Interviewer: Kaye Cloutman

Candace Leigh Coulombe is a writer of fables, amusements, and unexpected fairy tales. In her flash fiction anthology Second Grace, she unravels stories of fresh starts, second chances, and running away. Her restless characters, from pirates to socialites to farm wives, all search for better lives. And, each aching, lovely, and tender tale is complete in 2,500 words or less. The stories are compact; the language is lush.

Candace has pursued parallel careers in copywriting and fiction. She has worked as a corporate marketing communications specialist for four years, before which she was a writer of lifestyle articles and special sections for The Dallas Morning News. Her short stories, poetry, and essays have been published in The Rake, American River Review, Wilde-Paris, and Coffeehouse Fiction. She is also the author of the Catholic fiction novella Mercy Seat: A Story of Love, Loss, Redemption, and Hagiography(2010). Candace’s work has been recognized by the San Francisco Book Festival, the Beach Book Festival, and PEN Women. Candace lives and writes in Sacramento, California with her husband and two young children.

Sit down, sugar, and enjoy a story. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite pastime and read a new kind of fairy tale. Candace Leigh Coulombe unravels stories of restless characters, from farm wives to socialites, searching for better lives. Twenty-four aching, lovely, and tender tales are each complete in 2,500 words or less. Included is “ScentEasy,” which won the 2009 Environmental Futures writing prize. This Book Club Edition of Second Grace includes notes from the author, questions for discussion, and a new story.

Website: www.oncewritten.net