“Jack Fightman” by Meg Favreau appeared in Issue 47 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear a little more about “Jack Fightman.” (Because we love him too.)
The initial inspiration for this piece was thinking about how so many action heroes feel like carbon copies of the same guy, all named Jack – Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan… I’m probably missing some others. These action Jacks so often have love interests and families, but we never spend enough time with them to know the mess of their lives beyond how they support their Jack.
What was the most difficult part of writing this story?
When I’m writing short stories, there are some pieces where the first draft is almost exactly the same as the completed version, and some take a lot more work. This one took more work, but it was less because the first version was bad and more because the premise felt like an embarrassment of riches. There are just so many action tropes to play with. At one point there was a whole section about how Jack Fightman bought his daughter a bracelet every time he went on a mission, but now she was wearing so many bracelets that it was causing arm problems and she needed special physical therapy.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
My wildly talented friend Joe Keohane did an insane thing and coauthored a novel called The Lemon with two other people under the name S.E. Boyd. Perhaps more insane is that it really works despite being a combination of three different voices. The book is funny, biting, and sharp; if you didn’t know it was written by a triad, you wouldn’t guess.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
George Saunders. I almost feel weird saying it, because I feel like he’s one of those authors where it’s like, “Duh, we’d all love to have a drink with George Saunders, Meg.” But both his work and how he talks about producing the work have been consistent guideposts in my career. I love that his writing combines humor, speculative elements, and humanity; and I love that his process is so much about combining craft with intuition. Plus he just seems like a good hang.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
I’m also a screenwriter and filmmaker, and I usually focus on one or two projects at a time while two to three others marinate in the background. Right now I’m working on directing my first feature and writing an animated film, and I have a novel, another screenplay, and some other short stories waiting in the wings.
Our thanks to Meg for taking the time to answer a few questions and share this story. Read “Jack Fightman” here.
Meg Favreau is a writer, filmmaker, and artist originally from the birch-fingered clutches of rural New Hampshire. Her fiction, humor pieces, and essays have appeared in publications including The Massachusetts Review, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, X-R-A-Y Lit Mag, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Real Simple, The American Bystander, MEL Magazine, and Eating Well. Meg also works as a screenwriter, most recently co-writing The Twits for Netflix. She currently lives in Los Angeles with husband, cats, and collection of fake hands; and you can see more from Meg at megfavreau.com.