Elizabeth Cage
Slow Poison is a quick read collection of deliciously dark stories, infused with black humour: 7 quirky, twisted tales to remind us that some folk just aren't very nice...(in fact the original title of the collection was going to be Some People Just Aren’t Very Nice!)
It was only when I started to collate the stories that I realised there was a common thread running through them; which is the darker side of human nature.
Please tell us about your inspiration for each of the tales.
Slow Poison was actually first published on Female First! (the original title was Dear Lauren). It isn’t based on any one person but is an amalgam of two girls who bullied me when I was at school, and another who was my best friend for many years, although it took me a long time to realise that it wasn’t a very healthy friendship. There are people who nourish and people who poison but we can’t always see that.
Keeping Mum is described as “A cautionary tale for anyone who doubts that mum knows best.” I’m interested in the way we can often manifest behaviour learnt from our parents when we get older. I just took this a step further!
Puddles
“Four cute puppies in the home - what's not to love? Plenty, according to house-proud Marion. But what's the solution?”
Again, this came from taking a particular kind of behaviour to an extreme, and then introducing a supernatural element….kind of!
Death by Chocolate
“Anthony has a plan. But life rarely goes to plan. A story of thwarted ambition, soured passion and murderous intent. And lots of chocolate...”
Well, I love chocolate! And it amused me that there is a dessert called Death by Chocolate, so I began to think about how that might actually happen….I also enjoyed writing as a man!
Mother Love
“When a mother/daughter bond becomes disturbingly dysfunctional.” This is a VERY dark piece of flash fiction, written when I was reading quite a lot of horror stories. I’ll leave it at that!
Boodle
“Callie has trouble coming to terms with the disappearance of her beloved cat and blames her husband, Frank. But has Boodle really gone for good?”
This bizarre story was the result of losing my much loved cat, who went missing one night. I was absolutely devastated and quite inconsolable, looking for him obsessively for weeks on end and getting quite hysterical. I had formed such a strong bond with him and desperately wanted him back.
The Kiss
Another piece of flash fiction that first appeared on Female First! I’d describe it as a very dark romance…….
What made you want to explore the relationship between mother and daughter in Keeping Mum and Mother Love?
I’m not sure, to be honest. The stories were written over a period of several years and it was only when I collated them that I realised several dealt with the mother/daughter relationship. I’m sure a psychiatrist would have plenty to say about this!
Two of your stories also feature animals, so what made you decide to introduce them into your work?
I’m a big animal lover and support a lot of animal charities, and I also get extremely upset when I hear about animal cruelty, so it was actually quite difficult to write about the main character in Puddles, who has a rather different outlook…..
Do you think that someone can be forgiven after having an affair, as in the premise for The Kiss?
Now there’s a question…..that I can’t answer!
Please walk us through one of your workshops.
I teach several workshops for writers, mostly focussing on the business aspects of writing and getting published. I also give talks for different groups on the same topic, which I think is really important for writers, especially in this digital age.
What advice do you always give to your students when teaching?
To be focussed, to plan and to be flexible – and always to seek new opportunities for learning.
What is next for you?
Right now, I’m struggling to fit everything in! I do regular readings with a wonderful show called Wanton Words and Burlesque Bombshells (next gig at the Canterbury Fringe Festival!) and in the New Year, a collection called The Best of Elizabeth Cage will be published by Xcite. Watch this space!