Today’s special guest is literary fiction novelist, Kim Chinquee to chat with me about Pipette.
Bio:
Kim Chinquee grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, served in the medical field in the Air Force, and is often referred to as the “queen” of flash fiction. She’s published hundreds of pieces of fiction and nonfiction in journals and magazines including The Nation, Ploughshares, NOON, Storyquarterly, Denver Quarterly, Fiction, Story, Notre Dame Review, Conjunctions, and others. She is the recipient of three Pushcart Prizes and a Henfield Prize. She is Senior Editor of New World Writing, Chief Editor of Elm Leaves Journal (ELJ) and co-director of SUNY—Buffalo State’s Writing Major. She’s the author of eight books, most recently (her debut novel) Pipette.
Welcome, Kim. Please tell us about your current release.
A novel told in flash fiction style. Pipette starts with a woman on a train returning from the ballet, to her dogs, her partner. Trouble at home escalates. The country is on edge. She tries to escape a threatening situation. Then comes a pandemic; our protagonist hangs out with her dogs, manages remote teaching. With leitmotifs of skiing, dogs, trains, waterways, birds, nature, spiritual guides, triathlons, she writes, she teaches, she swims/bikes/runs. The novel dips into her past―trauma, relationships, activities, working in the lab―which pendulums, then finally propels forward.
What inspired you to write this book?
I began a challenge in the writing group I host on January 1, 2020, as a challenge to write a flash fiction a day. Then the pandemic hit. And the pieces became linked and it turned into a novel revolving around the pandemic.
Excerpt from Pipette:
“We wear lab coats, masks and gloves. We pipette. We hear the hum of the machines.”
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’ve just completed another set of edits on my next novel I Thought of England, editing my novel Pirouette, and working on a new book.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I decided to pursue graduate school, started publishing in journals and magazines, and applying to assistant professorship positions in creative writing.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do write full-time, and also am a professor of creative writing. A typical day for me starts by answering emails and going the “business” of writing. Editorial duties, reading work by others. I don’t have a set time for writing, but I tend to do most of that at night. I really don’t have a set routine, though I like to get in at least some exercise every day, and when I’m in triathlon training, that often takes up at least a couple hours. I live pretty close to a twenty-acre dog island, and I go there almost every day with the puppy. These activities offer inspiration, and time to reflect on my writing, and once my “chores” for the day are done, I like to settle into writing. I’m currently on sabbatical–when not, my schedule involves teaching, meetings, advisement, fulfilling administrative roles.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I love finding odd words to serve as writing prompts, and like to piece them together like a puzzle in a piece of writing.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An artist and a teacher.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I was a medical lab technician in the Air Force, and during Covid, went back to the lab part-time. Much of Pipette centers around that.