BCC Shines A Light On: FIONA J. MACKINTOSH
BCC Shines a Light On:
Fiona J. Mackintosh
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
Platform for Prose, 2015
What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
Coup de Grâce is based on the story of my great-uncle’s marriage as told to me by my grandmother. He died violently in a car accident very much in the way I describe in the story, and there was ill will between his wife and his mistress in the aftermath. While the situation came from real life, the encounter between the two women comes entirely from my imagination. As in all families, there has been plenty of drama in mine, and like all writers, I see those stories as material, especially when there’s no one still alive to be hurt.
My process varies, but I usually like to be able to visualize the entire arc beforehand – at least roughly. That way, when I’m doing the actual writing, I can put all my focus on making the language and the atmosphere as good as they can be without having to give too much thought to where I’m going.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
This was one of the first pieces of short prose I was really proud of, and I’m very grateful to BCC for giving it a second outing. I’m glad to say I think it stands up pretty well. I like the narrator’s acidulous voice, behind which we sense her pain. And I like the frost-bitten roses metaphor and the “surprising pinkness, the laciness” of the mistress as well as the viscous ooze of her jam sponge.
Is there a specific message you'd like readers to take away from reading this piece?
Perhaps that love is complicated. And that the most caustic of people can be harboring grievous wounds.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
My collection of flash fiction The Yet Unknowing World is available from Ad Hoc Fiction (https://bookshop.adhocfiction.com/) and on Amazon worldwide. Also, many of my published stories can be accessed on my website www.fionajmackintosh.com/stories/. I’m also on Twitter and Instagram as @fionajanemack and on Bluesky Social as fionajanemack.bsky.social so feel free to say hello!
