Casey Plett, "What to Call You"

It’s December 9. Casey Plett, author of A Dream of a Woman, successfully snuck a comma splice past the copy desk.

How would you describe your story?

CASEY PLETT: A heartbroken trans woman considers her relationships as her sex work dries up in Niagara Falls.

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

CP: I’ve been writing this story for like a decade, honestly. I started in 2015 and picked it up and dropped it a few times. It almost went into my last story collection, A Dream of a Woman, but the story didn’t feel exactly finished and it didn’t feel right within the collection, either—theme-wise it should have, but it also just didn’t. A couple stories that I’ve written are like that! Only a couple, though.

What kind of research went into this story?

CP: A lady never tells!

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

CP: It can contain the vastness of a novel in condensed form, and it can also be the shortest, quietest of breaths, a wisp of a narrative.

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

CP: www.caseyplett.com.

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

CP: Same as it ever was: In high school my ex made me a mix CD for Valentine’s Day. She hand-painted the disc and wrote and illustrated and hand-sewed the cover booklet inside. I’ve often been around people who are too fucking nice to me.

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