Hi, Salinda. Thanks for talking with us. Can you tell us a little what your story, "Mud," is about?
A World War I ambulance driver doing her job against terrible odds.
How did you come up with the idea?
A museum exhibit sparked the idea of contrast between human and animal bonds and the horrors of technology. WWI was mechanized slaughter, a "modern" war with tanks and planes, yet there were also cavalry charges! Imperial War Museum photos show soldiers with dogs and cats. They kept down rats in the trenches, but obviously boosted the men's morale. Dogs were trained to carry messages, lay communications wire, and haul machine guns. There was a pigeon handlers corps, and many animals were decorated.
What is your inspiration for writing as a whole?
My interest in history and art. And reading and listening to stories! My grandfather's story about the horses and mules used in WWI inspired this one. How he pitied them and how many of them died. He rarely talked about the war and his army uniform hung in the back of my grandmother's closet.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up near Pennsylvania Amish country and began writing while living in San Francisco and working for a small news wire. I took Marta Randall's science fiction/fantasy workshop at UC Berkeley extension.
Where can listeners find more of your work?
My author's page is on Amazon.
Any new work we should keep an eye out for?
I'm working on several stories and want to finish some longer pieces.
(And just for Juli's curiosity: What are you reading now?)
I just finished Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, a fascinating novel about China, the Akha people, tea, and ancient tea trees. I'm reading Ian McEwan's Atonement. I recently finished David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood and want to read The Greater Journey next.
If you enjoyed this story, please grab the anthology it appeared in, Terra! Tara! Terror! It's available via Amazon
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