Manu St. Thomas, LISP 2025 Flash Fiction Finalist, 'Gunpowder and Candy'

Could you please tell us about yourself and your daily routine?

I was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, and I’m currently living in the south of Germany. I have an MA in Linguistic Anthropology and I recently completed an MFA in Creative Writing. My daily routine is mostly comprised of exercising, cooking and staring at the screen hoping for the words to come. I also watch a lot of TV series, read (I’m on a non-fiction streak about expeditions and explorers) and play video games.

When and how did you start writing?

I was six when I started writing in Romanian. I wrote poetry, flash fiction and plays. About three years ago, I started writing in English and submitting stories to competitions. In 2023, I won Mslexia’s Flash Fiction Award and The Failing Writers’ annual flash fiction competition. My work has been published in Elegant Literature, Flash Fiction Magazine, Friday Flash Fiction, 101words and other magazines.

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

I try to write every day, but not every day turns out to be a writing day. I prefer writing in the evenings, when it’s dark outside. I’m inspired by anonymous secrets people share online, by everyday moments, by the books that I read. I love magical realism, Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, so my stories always have a little bit of strange in them.

How does it feel to have your work acknowledged, whether through being a finalist in a

competition or having it published? 

It feels like having a flamethrower to scorch all the doubts, all the gnawing voices that tell me I’m not good enough and this isn’t what I should be doing. Every little win is a way of shutting them up, at least for a while. Writing is a lonely and isolating profession, and getting this type of recognition makes me feel like it’s all worth it.

What's the most rewarding and challenging aspect of writing a story? 

The most rewarding thing for me is coming up with a turn of phrase or sentence that I adore. Finding a satisfactory ending is the difficult thing. There’s something almost like a demand nowadays for the ending to be a twist, a punch in the gut, something that turns the story on its head and I think it’s hard to come to a satisfying and surprising conclusion when you tell a story.

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? 

It was inspired by an episode long ago in my teen years, and by the idea that some relationships, as beautiful as they may be, are simply meant to end, to burn and light the way for the rest of your relationships. I have some recurring themes in my writing and break-ups are one of them, and also this idea that life is life and it just goes on and you don’t have much of a choice but to go along with it.  

Please share a few tips on writing stories. 

I see a lot of stories that start in a passive way, with a long sentence that doesn’t necessarily entice you to read more. I think a sharp opening sentence that poses a problem or sets the mood immediately is the key to a good story. Also, a few years ago I read “First You Write a Sentence” by Joe Moran and that book has changed the game for me. It’s really important to weigh each sentence, see if it has words that drag it down, if it says nothing more and nothing less than what it needs to say, if it flows beautifully when read out loud. And finally, I think the whole “write what you know” is often misunderstood advice, because it doesn’t mean relying exclusively on your experiences, but rather writing on any topic based on the way you understand the world.

What are the best and the most challenging aspects of competitions? 

The most challenging aspect is for sure dealing with the rejections, especially when you get your hopes up and you think you might really have a shot. But I love the fact that competitions give me prompts, word counts and deadlines, it’s something that sets up the parameters and somehow makes the task of writing a story a bit easier.

Finally, would you recommend that the writers consider submitting to LISP?

Absolutely! It’s a great competition, there’s the chance to be featured in an anthology and that’s a gold star for any writer, and my experience with LISP has been lovely.