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Ashleigh Adams is a creative director and fiction writer living in Dallas, TX. Her work often revolves around the dark and messy complexities of being a woman, but every so often her cinnamon-roll center starts showing and she has the urge to pen a sweet romance or snarky romcom. Her short scribblings have been featured in ScribesMICRO, Sci-Fi Shorts, Witcraft, and Elegant Literature, among others. You can likely find her drinking copious amounts of iced coffee and avoiding her first full-length novel draft with various short story competitions. |
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Interview with Ashleigh Adams
about her story "Alice Montgomery's Last First Date"
Honorable Mention for The Scribes Prize
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What draws you to the micro-fiction format?
My professional background is in advertising, so for 20 years the principle of “say it better, and with less words” has been drilled deep into the recesses of my psyche. I love the sense of satisfaction that comes with being able to capture a complete moment or create a whole world in fewer words than most folks would use in a paragraph. My goal is to finish my WIP novel project next year, but microfiction is my first fiction love. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing micros.
Who are some authors that inspire you?
I am an unapologetic mood reader so I try to read a little bit of everything, but the two genres that are always on my TBR list are what I like to call “weird girl lit-fic,” and psychological thriller/horror. I could probably write a dissertation on all the authors I love but I’ll spare you that, offer some of my must-read writers instead: Mona Awad, Heather O’Neill, Otessa Moshfegh, Gillian Flynn, Tananarive Due, Catriona Ward, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, R.F. Kuang, Nat Cassidy, Alice Feeney, Tiffany D. Jackson. My favorite reads this year from new-to-me authors have been My Husband by Maud Ventura and Brutes by Dizz Tate.
If you could continue writing your story after these 100 words, what would happen next?
No question about it—Alice and Howard are heading straight for their happily ever after. I imagine both of them living out their sunset years drinking warm cups of tea, reading books, and watching sunsets, enjoying all those little moments of daily companionship. Howard tells her how beautiful she is every day.
My professional background is in advertising, so for 20 years the principle of “say it better, and with less words” has been drilled deep into the recesses of my psyche. I love the sense of satisfaction that comes with being able to capture a complete moment or create a whole world in fewer words than most folks would use in a paragraph. My goal is to finish my WIP novel project next year, but microfiction is my first fiction love. I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing micros.
Who are some authors that inspire you?
I am an unapologetic mood reader so I try to read a little bit of everything, but the two genres that are always on my TBR list are what I like to call “weird girl lit-fic,” and psychological thriller/horror. I could probably write a dissertation on all the authors I love but I’ll spare you that, offer some of my must-read writers instead: Mona Awad, Heather O’Neill, Otessa Moshfegh, Gillian Flynn, Tananarive Due, Catriona Ward, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, R.F. Kuang, Nat Cassidy, Alice Feeney, Tiffany D. Jackson. My favorite reads this year from new-to-me authors have been My Husband by Maud Ventura and Brutes by Dizz Tate.
If you could continue writing your story after these 100 words, what would happen next?
No question about it—Alice and Howard are heading straight for their happily ever after. I imagine both of them living out their sunset years drinking warm cups of tea, reading books, and watching sunsets, enjoying all those little moments of daily companionship. Howard tells her how beautiful she is every day.