“Trip to Vegas” by Brian Christopher Giddens appeared in Issue 41 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this story.
I started “Trip to Vegas” twenty years ago, in a fiction writing course. But once the course ended, I found it difficult to balance writing with my career in health care administration. In 2021, I returned to writing, and the story. “Trip to Vegas” is based on personal history. There was such a trip, and it was a significant emotional journey for my family. “Trip to Vegas” was the first short story I completed, and my first fiction publication, which makes it all the more special to see it reprinted in Sequestrum.
What was the most difficult aspect in writing this piece?
Because elements flowed from memory, the story wasn’t difficult to draft. But inhabiting the voice and perspective of a 14-year-old girl, while keeping the voice real and consistent, was challenging at times. Fictionalizing actual events also requires a different degree of objectivity, especially when writing about something close to one’s heart.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
A few years ago, I started a list on my iPhone of every book I’ve read, or want to read. It’s a long list of amazing books. I’m currently in awe of Claire Keegan. I found Small Things Like These to be quite moving. Keegan’s protagonist confronts an ethical dilemma and chooses to “do the right thing” despite the difficulties his actions will cause for his family. Keegan is a role model for clean, honest writing that doesn’t waste a word.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Just the idea of this makes me anxious. I’m an introvert, relatively new to writing, and I quit drinking ages ago. For that reason, I’d choose George Saunders. I admire his mentorship of other authors and his writing, especially the empathy he demonstrates for his characters. Mr. Saunders seems like a kind man who’d recognize my distress and put me at ease. And then maybe he’d write a humorous short story about the encounter afterwards.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
As someone who came to the writing life at an older age, I am motivated to make up for lost time. And I seem to have more ideas than time to write. I’m currently working on a variety of projects, including short stories and poetry. But my primary focus is on finding an agent or publisher for my first novel, “What Do You Want, George?”, a bittersweet story of a fiftyish gay man who meticulously crafted a life focused on pleasing others, only to witness its unraveling. It’s an entertaining read, and I’d love to find a home for the story.
Our thanks to Brian for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “Trip to Vegas” here.
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Brian Christopher Giddens writes fiction and poetry from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his husband, and Jasper the dog. Brian’s writing has been published in Silver Rose, On the Run Fiction, Glass Gates Collective, Roi Faineant, Litro Magazine, Raven’s Perch, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bluebird Word, Hyacinth Review, Rue Scribe, Corvus Review, Glimpse, and Evening Street Review. His work can be found on https://www.