Beth Sherman notices the little things: mushrooms that cultivate overnight, the emotional power of a good donut, and the stories people tell themselves about life. She talks about invented memories, the truths people hide from themselves, and how fiction does not always reflect an author´s life. Also, animal mind-readers, because apparently, that is a story waiting for her to write it.
What’s something completely ordinary that you pay an unreasonable amount of attention to?
Mushrooms! There are so many different kinds. They appear seemingly out of nowhere and they’re often quite beautiful.
What kind of memory sticks to you? Not necessarily the important ones—the ones your brain refuses to throw away.
I actually have a terrible memory and it’s only getting worse. Because of this, I don’t write much CNF and prefer to invent memories for my characters – lovely memories, awful memories, painful memories, and memories that grab them by the throat and refuse to let go.
What’s something you believed about the world when you were younger that you’ve since had to reconsider?
That the world as we know it would always exist. AI and politics are now calling that into question.
Do you think people are more interesting when they’re telling the truth or when they’re trying to hide it?
When they’re trying to hide it. And even more interesting when they don’t know they’re trying to hide it.
What’s a small, seemingly insignificant thing that can change your entire mood?
Donuts. They brighten my day. Especially pumpkin, apple cinnamon and chocolate glazed.
What’s a completely unreasonable hill you’re willing to die on?
There’s no hill I’m willing to die on. I like to think I’m pretty flexible.
What’s something people tend to misunderstand about you, even when you think you’ve made yourself perfectly clear?
My stories are fictional. Just because two sisters are fighting or a woman wants a divorce or a person hates their boss doesn’t mean these events are happening in my life.
Do you think we’re more shaped by the things that happen to us or by the stories we tell ourselves about them?
By the stories we tell about them. The exact same thing can happen to three people (or three characters) and each of them could react in totally different ways.
If you could spend one afternoon doing absolutely anything, with no obligations and no consequences, what would you do?
Ooh, that’s a tough one. I’d probably spend an hour playing tennis and then putter around my garden, weeding and watering.
What’s currently itching at you?
I read an article about animal communicators – people who claim to read the minds of pets – and I’m dying to write a story about it.
Beth Sherman is the author of the novella-in-flash, How to Get There from Here (Ad Hoc Fiction). She has had more than 250 stories featured in literary journals, including Ghost Parachute, Fictive Dream, Bending Genres and Smokelong Quarterly, where she’s a Submissions Editor. Her work appears in Best Microfiction 2024 and 2026 and Best Small Fictions 2025. The author of five mystery novels, she can be reached on social media @bsherm36.
