“The Difference Between There Is and There Are” by Liz Rosen appeared in Issue 37 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this story.
I actually did see this brilliant thing with the gloves happen when I was a student in Boston thirty years ago. I remember thinking that it was such a profound act, almost philosophical, and came from such an unexpected place. I never forgot it and kept looking for a way to recreate it fictionally.
What was the most difficult part of writing this piece?
Finding the right ending. After the story was rejected numerous times, a friend with a very discerning eye and ear read the piece for me and recommended pushing in a less obvious and more poetic direction at the end.
Recommend a book for us that has been published in the last decade.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it b? Why?
Catriona Ward, author of the genius The Last House on Needless Street and more recently, Sundial. She is a masterful plotter and the structure of her novels is tricky and rewarding to see come together at the end.
What are you working on now?
A hybrid short-story cycle with a supernatural element. It’s both the basis for a public art project with an artist friend, and a way for this short story writer to creep closer to writing a novel.
Our thanks to Liz for taking the time to answer a few questions and share this story. Read “The Difference Between There Is and There Are” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/fiction-the-difference-between-there-is-and-there-are.
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Liz Rosen is a former Nickelodeon Television writer and a current short story writer whose stories have appeared in numerous journals and podcasts. She has also been the recipient of several writing residencies, the most recent of which she left early after finding (and stepping on) the second snake in her cabin. That she did not leave after the first snake is a measure of her commitment.