Hilary Leichter, "In the Mist of Everything"

It’s December 16. Hilary Leichter, author of Temporary, is pretty sure she just felt a raindrop.

How would you describe your story?

HILARY LEICHTER: “In the Mist of Everything” is a one-mile sprint done in clown shoes that ends on the edge of a cliff. Just beyond the cliff there’s body of water that resembles an ocean. But when you look very closely, you realize that it’s not water at all. It’s thousands and thousands of glass beads.

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

HL: I wrote the story in the summer of 2018, while researching a completely different project at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Like most of my work, this story was an attempt at procrastinating the writing of another, very-overdue story. I get so much done while procrastinating!

What kind of research went into this story?

HL: I had to check out the books from the very back of my anxiety vault, from the aisle of Worst Fears and Plausible Disasters.  

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

HL: It can pat its head and rub its tummy at the same time. It can break your brain while taking your order. It is as elastic as a scrunchie and as taut as a heart string. It has the properties of the pebble you keep for a reason, and the properties of the reason after it has been long forgotten.

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

HL: If you are ever visiting Brooklyn, after the pandemic, you can have lunch at Kos Kaffe, Naidre’s, or Little Purity Diner, and a drink at High Dive. I wrote most of my work hopping between these places. Also, there is a ginkgo tree on 7th Avenue and if you look at that tree you will probably/maybe/on Thursdays get some answers.

Then again, you can also just read my novel, Temporary, or visit my website, www.hilaryleichter.com.

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

HL: My ukulele.

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