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A Conversation With Best Debut Short Stories 2020 Author Valerie Hegarty
“Some studies have actually found that a cat's purring can help mend broken bones.”
I throw the bandage in the trash can with the clumped kitty litter. I ask the kitty lying with me on the bed on top of the covers, “Did you do your best today? Did you show up and do what you needed to do today?”
The kitty rolls lazily onto her back and stretches out her arms and legs like she’s in rigor mortis. She was recently neutered and I rub her shaved belly and mending incision line. She is purring. She is black with long white feet and white front paws, a white chin and half a white nose.
“Kitten mittens!” I say, rubbing her belly. “Cat jammies! You did a great job today, kitty!”
I adjust the ice pack under my bra. When I lifted my bra up in front of the mirror earlier, there was blood on the outer surgical bandage. I remember the nurses said if I see some blood, that’s normal.
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A Conversation With Best Debut Short Stories 2020 Author Shannon Sanders
“Every interaction between adult siblings presents a chance to get more clarity about the past. Hopefully, we’re able to seize at least some of these chances.”
A Conversation With Best Debut Short Stories 2020 Author Matthew Jeffrey Vegari
“I wrote much of the story listening to jazz, including the title song, for inspiration on how to shift without imposing too much of a structure.”
A Conversation With Best Debut Short Stories 2020 Author Willa C. Richards
“I wanted to portray the pain of trying to reach someone who is inside their own, unreachable pain, and how this often puts untenable pressure on relationships.”
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A Conversation With PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018 Author Grayson Morley
“When writing this story, I was thinking explicitly about a tendency in players to play games as murderous kleptomaniacs.”
A Conversation With PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2018 Author Ernie Wang
“I feel any person who has to deal with losing the one person who is their world has every right to do whatever it takes to self-preserve, even when that includes deflection and denial.”
A Conversation With PEN America Best Debut Short Stories 2019 Author Jade Jones
“The narration style feels very conversational to me. I liked how second-person really tries to make the reader part of the story as well.”