Interview with Adam Trodd, Highly Recommended Writer-LISP 3rd Quarter 2018

- Can you please tell us about you? Where do you live and how is your daily life?

I live and work in Dublin.

- When did you start writing? How often do you write?

I've been writing in some form or another since I was a child. I used to manage about 500 words a day but with young children and a full time job, that won't be possible again for a while. I've been published in various online and print journals and anthologies over the years. I was shortlisted for the 2015 Bath Flash Fiction Award and I won the 2017 Benedict Kiely Short Story Award with a story called Eden is Burning and the 2017 Book of Kells Creative Competition with a poem called Visitator Noctem.

- How did you feel when you learned that you are on the Highly Recommended List of The London Independent Story Prize? How does it feel to have your work recognised?

I was delighted to be highly recommended by the London Independent Short Story Prize. To have a piece recognised is always a boost, particularly so if it reaches and audience outside Ireland.

- What's the best thing and the hardest thing about writing a Flash-Fiction?

The best thing for me is the instant gratification of a flash piece, that punch in the gut. It's powerful. The

hardest thing is pairing it down and keeping the focus tight. Gathering momentum and reaching a conclusion in such a short form is a huge challenge.

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

I am interested in other voices, the lonely, the locked in. That is where the story came from. Hard to say how long I worked on it for. I grab time in little portions here and there these days.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing a 300-word flash-fiction story?

The language has to be good. Don't be afraid to hint at the untold. It doesn't have to be wrapped up with a neat little bow.

-Lastly, do you recommend the writers to give it a go on flash fiction story and LISP?

Absolutely, competitions are a great way to get recognition for your writing.