CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT:
Interview with Shena Crane

Rappahannock Review Fiction Editors: “Tin Woman” offers a painfully realistic depiction of navigating the in-and-outs of in-law relations. How did you find the balance between tension and civility in Vi and Annie’s relationship? 

Shena Crane: Navigating between Vi and Annie was a high wire act. I showed the conflict between the two women in each scene, but worked to have each scene offer at least a hint of them eventually creating some kind of workable relationship. In the beginning, most of these hints were expressed through Annie’s interiority—she wasn’t going to give up—but as the story continued, Vi began to soften in tiny increments while still remaining herself until their last goodbye.

RR: Although David fades into the background by the end, he is a strong character. How did you develop this secondary character that connects the two female protagonists? 

SC: Developing David was a bit of a challenge. In earlier drafts, he didn’t have much presence except in the intervention scene. I realized I had to introduce him and establish him as a good guy before he got stressed and told Vi she’d have a shopping cart if she didn’t stop gambling. So I gave him a bigger role in the Maui scene, especially in the kitchen. He also functioned as the person who fed Annie information about Vi.

RR: We get to see Vi and Annie’s relationship develop organically through the course of the narrative, but we begin in the middle of their arc. Why did you choose to start the story this way rather than tell it from the beginning?

SC: I started with this scene because I wanted to open the story with the two main characters already having an existing relationship. This let me show the push-pull of the dynamic between them right away. Also, Vi’s revelation seemed like an attention grabber for the reader.

RR: We saw on your website that you owned a career consulting firm and you were a corporate marketing executive for twenty years. How do you balance that work with writing fiction?

SC: My jobs always involved writing and that was the element I liked best. I had a third career as a legal translator which I enjoyed, but I decided I wanted to write my own words. I briefly turned to writing a memoir but found it too restrictive. So I turned to fiction and knew I’d found my medium.

RR: When creating “Tin Woman,” what scene about unlikable in-laws was the most fun to write?

SC: The scene I most enjoyed creating was the gambling intervention in Las Vegas. I loved the challenge of gathering all my characters together in a high-conflict scene with heightened emotions and stakes, and then seeing how they found their way through it.