Author Q&A with Sarah Schiff

A native Floridian and dual US and Canadian citizen, Sarah Schiff earned her PhD in American literature from Emory University but is a fugitive from higher education. She now writes fiction and teaches high school English in Atlanta. Her short stories have appeared in Pembroke Magazine, Valparaiso Fiction Review, The Saturday Evening Post, and Cleaver, among others. She’s been twice nominated for a Pushcart prize, by J Journal and JMWW, was a finalist for the TulipTree Review’s Wild Women Story Contest, and was a 2024 Jack Hazard Fellow. Her flash fiction, Drained, appears in Issue #21.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a Sagittarius who likes long walks on the beach. Just kidding—though both are true. What’s also true is that I’m pretty boring. I’m a mother but, as much as I love my kids, I don’t want to be “known” as that. I suspect that few male writers would identify themselves as “fathers”—unless speaking of the glorious work they’ve sired. I’m a high school English teacher, but I don’t consider that who I am. It’s not my calling. It’s something I do because it pays the bills, and I love literature, and I want future generations to appreciate its ongoing relevance despite all the flashy distractions and distortions of our world. I’m a writer, but that title feels especially fraught for all the usual reasons writers often feel like posers and imposters, and especially in a time when readers are an endangered species. What people often see me as is not what I am, and what I am (because of genetics and history) is not always how I identify. Ha, you were kindly asking me a straightforward question, and I got all angsty about it. Blame it on the teenagers I’m constantly surrounded by.

What unique or surprising detail can you tell us about the origin, revision process, and/or final version of your piece appearing in this issue? 

I drafted “Drained” a decade ago, so there’s a weird temporality to it. The world and our nation have obviously changed drastically since then. But with the renewed virulent rhetoric about immigration and the general state of our world, I felt drawn back to it, and I’m so grateful that The Good Life Review rescued it from my “Ghosted Stories” file. 

What fuels your desire to write (or engage in other creative outlets)?

Despair, frustration, cynicism, hope, obsession, and a lack of awareness about what else to do with these few precious moments of my life.

What has drawn you to writing fiction, and/or what other genres do you write? 

We all know that fiction lies its way to the truth, so I want to promote truth in a world riddled with lies, and I want to add just a little bit of beauty to a world that, at times, can be heartbreakingly ugly. 

What have been the biggest influences in your writing? 

Libraries and bookstores. The more of them that close up shop, the closer we get to the brink.

How do you make expression a part of your daily life, or how do you find a balance between your writing and other responsibilities?

If anyone has figured out a sane and healthy way to achieve balance between writing and work/family life, I would love to hear it—especially if it doesn’t involve getting up at 5am.

Are there any special projects, favorite pieces, or books you’d like to promote?

I wish! Although if anyone wants to check out other stories I’ve written, and since we’re all starving for “views” and “clicks,” a visit to my website would be a wonderful treat. If you do, please leave a message with a link to your own writing, and I’ll definitely check it out! 

What do you think when you hear, “the good life?”

If we’re talking about my personal idea of the good life, it would be sitting on the beach, surrounded by friends and family, getting to hear their joys and chatter while my face is buried in a good book. 

If we’re talking about a piece of writing, then it would be having the opportunity to come to life by being read. Thank you so much for giving my story its own good life!

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Thank you, Sarah, for trusting us with your story. We’re also happy we were able to rescue it from the fate of being ghosted! Thanks also for spending extra time on this Q&A. We appreciate you and wish you the best with writing and all life’s endeavors! Oh, and happy birthday!!