Carver Contest Q&A with Leesa Cross-Smith (2011 Editor's Choice Winner)

From now until May 15, we’ll be catching up with previous Raymond Carver contest prizewinners to find out what they’ve been up to since winning. First up is Leesa Cross-Smith, a self-professed Kentucky girl, homemaker, writer, and reader. Her story, Whiskey & Ribbons, won Editor’s Choice in 2011.

Carve: Can you tell us what inspired “Whiskey & Ribbons?”

Leesa Cross-Smith: Some years ago a local police officer was killed in the line of duty. Just the saddest story. That, thankfully, doesn’t happen all too often around here. My daughter was only a couple months old and I remember rocking her to sleep, watching the live feed of the funeral and just crying and crying. I couldn’t stop thinking about the officer’s wife and family. Their grief. I had another part of a story/play about a couple who was snowed in and forced to work out their issues because of the weather. So I just kinda combined those two stories and added some other images that had been rolling around in my brain, just waiting for a proper story to call home. Like, the last line about putting her ear down to the railroad tracks…I grew up near a railroad track and was told over and over again not to play on it but as a kid, you learn how to put pennies down and run away and come back to find them warm and flat. And I saw a scene from a beautiful movie where the guy puts his ear down to the track to listen for a train. And it came together for me. I carefully measured out my metaphors in this story and ended up using two train metaphors because I wanted one to be used in the beginning and one in the end. A lot of other things went into it, inspiration-wise, but those things are the easiest for me to explain.

C: What was your reaction like when you found out “Whiskey & Ribbons” won Editor’s Choice for the 2011 Carver contest?

LC: I was shy to enter the contest because I felt like it was for “real” writers and I didn’t consider myself one back then. (I do now!) So I was super-excited and surprised to get the news that my story had won Editor’s Choice. 

(To learn more about Cross-Smith’s experiences with being contacted by a literary agency, read “Editor’s Inbox - 2011 Editor’s Choice Winner Leesa Cross-Smith Talks Lit Agents and Carve”). 

C: Has the contest affected your writing or the direction of your writing career in any way? If so, how?

LC: Mostly, the contest really inspired me to keep on keeping on. I’d had a couple of things published when I won Editor’s Choice, but it was the very first time I’d ever received money for anything I’d written and it was the first contest where I’d been mentioned at all. So it was a nice confidence boost since I hadn’t shown a lot of people my stories at that point. I was very private with my stories and slow about showing them to anyone outside my husband and my writing group girlfriends.

C: Might you tell us a little bit about the lit mag you’d started, and how you came about starting it?

LC: My husband and I started a lit mag called WhiskeyPaper. I’d always wanted to run one of my own because I love lit mags and I love stories and I wanted to get under the hood of all of that. Our favorite writers and stories are simple. We love minimalism and linear stories with heart—like Carve! We are southern and sentimental. I also really love to work with writers on their stories when and if I feel like the story is almost there and just needs a little extra love. We have been lucky enough to get some lovely little stories and we have met all kinds of talented writers who we’re glad to have in the WhiskeyPaper family.

C: Can you give us an update on your writing since the contest? Any recent or forthcoming publications or projects we should be on the lookout for?

LC: “Whiskey & Ribbons” is the lead-off story in my short story collection manuscript called “Everyone Breaks Everyone’s Heart.” Last year, “Everyone Breaks Everyone’s Heart” was a finalist for the 2012 Flannery O’Connor Short Fiction Award and a semifinalist for the 2012 Iowa Short Fiction Award. I’m still working on getting it published as a collection, but have received nothing but encouragement and sweetness while I’m waiting. I’ve also got some new stories forthcoming in Spartan Lit, Sundog Lit, Fiction Southeast, Gigantic Sequins and Little Fiction. Most of those stories are from the new short story collection I’m putting together. I’m also working on a novel and a young adult series. I have enough story ideas to keep my brain happy for a good long while!

For more information on Leesa Cross-Smith, visit her website, LeesaCrossSmith.com.

The 14th annual Raymond Carver Contest is now open until May 15th.

Editor's Inbox - 2011 Editor's Choice Winner Leesa Cross-Smith Talks Lit Agents and Carve

We recently heard from Leesa Cross-Smith, author of “Whiskey & Ribbons” and winner of the Editor’s Choice award in the 2011 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. We recalled that Leesa was absolutely THRILLED last year to place in the contest, so we were curious to see what kind of interaction she had with the agencies that read the winning stories last year. Here’s what she had to say:

I was contacted by the Irene Goodman Agency shortly after y’all announced the winners. They were very sweet, told me they loved my story and asked me to query them if I had a novel or novel in progress. I don’t have a novel-novel, but I had a completed YA novel that I sent them (they were kind in their rejection :) But they didn’t/don’t do short story collections (which is what I’m shopping around at the moment). It was awesome to be contacted by them … but didn’t work out for me, personally, because I’m not currently working on a novel. But the fact that an agent/agency sent ME an email was pretty amazing enough to hold me over until I ACTUALLY DO get an agent/sell my short story collection.

[Getting published in] Carve has been nothing but awesome. Starting at the basics with my love for minimalist writing and my love for a one Raymond Carver…it is such an honor to have my name associated with Carve in any way. I love getting to write that in my author bio. And I have received the nicest comments/emails about “Whiskey & Ribbons”! And it being listed as a Notable Story over at storySouth…all of that stuff is awesome, awesome, so the experience has been really special to me. And always will be!

