In this exclusive interview, we have the privilege of delving into the creative mind of Aimee LaBrie. With a distinctive flair for crafting compelling narratives and a deep understanding of human emotions, Aimee has carved a unique niche in the literary world. Join us as we explore the inspirations, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped Aimee’s writing journey. Get ready to gain valuable insights into the art of storytelling and the inner workings of a celebrated author.

But First, Who is Aimee LaBrie?

Aimee LaBrie’s short stories have appeared in the The Minnesota Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, Cagibi, StoryQuarterly, Cimarron Review, Pleiades, Fractured Lit, Beloit Fiction Journal, Permafrost, and others. Her second short story collection, Rage and Other Cages, won the Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize and will be published by Leapfrog Press in the spring of 2024. In 2007, her short story collection, Wonderful Girl, was awarded the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction and published by the University of North Texas Press. Her short fiction has been nominated five times for the Pushcart Prize. Aimee teaches undergraduate creative writing at Rutgers University, where she also works as the senior program administrator for Writers House.

Aimee LaBrie’s Books and Short Stories:

Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey as a writer? What initially sparked your interest in writing fiction?

I was always a big reader as a kid. My grandmother gave me lots of classic books growing up, Little Women, Girl of the Limberlost, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and as an only child, I made up a lot of stories myself. I believed in magic and hidden doorways to other worlds for a lot longer than most kids, and I started to put those stories on paper to entertain myself.

What authors or books have influenced your writing style the most?

I love many short story writers, mostly women like Mary Gaitskill, Carmen Maria Machado, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munroe, but I also love the brevity and succinctness of Denis Johnson and Raymond Carver. I learned from Carver that you could adapt a story you love and make it your own. He wrote “Cathedral” based on a D.H. Lawrence story called “The Blind Man,” and that taught me to really study and emulate writers whose work I love.

What inspired you to write Rage & Other Cages? Is there a central theme or message that you wanted to convey through the collection?

The stories in Rage & Other Cages were written over a span of about ten years, but they all feature female protagonists living in Philadelphia who are trying to figure out how to survive—either in their job, or in their love lives, or in the world where women are still meant to be maternal, patient, and giving. My characters tend to push against these constraints and might be said to be “unlikable” because they aren’t universally nurturing or kind—many misbehave a lot. I don’t have a message for anyone, other than that the roles that women typically still find themselves in—as needing to be compliant or a good daughter or needing to be partnered up—actually can be subverted. You don’t have to end up with a partner; you don’t have to be nice to everyone.

Can you share any anecdotes or interesting experiences from the writing process of Rage & Other Cages?

It took me a while to figure out what order to put the stories in, until I found there could be a progression through ages—there are many different female characters, but we go from the younger characters to characters who are more established. Also, in earlier versions of the collection, I didn’t think I could have as much flash woven throughout, but I found that I liked having longer stories interspersed with these brief interludes.

One of the stories mentioned in the book involves a nurse navigating grief and self-worth while dealing with a murderer. How do you approach creating such complex and morally challenging characters and situations?

In that story “The Bluest Skies,” you have a character (the transplant coordinator) who has to get the alleged murderer (the boyfriend) to consent to organ donation. So, she clearly wants something from this man. To get it, she has to first figure out how he will best respond to that very big ask. She has to see him as a human person who, though he may have killed his girlfriend, still is reeling with grief and disbelief. Her approach is to treat him kindly, and to convince him that this is something good that can come out of a very bad situation. I like stories that aren’t clear cut—this is the good guy, this is the bad guy—because the transplant coordinator herself is pretty manipulative. She tells herself too that she’s lying to this man to save the lives of others, but she’s also doing it because that’s her job and she wants to succeed.

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Short stories often require conciseness and precision in storytelling. How do you decide which details to include and which to leave out when crafting your narratives?

In the first and second drafts, I don’t worry about the details too much. I trust my subconscious mind to get those right to an extent. Every character and every story has a particular landscape and texture. In the revision, I test to see if the details are working toward that landscape or against it. For example, if I’m writing a story about an actress, the details have to include things from that world—opening lines, stage directions, references to plays. In the next revision, I can be even more particular. What play should be mentioned—is this character more like Maggie from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or the nurse from Romeo and Juliet? That’s where the fun of writing comes in; choosing the descriptions that will echo the theme or focus of the story.

How do you ensure coherence and continuity while still allowing each story to stand on its own?

I write most of my short stories over a continuous period of time. That means I generate a lot of pages and scenes over the course of a week or two weeks without focusing on another project. I usually have a deadline for the story; either for a contest or for a writing group, so that keeps me working on it every day. I then put together all of the bad writing on one story that I’ve done over these two weeks and see what’s working and what’s not. I write long and cut a lot. I also sometimes leave a story alone for a while and then add scenes that I’ve noticed are missing, and then spend a few days pulling it together. I always have other readers of my work—I don’t magically write something without feedback from other writers, because I might miss something I can’t see because I am too close to the story. Writing seems like a solitary activity, but that’s just the generative part. The real work of writing is done with your literary community.

Are there any particular challenges or rewards you encountered while writing this collection compared to your previous works?

Since this collection spanned a good decade in the making, the only real challenge was having enough good stories to fill the collection. There is nothing more gratifying than putting a group of stories together and then pulling out the ones that are not quite there yet and replacing stories that are more fully realized. It’s just a matter of time then. You can’t rush it, at least, I can’t rush it. I need to have time to generate stories that work.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers who are interested in exploring the short story format?

Write every day and read every day, even if it’s writing for ten minutes and reading a short piece of flash or a poem. Pay attention to the world around you. Everything you need to tell a story is happening around you all the time if you are looking for it. Don’t invent worlds or imaginary locations. Even great fantasy writers like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis find the fantastical in the world around them, and young writers should be thinking about a very particular room in a particular house on a particular street when they are writing—not a house that is made up. You have to see the place your character is in very clearly, and if you say it’s an imaginary place, you’re creating so much extra and unnecessary work for yourself. That’s part of why my stories are all set in Philadelphia. I spent eight years there, and the setting is rich enough to fuel nearly every one of my stories in this collection.

Finally, can you share any details about your future writing projects or any upcoming works that readers can look forward to?

I’m working on another collection of short stories that mixes tropes from reality TV with more traditional story structures. For example, I have a story that’s about a home renovation show if the new home were being built for Dracula. I have another story about the show The Bachelor that’s based on The Bacchae, where a hoard of women end up tearing the main character/bachelor apart limb from limb. Fun stories like that.

Thank you Aimee LaBrie for sharing this fascinating interview and shedding light on the creative process behind “Rage & Other Cages” .