BCC Shines A Light On: Liz Lydic
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
Rougarou: A Journal of Arts and Literature, December 2021
Tell us more about your piece! What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
This story started out as creative non-fiction, then I tried to force it into some kind of a dark-humor, fantasy-revenge-tale (probably '9-to-5' was in my subconscious). I left it alone for a half day and then realized the possibilities of changing the point-of-view and focusing on a specific scene, which helped prevent the story from becoming a laundry list of my own whining.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
'Hitting Bone' was the second piece I ever had accepted, and it was so thrilling. It was also a finalist for a fiction contest, and was in a final consideration round of submissions for a well-known literary journal, and so for a moment I was under the impression that I had received some sort of golden ticket and that getting my work out there in the world would be smooth sailing. (No).
I feel the piece holds up pretty well from the original publication and an earlier era of my writing, even though I have written more frequently since then.
Is there a specific message you would like readers to take away from reading this piece?
I continue to observe nuanced levels of my own and my colleague's dissatisfaction with policies and people in the workplace (yes, I love The Office). When I remember that I had once channeled my frustration into a fictional setting and focused on humor and absurdity, I relieve some of that tension. Hopefully someone else can read 'Hitting Bone' and experience familiarity in the characters or situation....and then laugh.
What else would you like to tell readers about your writing? (Doesn’t have to refer only to your BCC piece)
It seems that I rarely write happy endings; that I often write about people who are not heroes; and that often what I intend to be clear sometimes turns out to be ambiguous.
I also write humor.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
