Swetha Amit interviews Josh Dale about Rage, his new chapbook of flash gems

SA: RAGE is a compelling collection of flash stories that explore themes of death, loss, and brokenness. What inspired this collection? 

JD: RAGE began as a few stories set in a suburbanized rural setting, where the characters are doing their thing. Some are on drugs. Some are teenagers doing dumb stuff. Some are adults who have nothing to lose. Some of the stories were included in a full-length collection. I tried to take the strongest ones and combine them. Originally, it wasn’t called RAGE; it was called Roadside Buck Shot. As you can see on the cover, it features an image of a roadside with a bullet hole. I used some of my published stories as anchors, along with some unpublished ones. These stories have a sense of immediacy. They have revenge and rage. Some of the characters have strong moral values, while others are spiraling. The point was to show what rage can do to different people, whether they have a sound mind or are sober. I have shown rage through various characters, from children to adolescents to adults. 

Since you write flash and are the editor of Afterimages/Thirty West Publishing, which largely publishes flash, what initially drew you to flash fiction? 

I guess that between writing long-form fiction and novels, snippets of information and vignettes always come up. I feel compelled to write them down to see where they go. I just realized I have several such unpublished vignettes in my folder. Overall, I’m a big champion of flash fiction because it’s easy to read and can be compiled into a chapbook or audiobook. It’s a fun form to experiment with, to write a character out of, and maybe even turn into long-form fiction. To me, it’s always the start of something, whether it’s a flash story or a novel.

Speaking of long form, many people still think you need to write a novel to prove yourself as a writer. Do you feel Flash is gaining that respect in the literary world? What is your take on this? 

I feel that flash fiction definitely has its place. You might not see many explicitly flash fiction story collections at places like Barnes & Noble, but there are awards for flash, such as Best Microfiction and Best Small Fiction, which are compiled into anthologies. It’s just a matter of time before a big publisher puts together a major project with NYT Bestsellers that becomes a hit. Right now, flash fiction may seem like an exclusive club, but I see it as part of the larger picture going forward. 

As the Editor in Chief of Thirty West Publishing, how do you view and critique your own work? 

For context, I started Thirty West as my own publishing label in 2015-2016 and began self-publishing my books. A decade later, we have a chapbook series that the masthead and I are excited about in the coming months. This is a prototype to see how a chapbook is printed and designed, and how it will look inside. From a creative director’s perspective, I focus on formatting, keep wide margins, and ensure legibility. As a writer, I understand that what I write may not look the same in print, so I try to cut out flowery language, avoid long sentences, and focus on brevity. I feel it worked hand in hand. It gave me an idea of which stories are heading in which direction and how they will look. I reorganized my stories several times before they went into print. 

Do you write every day or write from a prompt? 

It has changed over the years. Initially, I relied heavily on prompts. Now it’s more about sporadic bursts. I used to tell people to write every day, but I don’t do that anymore (laughs). Some days I don’t have a premise, and ideas don’t flow. Other days, I write 1000-plus words. I keep track of the word count in journals, which helps me feel rejuvenated and holds me accountable. My ‘prime time’ of writing tends to be between 7PM-12AM any given day.

Regarding your flash collection, you use first-person POV in some stories and close third-person POV in others. How do you decide which POV to use for a story? 

I would say that if I want a more emotional reaction from the reader, I use first person, but if I want a little more distance, I feel third person works best. For my story titled “A Losing Bet,” I wanted it to be told from a child’s perspective. I have written stories from the perspective of adolescents and adults. With regard to a child, it’s about capturing that innocence while also breaking it. How innocence and experience clash and are relative, in the vein of William Blake. My stories are more pronounced in real modern. So, it’s tough. I like experimenting with first-person when I begin writing a story. And when it needs to feel like someone is pulling back, I go to a close third or omniscient voice.  

Have you experimented with the second-person POV? What’s your take on this perspective, which is usually either loved or hated?

I have written a couple of stories in the second person, but I have to go back to them. I feel it’s more like a conversation, almost like when I am reading poetry. I feel like I am conversing with the poet. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, I feel the second-person POV is much more intimate than even the first-person POV. While it’s quirky at times, it can drop a ball if you can’t finish it right. It’s very subjective and different. It’s definitely immediate and eye-catching if done well. 

