You can read “What we leave behind” by clicking here.
JOSH: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview, Amber. We’ll go ahead and jump right in. My first question is: what first got you into writing?
AMBER: I’m not sure I can pin down an exact “Thing” that got me into writing. I’ve always had an imagination filled with stories, and I’ve known since late middle school that I was going to fit writing into my life one way or another. Perhaps it was all the books I devoured in my early years. Or perhaps it was my mother’s choice to homeschool me, which gave me the time and opportunity to realize that I really could be a writer if that is what I wanted. Whatever the case may be, I’m glad I ended up on this path.
JOSH: I’m glad you ended up on this path too. I wanted ask, I know you do book reviews on your website. What kind of things do you most appreciate seeing in the writing of others?
AMBER: I love seeing twists on popular tropes, but I also appreciate varying character voices and unique narrative structures (I find I’m particularly fond of epistolary-style stories simply because it’s different than what you typically expect). I’m not a difficult person to please when it comes to stories, but seeing how other writers can reinvent a regular trope is always fascinating. And even though every character (in theory) has their own voice, sometimes I come across a character whose individual narrative voice is written so strongly that I become completely captivated.
JOSH: I really like that, I think using tropes in new or unique ways is really good. My next question is a reverse of the last, what things do you least like seeing in the writing of others?
AMBER: Though I try my best not to be picky with other people’s writing, I always struggle to enjoy pieces/novels with rushed character development – especially when it’s connected to a romance plot. Very rarely does it make the story unreadable, but it also makes the characters more unbelievable in my eyes. Drastic character development can happen quickly, but there has to be an equally drastic catalyst for that change. When there isn’t, I struggle to stay invested in the story.
JOSH: That’s very fair, I like how you explained that. Given those answers, I’d like to know what kind of things are important for you to present in your own writing?
AMBER: Internal complexity is probably the biggest thing I usually focus on. I’m all for action sequences and intriguing external events, and that’s usually what people get excited to read. But every story I write starts with the difference between how we present ourselves/how we are viewed by the outside world, and what we feel on the inside. I’ve found the plot often writes itself when I take that approach.
JOSH: That’s really interesting, that dichotomy between internal and external. I can definitely see that reflected in your writing.
JOSH: Now, let’s talk a bit about your story. What made you choose to send “What We Leave Behind” to the Grotto?
AMBER: I heard about the magazine before it was fully launched, and it was one of those situations where I really wanted to submit a piece even though I didn’t know very much about the magazine. “What We Leave Behind” was an experiment of mine, and I was really struggling with finding a magazine I thought would be suited for it. Since the Grotto is open to any genre, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if my piece could finally find a home here.
JOSH: Very fair. I’m glad you sent it, I really like the story and the Grotto is definitely very open to more experimental stuff as well. In that same vein, I want to ask what inspired you to tell the story in this way? It’s very unique in my opinion.
AMBER: I hadn’t been writing flash/micro fiction for very long when I first wrote “What We Leave Behind,” and I wanted to play around with a very short format. I was experimenting with a slightly longer piece and seeing how much I could condense it without losing any of the emotional impact. I’m usually a very wordy writer, so the challenge for this piece was to get the original draft of the story down to six sentences exactly. And that led to the final product I submitted to the Grotto. No piece is ever truly complete or perfected in my eyes, but I was proud of myself for being able to achieve that goal and then get it published.
JOSH: I think you did a good job! And speaking of emotional impact, I wanted to ask about the tone of the story, there is a bit of a darker undertone. Do you often write stories with a darker tone, or is this an outlier?
AMBER: I like to think that I write a good mix of lighter and darker pieces, but oftentimes the best quality pieces I write have at least some darker elements mingled in. Fully lighthearted stories are my weakness (I always get bored with them partway through), so I wouldn’t say this piece is truly an outlier.
JOSH: I get that. A story with no conflict is not often compelling. Your story is also very wistful in nature, there’s that feeling of childhood loss as well as the way that aging makes us leave things behind. Do you feel that this story reflects some of the loss you have experienced as a result of growing up?
AMBER: I would say so, though not in the sense that it reflects any particular loss. I actually came up with the idea for the story late last year after a conversation with my mom. We had been talking about something trivial, and as we often do, ended up reminiscing about a memory from my childhood. Except the story she was telling me didn’t match the memory I had of it in my head. Over the next several weeks, I noticed that same pattern of slightly skewed or missing memories – a product of time and a fallible memory. I wanted to take that sense of “loss from growing up” and make a story out of it, though “What We Leave Behind” is certainly an extreme case.
JOSH: That’s really interesting, I hear people talk about false memories of childhood all the time. It also leaves the story somewhat ambiguous as well, us readers are left unsure just as the girl is.
JOSH: Ok, just a few more questions. Are there any things you would like to see more of in the literary world?
AMBER: I may be preaching to the choir here, but I would love to see a wider spectrum of disabled characters (without their entire character revolving around the disability). Though books like Fourth Wing face a lot of scrutiny for their use of tropes and their general genre, it is one of the few pieces of literature I have encountered that deals positively with chronic invisible illnesses. The most popular literary disabilities are the ones you can physically see, like visual or mobility impairment. It’s just nice to see the types of disability I live with being treated seriously in literature, and I would love to see more of it.
JOSH: I completely agree. I would like to talk a lot more about representation in media, but perhaps that’s a conversation for another time.
JOSH: This is one question I ask everyone. As a developing writer, what are your biggest goal or goals for the next five years?
AMBER: Right now, I’m preparing to begin my MFA in writing in the fall of ’25. Though it might be a basic answer, my biggest goal is to work on planning and starting the novel that will potentially be my Master’s thesis in a couple of years. Other than that, I want to continue writing short fiction, working on book reviews, and launching my own literary magazine.
JOSH: Good luck with your MFA! And I’ll make sure to link your literary magazine. I just have one last question: If you are able to eat it, what’s your favorite kind of ice cream/gelato?
AMBER: I will forever be a die-hard Cookies ‘n Cream lover.
JOSH: Same! Thank you for this interview, I really enjoyed your answers!
Amber Budd graduates from Lindenwood University in May ’25 with a Creative Writing BA and will begin her Creative Writing MFA in the following fall. She lives with her three cats, who serve as her live-in beta readers. You can follow her blog and read about her other publications on her website amberbuddauthor.com. You can also find her literary magazine The Orange Rose here.
Bill Geblato's Lotto Gelato Grotto 