Jay McKenzie, London Independent Story Prize 2024 2nd Competition Flash Fiction Finalist

London Independent Story Prize 2024 2nd Competition Flash Fiction Finalist 'In Red' Jay McKenzie

- Can you please tell us about you and your daily life?

I work as a performing arts teacher, so I get to be creative during the day, and get to indulge my love of storytelling with children. At home, my daughter is three, so evenings are usually dedicated to play, play and more play. Weekends are usually about exploring - beaches, and more importantly, cute cafes!

- When and how did you get into writing?

In 2016, I decided to take a career break and started writing a novel. I connected with a local group of writers who started meeting regularly as The Binklings to share and critique work. One of my friends often brought short stories for critique, often submissions for Furious Fiction (Australian Writers Centre monthly prompt based contest), which sounded fun so I decided to give it a go and found that working with both a flash fiction format and prompts was inspiring me to tighten up my writing. I went on to win the contest twice before looking further afield at other contests.

 To date, I have now won a number of contests such as The Henshaw Prize, The Exeter Short Story Prize and Writers Playground,amongst others, and shortlisted for Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Alpine Fellowship, Bath Short Story Prize, Edinburgh Story Prize, Fish Short Story Prize and Exeter Novel Prize. My debut novel Mim and Wiggy’s Grand Adventure was published in 2023 with Serenade Publishing, and I’m currently redrafting my next novel whilst writing short stories in between edits.

- How often do you write? Do you have a writing routine? And what inspires you to write?

I write every day/ I get up between 4 and 5 am on work days so that I can write for a few hours before work. I tend to find that I’m both more creative and more productive in the morning. After my daughter has gone to bed, I’m usually too tired to write much, but if I have the energy, I will write then too.

 I am inspired by everything and anything, though I’m usually looking for a connection to explore relationships. I have been to some incredible places and seen some wonderful things, but landscape always ends up as a backdrop to explore human connection in my stories.

- How does it feel to have your work recognised?

It is exciting to receive recognition for my work, particularly things where I’ve ripped a little bit of my soul out and sprinkled it onto the page. When I see my name alongside the names of writers that I have admired over the years, it’s incredibly validating to think that someone likes something I have written and holds it to a similar standard as these other writers. It helps with the imposter syndrome! What I’ve really enjoyed about seeing my name on lists alongside other writers though is the connections I have then been able to make with them. My writing community is talented and supportive and scattered all over the world and recognition has been a factor in encouraging that. 

-  How did you develop the idea for your LISP-selected story? Is there a story behind your story? And, how long have you been working on it?

My flash In Red is part of a mini-series of flash that I have been working on. The stories themselves have nothing in common, but they are connected by the titles. The first, In Blue longlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award, and In Red is the second. In both stories, I wanted to explore colour with as much brevity as I could within a tiny word count while I looking at building a relationship that resonates in just a few words. I don’t watch the news, but my husband is often talking about the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, and war is always ripe for building and destroying relationships, so I chose to use that as the background.

I wrote the first draft a few months ago then gave it some beta love and space to breathe. I then came back to it for my submission to LISP.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing a story?

I forget where I heard it now, but the suggestion was that a short story should be like a good party guest: show up late, leave early. I try to apply this to my work by dropping my characters in somewhere in the middle of something, a funeral, a party, a war. I then whip them away while the action is still ongoing and don’t allow them space to tail off and linger. The other thing to remember in a flash or short story format is that every word is working so much harder than the words in a novel. Each word needs to bring not only momentum, but depth, and that can be challenging sometimes.

- Lastly, do you recommend that writers submit to LISP?

I definitely recommend that writers submit to LISP. I appreciate the communication and clear timelines in place, but most of all, the calibre of writers that are recognised by LISP is extremely high, and the endorsement from LISP, as a writer is extremely affirming.