Welcome to the second installment of an interview with Kristen Falso-Capaldi.
VAH: Kristen, do you have a favorite literary character?
KFC: There are so many, but I love Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. I love how Harper Lee captured the perfect blend of innocence and precociousness in creating the character. I even named my cat after her. A close second would be Jay Gatsby, because I can’t help but feel bad for the guy, and I so want things to end differently for him every time I read the novel.
VAH: What about a favorite author?
KFC: Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried because I’ve never read anyone who could make death by land-mine explosion sound magical and heavenly. I’m also going to go with Fitzgerald, because his description of New York City seen from the Queensboro Bridge gives me chills every time I read it.
VAH: Well, you’ve got me curious to go read Tim O’Brien now. What is the most memorable book, story or poem you’ve read?
KFC: I’m a huge fan of Ursula Le Guin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” and Barry Lopez’s “Emory Bear Hands’ Birds” because all three stories are fantastic and impossible with deeper meanings that we could discuss forever. I guess you could say I like magical realism.
VAH: And Do you have a favorite book, poem, or story?
KFC: I would say The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, because he writes about war in such a poetic way, he makes me want to cry. My favorite poem is actually the lyrics to the Simon and Garfunkel song “America,” because Paul Simon managed to capture so much longing in so few words. Plus, he briefly makes the moon a third character in the narrative, and that’s just cool.
VAH: Which reader are you – always finish what you started or put it down and move on if you don’t like it?
KFC: I have to finish everything, even if it’s awful. I think it’s because I’m an English teacher and I feel like a fraud if I don’t finish every book I start.
VAH: For a long time, I was the same way. I felt like I betrayed someone by not completing what I was reading. Now though, time compels me to move on!
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“ You always stop writing eventually,” my inner voice said. “Wouldn’t you rather make cheese…I’m going to make some coffee now. It’s very early, and I’ve got lots to say before I leave for work.”
Kristen Falso-Capaldi is a writer, musician and public high school teacher. The latter position has led her to believe she could run a small country if given the opportunity. She is the singer and lyricist for a folk/acoustic duo Kristen & J, she has finished a novel and has co-written a screenplay, Teachers: The Movie, which was an official selection for the 2014 Houston Comedy Film Festival. Kristen’s short story, “Of Man and Mouse” was published in the December 2013 issue of Underground Voices magazine, and several of her micro-fiction pieces have received accolades in various contests. Kristen lives in a small town in northern Rhode Island with her husband and cat.
Three by Five publishes on the days that end in three. Return for more with Kristen Falso-Capaldi then.
Vicki Hudson 