Issue 035 Author Interview: Jennifer Lee Rossman and “One Last Ride . . .”

Last Wednesday, September 5, Luna Station Quarterly proudly published our 35th issue. Today we’re excited to post our interview with Jennifer Lee Rossman, author of our featured story “One Last Ride on the Horse with Purple Roses.” Go forth, dearest readers, and enjoy Jennifer’s story on our website and then read below for a behind-the-scenes peek.

LSQ: Where did the idea for this story come from?

Jennifer: It started as a dream. A little monster creature . . . thing . . . was at a sort of boardwalk fair, all by himself. At first I thought he’d gone there because his girl outgrew imaginary friends, but that idea morphed into this one. He was always going to ride the carousel, though.

LSQ: The ice cream man looks at Eleanor’s hand with a “sad recognition.” Have you envisioned other people in the world of this story spending one last day with a lost child’s imaginary friend?

Jennifer: Actually, I meant it as him recognizing Eleanor as the lady who used to come to the park with her daughter, and realizing how much that must have destroyed her if she’s pretending Anne is still around. Gidget never occurs to him at all, but I really like your interpretation!

LSQ: Eleanor didn’t say much when she told the other mother about Anne, but that scene still gave me goosebumps. Do you find that small, simple reveals are more heartfelt than big, dramatic scenes?

Jennifer: I love a big, dramatic scene, too, but this is one of the few stories where I actually had the ending figured out before the beginning. That helped me be able to reveal all the information I needed to as simply as possible.

LSQ: Are you working on other projects currently? If so, can you tell us a bit about them?

Jennifer: I’m the assistant editor of Love & Bubbles, an anthology of queer romance under the sea, which is coming out at the end of September. And my first novel, Jack Jetstark’s Intergalactic Freakshow, will be published by World Weaver Press on December 4.