Ian Williams, "The Adventists"

It’s December 23. Ian Williams, author of Reproduction, is not going to make a scene in this Walmart.

How would you describe your story?

IAN WILLIAMS: Even the largest existential questions play out in the theatre of our families.

When did you write it, and how did the writing process compare to your other work?

IW: I wrote “The Adventists” because Michael Hingston asked me for a story for the Short Story Advent Calendar project. I pretty much already had a title from the invitation. He said that the story didn’t have to be religious or about Christmas, so, good lawkeeper that I am, I wrote a story that was religious and about Christmas.

What kind of research went into this story?

IW: The price of joggers at Old Navy among other things.

What, to you, makes the short story a special form? What can it do that other kinds of writing can’t?

IW: The short story gives just the right dose of story—it’s scaled suitably to human life and attention. If a novel is a skyscraper, a short story is a house. A poem would be the bathtub.

Where should people go to learn more about you and your work?

IW: Let’s say you were an actor playing me in a low-budget movie, you could get enough character background from my website (www.ianwilliams.ca), Twitter (https://twitter.com/ianwillwrite), or my books. If you were a method actor, some kind of purist, you’d have to eat a lot of ice cream late at night while listening to Ravel.

What's the best gift you've ever been given?

IW: My favourite toy as a kid was a Fisher-Price Jetliner that held a family of four, much like my own. I know toy and gift are not synonymous, but when you’re five years old with no income, everything you have is a gift.

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What did you think of today's story? Use the hashtag #ssac2019 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to check in with your fellow advent calendarians.