Anecia Larsen: These stories that you provided Barstow and Grand are beautifully written. There is this feeling of reminiscence or familiarity going on in “A Little Boy with a Bat”. Was that your initial intention with this piece? What was the inspiration to write this piece in particular? 

Ken Kapp: Usually I write because I’m curious. I was a research mathematician (professor at UWM) and I like to ask questions. Of course, it only works if the questions have interesting answers, and would you believe it, if the answers are also “pretty.” We have a dog that I walk around the ‘hood and I’m prone to daydreaming, wondering, what if? It’s a math kind of question, and I like to have fun. So, I play out ideas in my head, let them bounce around and see what happens after they have a chance to ferment. Then I can start out writing and see if they take on a voice and where they may go. More often than not, they may take me elsewhere. Writing gives me a chance to live vicariously. 

AL: In the editors’ note, it says that “Faded Pictures” a triptych of stories. How did you create these stories surrounding each other? Were they originally supposed to be a part of a triptych? 

KK: Often it takes me a couple of stories to explore an itch and put the epiphany to rest. James Joyce talked about epiphanies–for me, perhaps a bright idea wrapped up in an incident that is curious (like Alice). I can play with those and see where they go. 

AL: In your second story “Family Photos”, there is this moment where Donny pushes this picture of a family that is “all stylishly dressed” towards Mike. When I read this particular moment, there was a wave of familiarity and family, like I could see this picture being a part of my own family. Did you base this photo off of your personal life? Or was it something you created for the story? 

KK: Not part of my history–we took few pics when I was a kid in the ‘40s and ‘50s. But I could see the need to have them, and for Dad & Mom to wish for something more than they have now.

AL: On your “About Me” page from your website, you say that you earned a PhD and became a mathematics professor. Did you ever think growing up that you would be an author with published work on various sites?

KK: There still may be a research monograph I wrote out on Amazon – “The Lattices of Congruences,” etc. Search Kenneth M. Kapp. I always wanted to be a writer but as a kid that wasn’t a possible career choice: Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief…well perhaps not the last one. I also probably wanted to be a potter, but had no idea about that when I was seventeen. Fisherman was a yes, but that was before I saw A Perfect Storm.

AL: When someone becomes an author there is always criticism coming from readers. How do you handle the negative criticism? What about the positive criticism you receive? Do you acknowledge it and remember to use those techniques that you were praised on for future stories?

KK: Got to have thick skin and a lot of conceit. Unfortunately, I don’t get much feedback. My stories are professionally edited for spelling, grammar, etc., and truthfully, I’d flunk as an English major. At the beginning there’s more red than black. Stories have to work for me. Occasionally I’ll agree when one stinks. I do make revisions and try to keep those techniques in mind going forward. But since I like my stories short, mostly narrative driven, I often opt not to develop characters or flesh out descriptions. A few magazines make “suggestions” and I may rework to please them. The story may end up being better, but not quite the one I had in mind. Friends tend to be supportive.

AL: If you could give any advice to a writer who wants to submit piece of their own work to Barstow and Grand but is a little hesitant, what would you say to them? 

KK: Most important: make sure to have a few friends give input first, put it away for a day, save it as a PDF file so you can have it read back to you while following along with your Word doc and highlight what grinds as you listen and then have it professionally edited. Next, before submitting to a journal, take a look at their website, what they’re about. Don’t send horror stories to a romance mag, etc. And most important, keep submitting to a variety of journals again and again. I do think it’s a question sometimes of getting lucky.