1. What is your short story about?
A woman looking back at her grandmother’s hoarding with a different perspective after she endures her own version of scarcity.
2. What genres would you say this story is in?
This is creative nonfiction.
3. How would you describe this story in two words?
Appreciating Everything
4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Shawshank Redemption
5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to themost times in your life?)
Skinny Love, Bon Iver
6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Right now, I’m loving The Midnight Library.
7. What motivated you to write this story?
My grandmother
8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Elizabeth Gilbert
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Yoga, painting, travel (one day)
10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
A whim
11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Don’t give up, don’t expect perfection, and definitely don’t write in hopes of being adored. Just let the writing come through, and listen to its messages.
Watch the Short Story Reading:
A gentle examination of the intention behind hoarding.
Performed by Val Cole
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 