Tiny Interview #11 - Sara Dobbie
Here we ask authors we admire to share their musings on art and writing, spill their current reading obsessions, and give us a tiny wedge into their creative life. In this Tiny Interview, meet Canadian writer Sara Dobbie, who has published two collections of fiction: Flight Instinct, and the chapbook Static Disruption. Sara is a reader for Tiny Molecules.
‘Bird’s Nest and Ferns,’ Fidelia Bridges, 1863
Q: What book(s) are you reading right now?
A: Right now, I'm reading A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs. I've been getting into memoirs by writers and artists lately, because it's fascinating to me how a person's experiences, particularly from childhood and adolescence, inform the work they create.
Q: What are your current writing projects?
A: I realized recently that I've written a fair number of stories inspired by different jobs I've had over the years, and so I've started compiling them into a collection. I have a few more to write but I think a theme based on the struggle of middle-class workers through a female lens is interesting.
Q: Do any other art forms influence your writing? If so, how?
A: I don't know if other art forms influence me, I feel like absolutely everything I observe or experience seeps into my work. I will say that when I'm writing I see the story play out in a very cinematic way, as though I'm watching a movie.
Q: Where is your favorite place to write, and do you have any writing rituals?
A: I don't have a favorite place to write, it's more a favorite state of mind. As I mentioned earlier, I see stories in my head, so once that vision is there the words flow very naturally. It doesn't matter if I have a laptop available, or my phone, or a notebook, anything will do. It's something that can't be forced so when it happens, I put the words down however I can, wherever I may be.
Q: Who is a writer you wish more people were reading?
A: I feel like there are so many indie writers out there doing amazing, creative things, putting out chap books and collections with small presses. I wish there could be more visibility for them, and that's why I think places like Tiny Molecules are vital, to showcase and support writers who are doing things on their own. I try to promote as many writers as I can on social media, to get as many readers as possible becoming aware of new work.