Five Questions with Ian Golding
Kirby Johnson: Your piece, “Veteran’s Day with the Bacon Babes” appears in our most recent issue of NANO Fiction, 7.2— and is hilariously poignant and sad all at once. How did this piece come about? What was your inspiration?
Ian Golding: In the NHL the ice is maintained every commercial break by a special crew. For some reason they’re models in body-con spandex. All they do is shovel, but the crowd gets pumped up anyway. It’s like the game’s an afterthought, they can’t wait for the ice to get messed up again. So I guess I was watching the ice crew get ogled while performing awful manual labor. Does that sound creepy?
Also, and I don’t want to sound like a hater, but I think most parades suck. They’re normally just corporate sponsor exposure or elected officials waving in the back of a convertible. That said, if there’s a parade in town, I’m there. Every time. No expectations. I’ll be front row munching on a hotdog waiving like a tourist to a champion little league team or a Shriner camel or something.
KJ: This story works a lot with sound and white space on the page. Words are pulled out of the block of prose and propelled by across the page to illustrate the crowd’s chanting. Could you talk to us about the form of this piece evolved through your drafts?
IG: Definitely something that evolved over time. Parades have this constant lurching motion, and giant paragraph blocks didn’t quite get the job done. Flash fiction opens up to a ton of fun forms, so once I got one in, it was just figuring out what’s next. It’s like wading into the ocean—getting the water up to your nipples sucks, but after that it’s all good.
KJ: Do you have a favorite parade that you’ve been to? What stood out most to you about that event?
IG: Even the worst parade is free, so they’re all okay. My favorite would probably be the local gay pride parade. It’s just a lot better when the participants actually care and/or are wearing zipped up leather bondage suits in the middle of the August.
KJ: Who are the writers (flash fiction or otherwise) that you most admire, and what qualities drew you to their work?
IG: My favorite writers approach all their fiction like it’s flash fiction. Every page filled with excitement and determination, a narrative with a constant sense of urgency. What I’m trying to say is I have no attention span.
KJ: What are you working on now?
IG: I’m currently working on a novel and elevating my brand at ian-golding.com