Interview with Michael Calvillo

Meet NUNUM's Contributor: Michael Calvillo

1/23/2023

NUMUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Michael Calvillo

Michael Calvillo gifted our last issue of 2022 with a gem of a story - A Desperate Mind - and thankfully he was kind enough to give us a bit of time so we could pick his brain about writing, submitting, and flash fiction. Having said that though, you all know where this is going to start.

Michael, what was the first book you remember picking and reading by yourself?

In grade school, I remember the books I picked out often were the Choose Your Own Adventure books and the Encyclopedia Brown series in my school’s library, but I think the first book I really picked out and read by myself was The Hobbit.

You aren't alone with that choice I am sure, but to be honest, one I haven't gotten to just yet. What writer(s) or which book(s) influenced your decision to become a writer?

In 2008 I was in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq. I found a copy of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and it kind of changed my life. I began writing more in my spare time ever since.

Oh, on that we can agree. And while he is our subject, his latest, - The Passenger - is another must-read.

Is there a writing craft book that you would recommend to new writers?

The writing-as-a-craft books I’ve read have catered to nonfiction writers. I’d say On Writing Well by William Zinsser can be helpful.

Is there a writer who has influenced your current writing style?

Hard to say. I come from a professional background where writing is often technical, stilted, and hard to read. It’s something that I feel still pervades my writing. But to actually try to answer your question: I've been reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy recently, so I’d say currently Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Why write flash fiction?

I enjoy the bite-sized, almost snappy nature of the stories. It also challenges me to tell a good story as concisely as possible. Writing flash fiction also fits well with the constraints on my time right now.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting to send their work out to journals?

As someone who has only recently started sending work to journals for publication, I’d say that you shouldn’t take rejections personally, which is maybe easier said than done. I knew I would get rejected by the vast majority, or all, of the publishers I submitted to, and it still stung a little.

What have you read recently?

Right now I’m reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I know I mentioned that I read The Hobbit as a kid but I never picked up the other books until recently. I have a lot of books on my to-do list after I finish the trilogy, but with work and writing, it might take a minute for me to get to them! A few favorites I've read recently are Susanna Clarke's Piranesi and Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky. For nonfiction, possibly one of my favorite books ever is A Demon-Haunted Land by historian Monica Black. It's a great history of the mental and psychological state of Germans after World War II. She uses personal letters from individual Germans to an infamous faith healer as source material and it's a spectacular read.
How do you balance time for your writing with your other responsibilities?

It’s hard. Sometimes I want to write but I’m in the middle of something and it’s frustrating. I often take notes in a notebook and return to them later, but often the motivation isn’t quite there for me anymore. Fitting writing into my spare time, typically after my kid is asleep, is really all I can do. Short fiction is kind of ideal for me.
You’re not a fiction writer by trade. Is it a little intimidating to be an outsider?

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intimidated by the act of writing something for others to read. In my day job, I’ve written technical and academic documents for the public but when it comes to fiction it’s a lot more personal. I put my own doubts, fears, and experiences into my fiction so to have that out there for anyone to read feels like a wall of intimacy coming down around me.
What are you working on now?

I have a writing project I’ve been working on for years that I’d like to eventually turn into a book, but for now, I’m mainly writing short stories and flash fiction for myself. Whether those eventually see publication is up in the air!

Michael is a proud father of one and a happy husband to his lovely wife. He writes fiction and poetry in his spare time because he both loves and is perplexed by the act of writing. He has a background in history and economics that helps to inspire and ground his work. Michael lives in the Washington, D.C. region and works as an economist for a government agency.