There is an unabashed honesty, a matter-of-fact tone, and moments of brevity in your stories. How do you achieve this balance? 

When it comes to stories about rage, the characters can sometimes be unreliable or under some influence, so I wanted it to feel genuine and authentic. I kept the character’s context and time period in mind and adjusted my writing style and language accordingly. For instance, if I am writing from the perspective of a twelve-year-old, I have to ensure I do not use vocabulary that an adult would. I wanted to be as close to the character as I could. I also tend to use slang and pop culture references when setting it in a particular time period. 

In your story, Swamp Eucharist, you use two voices, the son’s and an older voice in the mother’s letter. How did you manage these two distinct voices in the same story?

The goal was to have two stories: the son’s physical tale, and the typewriter story that is a witchy, borderline demonic story. The young narrator is more direct and doesn’t understand the language. When he reads the letter, he starts to pick up pieces, which makes him wonder whether it was about him or someone else. In the climax, he pieces it together, but at a cost. This was my more experimental work when handling a meta. I tried my best to balance it. It was a lot longer, too, so I had to trim it and tighten the story. It got hazy at the end and ended abruptly, so I had to carve the action up so the typewriter story could shine.

Having written the stories from multiple perspectives, which voice was the most challenging to write in? 

For me, it was writing in first-person from a kid’s perspective. Since I am in my 30s now, I don’t want to end up saying things I heard as a kid. Again, it depends on the time period I am writing about, which makes it a challenge. I have written a novella, The Light to Never Be Snuffed, which was my best opportunity to tell a story from a kid’s perspective in the 90s. In that novella, I have used pop culture references, but have imaginary, bordering hallucinatory, moments as a whimsical, yet traumatized, child. Highly recommend it…unless you hate ants and/or never played Pokémon.

There is an interesting line in the story where the character says they are too much in their head. As a writer, do you often find yourself too much in your head, and how do you overcome that?

It’s true that I spend a lot of time in my head. Whether hosting an event or at my day job, I am always thinking about a story I am working on or tasks I must complete for other writers. If I am working on a novel or a larger project, I have to remember where I left off. I tend to forget the mindset I was in, so it’s like a game with myself, trying to remember where I was. Hence, the notebook. If it got lost or waterlogged, I’d genuinely cry.

Since your chapbook delves into the rage of different kinds, how do you channel your anger or bouts of irritation? Do you feel writing helps? 

I used to get hot-headed as a kid. I had to work through some anger issues with breathing exercises or by walking away from the situation. Now, as an adult, I’m more aware of this issue because I don’t want coworkers to hate me (laughs). But I also see adults—family in this case—as peers and not role models is a way to dispel that childish anger from years’ past. So, I tend to write it all down, whether it’s a bad experience or a bad memory. I find it very therapeutic, and it’s a good way to channel anger in the right direction. There was a brief period where I’d jot down a very angry line or two and literally burn it, but I also don’t want to lose my security deposit, or worse, so I stopped (laughs).

Is there any intended message for readers? 

I never thought about a bigger message, really. I try to keep the characters realistic, flawed, quirky, and, under duress. If the final message the reader obtains is positive or empathetic, I know I did my job well. Very literary fiction. My only advice would be that if you have anger issues, find a way to diffuse them healthily and not show them in an insane manner, or, God-forbid, commit crimes out of anger.

Who are some of your favorite flash writers? Do you have any favorite books?

I like some of the Thirty West writers, such as Chelsea Stickle, Sean Ennis, Shannon McLeod, Anna Vangala Jones, and many of the authors who have contributed to the lit mag, Afterimages. It’s nice to follow these authors’ journeys and see how they grow. Every now and then, I come across wonderful work by writers I admire. I am a one-and-done reader because there are so many books waiting to be read. I recently read a translated collection of flash fiction, I Don’t Care, by Ágota Kristóf. It was a bit minimalist for my liking, but the unreliable characters and abrupt endings made it very compelling. 

Lastly, any more projects in the pipeline? 

I’m working on a novel. It’s an amalgamation of genres like horror, sci-fi, and satire under this world I’m developing: a factory called “Meat Depot.” Fans of my “Meat Man” skits will know where I’m coming from here. Otherwise, I’m going to look through my files to see if there’s anything old I can revise or new ideas that spring up.