shadow of 9/11 -- appeared in The Missouri Review. Both of these stories were short-listed in Best American Short Stories the following year.
EWN: How did the publication of this particular collection come about? Were you solicited by the publisher, win a contest, agent submission, etc.?
Susan: Thanks to some fortunate timing, I was able to sign a contract with Simon&Schuster (the publisher of my first collection, from 1999) and work with my original editor there. She was ready for me at the moment I was ready for her. I feel like much of my writing career has hinged upon unpredictable alignments that I can take absolutely no credit for.
EWN: Where do short stories fit within your life as an author? Primary form to work with, or something you write when an idea hits, or …?
Susan: Short stories are central to my life as an author. They always have been, and they always will be. Until I wrote my most recent novel, I was convinced I was primarily a story writer – I thought I might write stories exclusively, forever. Now I think I’d like to go forward doing both. But I’ll always think of stories as my first child..
EWN: Where do short stories fit within your life as a reader?
Susan: Stories are also central to my life as a reader. This is true in part because the majority of my teaching focuses on short fiction. At least half of what I read in a given year is short stories.
EWN: How will you be celebrating National Short Story Month this May?
Susan: Hopefully by writing a short story! I’ve spent the last few years focused on a novel, so I’m anxious to get back to stories.
EWN: Thank you very much for your time!
Susan Perabo is the author of two collections of short stories, Why They Run the Way They Do and Who I Was Supposed to Be, and two novels, The Fall of Lisa Bellow and The Broken Places (all with Simon and Schuster). Her fiction has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize Stories, and New Stories from the South, and has appeared in numerous magazines, including One Story, Glimmer Train, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, and The Sun.
Comments