Ask the Author: Barry Basden

Barry Basden’s brief fiction appears in the May issue and he talks with us about Rebecca Black (who?), how he writes, and what he clutches when he sits alone.

1. How challenging is it for you to write and be an editor?

Not challenging at all. I need both fixes. Makes my stomach say howdy. Can’t get enuffa that wonderful stuff.

2. What would you deliver if you started a delivery service?

I’d deliver what I try to deliver now: bouquets of words, the best and the mostest possible.

3. How do you craft your flash fiction?

Sometimes–the best of times–in a flash of light. Most times, though, I have to sneak up, pounce on that sucker, wrestle it to the ground, make it cry. They can be terrible struggles, I tell you, but I wouldn’t miss them.

4. What do you clutch when you sit alone?

Usually a mouse and a keyboard. Other times…well, I’m not gonna say.

5. If a whiskey was made out of a person, who would that person be? Would you drink it?

Let’s see. I’m reminded of that pact Robert Johnson made with the devil about guitar playing. If Johnson was whiskey and I drank him up, I wonder if the devil would give me the same deal about writing? Yeah, I’d do that. Take me down to the crossroads.

6. What jazz musician would you recommend cover Rebecca Black’s “Friday”?

I confess I had to research this song on You Tube. (No, I can hear you saying.) Listened to it once and I’m thinking maybe Ornette Coleman. Have him tear into that melody, riff on it for about 15 minutes. Yeah, that would do it. Be something special.