“Mermaids for Seahorses” by Joan Slatoff appeared in Issue 37 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this story.
This piece was inspired by an obsession with cults I developed during the pandemic; watching many, many documentaries and reading the memoirs of people who escaped from various cults. Among other aspects of cults, I’m fascinated by how people are often drawn in by a mysterious charisma emanating from the cult leader. And then making up a cult involving mermaids and seahorses was just pure fun.
What was the most difficult part in writing this story?
The most difficult part was finding the best way to tell this story, which involved editing out some of my favorite bits as it went through dozens of revisions. I always have trouble with time sequences and did here as well. Originally it began with a scene where the main character, Caitlyn, is trapped between her parents in a restaurant as they tell her that her niece has joined a cult: ” ‘Catherine has lost Angie. I mean, we’ve lost Angie,’ Mom said this with a drop down jaw and suddenly pale face. Her facial expression annoyed me no end.” I had to lose the parents as anything but very minor characters in the story, and focus more on Caitlyn. Another version consisted of the whole story being a letter from Caitlyn to her niece, Angie. Much rewriting!
One thing that helps me when I get stuck is to describe the personality and some of the actions of my characters to my artist son, and then he sketches them based on my description. This visualization often gives me new insight into, or ideas for, a character.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward – a beautiful and riveting story. And I like novels that include child characters.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Haruki Murakami. I’m curious whether he would seem like one of his characters and also, I have a feeling that he is probably a really nice guy. But I would be in awe and tongue-tied and probably just stare and listen and smile and nod and feel like I was in a dream or in one of his stories.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
The latest story is about a 12-year-old who finds out that his grandfather is actually his father. Who knows what the next one will be about.
Our thanks to Joan for taking the time to answer a few questions and share this story. Read “Mermaids for Seahorses” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/fiction-mermaids-for-seahorses.
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Joan Slatoff’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Exposition Review, Dime Show Review, Bangalore Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Sequestrum, and Isele.