INTERVIEW: Why I wrote THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER, STORIES
Since the recent publication of my latest collection of short stories, THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER, I’ve received many requests by readers to divulge why I wrote this book.
There are nine stories in this collection having to do with characters who are connected ethnically, historically, politically, and spiritually with Ukraine.
The e-book is currently available on all platforms, and the paperback will be out in late Spring.
You can read excerpts from three of the stories on this blog.
Meanwhile, here is the interview based on the most frequently asked questions regarding the origin story behind the stories I wrote for THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER.
Q. The title THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER is very interesting. How did you come up with it?
It’s a line from the great song “The Boy in the Bubble” by Paul Simon. I loved that line and it fit the stories which all have miraculous and even supernatural themes in historical settings and in specific locations. But the stories also include other themes—immigration, death and grief, depression, even mental illness and the basic good v. evil dilemma, and the choices the characters make that will lead them to redemption or perdition, gain or loss, happiness or desperation.
Q. Why short stories?
I love short stories! My first love. I remember as a kid being introduced to great fiction writers because of short stories.
Writing short stories can also be more challenging than reading them. A writer has to be compact and get the story going in less time than a novel. The characters have to be active and developed quickly and the plot contained and moving ASAP.
Q. Tell us more about THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER.
Initially, I wanted to write an updated version of Geoffrey Chaucer’s THE CANTERBURY TALES, in which a group of medieval pilgrims in England ride together and tell stories along the way, but time constraints and other commitments got in the way.
But I did have enough for a short story collection and the first-person narratives are from different timeframes and historical connections having to do with Ukraine in particular, and other places.
So, the story within a story framework is still there, and sometimes miracles are achieved or wished for, sometimes not.
Each narrative in each of the stories is distinctive—there are historical ties to real life events, including a Christian story set in Biblical times about the first midwife and two stories featuring the Devil too.
I also included a thriller and suspense story about a KGB guy and an Elvis impersonator. Others are fantasy and coming-of-age stories.
Q. Ukraine? Why?
That’s what I usually write about. I can’t seem to help it. My first novel, THE SKY UNWASHED had to do with the Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine, and my second book, WHEN LUBA LEAVES HOME: STORIES, are interrelated short stories based on my Ukrainian neighborhood in Chicago. You see what I mean? It’s in my blood about my blood.
PRAISE FOR THE DAYS OF MIRACLE AND WONDER
“Irene Zabytko has shown that a writer can tell great stories and still have a Ukrainian point of view.” —A. J. Motyl, Author The Jew Who Was Ukrainian
“Irene Zabytko’s work is very engaging. I always look forward to her writing as it is captivating, and her characters are empowered with grace and strength.”— Laurie Kuntz, Poet, Author, The Moon Over My Mother’s House (forthcoming)
“What a breezy but compelling read. I like it a lot. The momentum builds within a social framework that is both ominous and absurd. I hear a bit of Nabokov and of course Hohol.”—Lila Dlaboha, Poet, Past Editorial Board Member The Little Magazine.
Irene Zabytko is an award-winning fiction writer. She is the author of the highly acclaimed novel about Chornobyl (Chernobyl), THE SKY UNWASHED, and the short story collection WHEN LUBA LEAVES HOME. Irene is also the author of the ultimate fiction writing guidebook: THE FICTION PRESCRIPTION: HOW TO WRITE AND IMPROVE YOUR FICTION LIKE THE GREAT LITERARY MASTERS.
