“… most of us create our own little prisons and boundaries that only we ourselves can escape from.”
Flight Instinct (ELJ Editions, 2022)
Could you tell us a bit about your growing up and your path to becoming a writer?
I grew up in a very creative family. My mother, grandmother, and aunts all painted and sewed, and my father is a musician. My grandfather was always building things. My grandmother used to bring me to the library which made a huge impression on me. I loved books immediately, and because everyone around me made things, I think I just assumed I could make stories.
A question from Anna Laura Reeve: Do you understand your role in society—as a writer—to be influential, critical, observant, or something else?
At first I just wanted to prove to myself that I was good enough to get published. When that happened, and people started telling me their interpretation of my work, I realized that there are elements of all those things you suggested. I didn’t necessarily mean to be influential or critical, but these things are inevitable depending on the reader. I think the role that I would assign myself is to explore the human experience and attempt to convey some kind of meaning.
How do you contend with saturation? The day’s news, the disasters, the crazy things, the flagged articles, the flagged books, the creative writing tweets, the data the data the data. What’s your strategy to navigate your way home?
I think it’s important to completely unplug sometimes and spend time with family and nature. I also love to read books that were written at least a hundred years ago because it takes you out of all the urgency and reminds you that humanity has always been struggling with the same problems and always will be.
A question from Shome Dasgupta: How are you doing?
I love this question! I think I’m ok most of the time. I’ve had a lot of big changes in my life recently and I’m extremely busy, so there are times when I feel pulled in too many directions which leaves me no time to even think about writing. But I’m doing my best and that’s all I can do. Thank you for asking!
A question from Karisma Price: Do you have any self-care practices you include when writing about something heavy?
Any time I’ve written something heavy, it is in itself an act of self-care.
A question from Toni Ann Johnson: Why are you writing about what you’re writing about?
Indeed, why. I ask myself that all the time, and I guess the answer is because these are the things that live inside my head.
What obsessions led you to write your book?
In Flight Instinct, many of the characters are running away from something. The obsession was the idea that most of us create our own little prisons and boundaries that only we ourselves can escape from. It’s one thing to suggest that if there is something in your life that you don’t like, change it. Actually making these significant changes is so very difficult because of duty, loyalty, obligation, societal norms, etc.
How did you decide on the arrangement and title of your book?
The arrangement was tough because there is a mix of reality and surrealism among these stories, but I tried to make them flow nicely. The title came from what we talked about earlier, the idea of escaping. I used a lot of bird imagery and so the obvious choice was Flight Instinct.
A question from Caroline M. Mar: What was the soundtrack of your book? Were there specific songs, musicians, or sounds that helped you access your writing?
If I could make a soundtrack to this book it would be full of Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Feist, Patti Smith. Nico, Ella Fitzgerald, Bikini Kill, Mitski, Babes in Toyland. You get the idea, women who are writing/wrote true songs that express the not-so-pretty turmoil of emotions we experience.
A question from Noreen Ocampo: What is something that fuels you as a writer, your writing practice, or just you as a human being?
Reading. I read as much as I can by as many different types of authors as possible. Seeing a person’s vision on the page always gives me a clearer picture of my own.
A question from Amy Barnes: What is your favorite fairy tale and how would you modernize it?
I have always been obsessed with fairy tales and I collect every edition or collection I can find from used bookstores and yard sales. I love the old, terrifying versions with all the grisly details, like Blue Beard or Donkey Skin. I like reading modernized versions, but I think I’m more interested in letting them exist in their own time but expanding on the short stories and creating novel-length versions.
A question from Monica Macansantos: Do you ever find yourself inspired or guided by your childhood in your work?
I think it’s inevitable because childhood memories are so deep in our psyche that they affect everything we do.
What question would you like to ask the next author featured at Speaking of Marvels?
I would ask, “What is the first story you ever published and what do you think of it now?”
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Sara Dobbie is a Canadian writer from Southern Ontario. Her stories have appeared in Milk Candy Review, Fictive Dream, JMWW, Sage Cigarettes, New World Writing, Bending Genres, Ghost Parachute, Ruminate Online, Trampset, Ellipsis Zine, and elsewhere. Her chapbook Static Disruption is available from Alien Buddha Press. Her collection Flight Instinct is available from ELJ Editions. Follow her on Twitter @sbdobbie, and on Instagram at @sbdobwrites.
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