Thanks for writing in, Leesa! While we wish the agency partnership had been more fruitful, it is true that most agencies are looking for novels or novels-in-progress. Still, we make an effort each year to invite literary agencies to read our winning stories based on their past interest in our published stories/contributors.

This year the Rees Literary Agency will be reading the winning stories of the 2012 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. They previously expressed interest in the story “Demetrius” by Kem Joy Ukwu.

Enter the contest today - deadline is June 30th!

"Whiskey & Ribbons" selected as Notable Story in the Million Writers Award

The Million Writers Award recognizes fiction published online.

Congratulations to Carve contributor Leesa Cross-Smith! Her Fall 2011 story “Whiskey & Ribbons” has been selected as a Notable Story in storySouth’s Million Writers Award. The MWA recognizes fiction published online, and her story was selected among hundreds of stories nominated by readers and editors.

Since 2007 Carve has had at least one story each year recgonized as a “Notable Story” and this continues our streak. (Thanks Leesa!) Here’s to hoping her story is selected for the top ten stories to be released next month.

We just used Leesa’s story as an example of a great opening/hook in a previous post, and we’re glad her story continues to receive well-deserved recognition.

Read, comment, and share “Whiskey & Ribbons.” 

Tips from the Editor: Crafting a Strong Opening

In Hollywood, they call it “the hook.” It’s a significant event that happens within the first ten minutes of a screenplay, and it’s what makes you want to keep watching. Without it, we don’t know what’s at stake for the characters or how their lives are about to change.

The same can be said of short stories - especially for a publication like ours that is primarily online. That temptation to click away or back or check our iPhone or email is a potential distraction that can’t be ignored. So when we look at stories we want to publish, we often consider the strength of the opening.

But we’re not Hollywood producers or executives. We don’t want a big action sequence with guns blazing and cars exploding as an opening; in fact that would probably hurt your chances of getting published. As lit lovers, we have a different definition of “the hook.”

The hook, in our lit terms, is one of two things:

1) A unique voice telling the story. Voice is defined by Jerome Stern in “Making Shapely Fiction” (highly recommended for novice writers) as “the writer’s style as it is expressed in the characters’ speech and thought.” Voice is crucial for making your story stand out from the hundreds of others submitted.

2) Knowing what’s at stake for the character(s). A sense of “moral jeopardy.” Why is this day different than any the characters have had so far?

If you have one or both of these strengths in the opening, you’re off to a great start. If neither of these are present, you don’t have much time left to convince us (or our readers) to continue reading. That Facebook notification that just popped up might be more interesting…

Another element of a strong opening is the first line. A good first sentence should have an important character, object, and emotion, all three of which must be continually weaved throughout the story. Short stories should be compact, tight, and each sentence should build on the one before it. Don’t tell us something we don’t need to know. (Save it for a novel!)

Let’s take a look at some past published stories of Carve for examples of a great opening with a hook.

“When My Body Smashed into the Sidewalk” by Yuvi Zalkow (Fall 2007)

My last thought was this: I should have bought my mother a birthday present. Her birthday was the day before my jump and I didn’t even call her. I had seen the blackest blue necklace at the jewelry store storefront on the way to work but I didn’t have a chance to get it for her. I should have thought ahead.

In this opening, we get an immediate sense of what’s at stake: not only is the narrator dead (and telling this story from the afterlife), but the narrator’s relationship with her mother is in a precarious place, possibly ruined forever. It’s clear this day is different from any other so far because of the narrator’s death - possibly by suicide, though we don’t know for sure yet. (A little mystery is good, keeps us reading, but it’s a fine line between mystery and lack of clarity.)

This example also serves to illustrate the components of a good first sentence. There’s two important characters introduced, an object (the birthday present), and an emotion (regret). The author continues to weave these three elements throughout the story, creating a tight narrative that despite its paranormal nature, feels completely real and plausible.

Here’s one more example of both a great opening line and a solid hook:

“Whiskey & Ribbons” by Leesa Cross-Smith (Fall 2011, Editor’s Choice: Kristin, in 2011 Raymond Carver Contest)

I cut my hair when my husband, Eamon, died. Dalton did, too. Everyone says you’re not supposed to cut your hair when you’re pregnant, but I don’t think that applies if you’re a pregnant widow. I don’t think that applies if the father of the child was a cop and was gunned down by some motherfucking sixteen-year-old kid who skipped school.

In this opening sentence we get our trifecta: characters (narrator/Eamon), object (hair), and emotion (grief). These three elements stay in play throughout the story, even taking on different forms (such as an intimate moment with armpit hair).

The voice in the opening is also strong - and not because of the use of foul language. Rather, it’s the narrator repeating the phrase “I don’t think that applies” and also using the terms “gunned down” and “kid who skipped school.” This tells us the narrator is still very close to the tragedy. She isn’t speaking of it in a detached, factual sense. She’s angry, confused, and still grieving.

So a strong opening consists of a hook by unique voice or moral jeopardy and a solid first line that clearly establishes important elements of the story. If you’re struggling to make a better opening, try to make it simpler. Don’t clog it up with unimportant details or observations that are of no consequence. Get to the meat and let us know what’s at stake.

I hope you find these tips helpful, and feel free to comment, ask questions, and let us know what other “Tips From the Editor” you’d like to see.