Author Interview: How Ekta R. Garg Brings New Life to Short Fiction
- C.C. King
- Sep 5
- 7 min read
Friday greetings, writers!
I love conversations that explore process and craft—especially when it comes to short fiction, a form that demands precision and creativity in equal measure.
I’m thrilled to welcome author Ekta R. Garg to the blog today to talk about writing short fiction, her new book, and what she’s learned along the way.
As you probably know, we writers are often told to “write what you know,” but what happens when you take the stories everyone thinks they know—fairy tales, nursery rhymes, childhood classics—and flip them on their heads?
Ekta has done just that in her enchanting new short story collection, The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories. From exploring what the Wicked Witch of the East was doing in the road before Dorothy’s house landed on her, to uncovering the hidden threads in Goldilocks’ tale, Ekta reimagines the “in between” moments that never made it onto the page.
Check out the interview below as well as ways you can connect with Ekta and where to find her latest collection!
Enjoy!
CC
Interview: Author Ekta R. Garg on Writing Short Fiction
CCK: Ekta, welcome! I’m so glad to have you here. To start us off: What first drew you to short fiction as a form, and how did you know it was the right way to explore the untold moments in fairy tales and nursery rhymes?
ERG:
Hi, Caitrin! Thanks for the opportunity to be featured today. I really appreciate it!
There’s something really special about short stories. The form of short story writing offers a compression that book-length work doesn’t. It really forces a writer to think about what’s most important in a story and to distill a creative work into its most necessary components. It’s a fantastic exercise, even if a writer doesn’t typically write short stories, to help figure out what a story is really trying to say. I still feel like there’s so much for me to learn in writing short stories, but I really do enjoy the challenge.
For The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories, I knew short stories were the way to go in part because the source material – the original fairy tales and nursery rhymes – are short themselves. There are so many authors who have done a fantastic job of taking the originals and “fracturing” them or doing retellings and then written book-length works of their creations (think The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.) But I liked the idea of paying homage to the original shorter stories by writing short stories of my own.
Also, just in the way I was approaching these pieces and what I wanted to accomplish with them, I felt like short stories really were the best way to go. I started each story by sharing the question that came to my mind when reading the originals. The answers to those questions weren’t especially long, so I didn’t want to belabor the point in the stories that formed the answers. I know we’ve all read stories or books that felt like they should have been shorter. I didn’t want my readers to feel that way; I’d rather they reach the end of a story I’ve written feeling like they have all the information they need but wishing it could go on anyway.
CCK: Your passion for the short story form really comes through—and I love how you tied it back to honoring the original fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Many writers, though, find short stories more difficult than novels because every word has to count. That makes me curious... what’s your process for tightening your writing while still keeping the richness of detail and emotion?
ERG:
I’m a firm believer in the writing principle that the character is the most important element. Everything that comes from the plot, that goes into the conflict, that drives the dialogue, will come from the character. I’ve discovered through the years that I have a knack for creating a rich interiority for characters, so holding on to emotion isn’t hard for me when I write.
As for writing tight, it really is about making choices. Sometimes I look to see what a story can do without; in other words, if I delete this particular detail or part of the setting, will it affect the overall point I’m trying to make? If not, and I know I need to decrease my word count, I make a note of that detail and know I could possibly take it out.
After that round of revisions, where I’ve examined everything for that “in or out?” question, I go back and start considering what to take out and what to keep. I’ve been a freelance editor for a long time, so while it still bugs me to cut my work I also understand that it has to be done. I wince a little and do it.
CCK: That idea of making choices—deciding what stays and what goes—feels so central to short fiction. And it connects beautifully to your collection, where you’re working with stories that readers already know. In The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories, you take familiar stories and find the gaps between the lines. How do you balance honoring the originals while making the stories completely your own?
ERG:
When I started this project, I knew right away that I would be treating the original stories like the load-bearing walls of a house – in other words, things that absolutely could not be moved or changed. Instead, I would strip the “house” back to the studs, enter, and decide what could be changed or what spots hadn’t been considered before. It turns out, there’s a lot there.
I also took it as a writing challenge: how do you respect and acknowledge what’s gone before while giving it your own creative twist? Because all the retellings and other versions of fairy tales wouldn’t exist if we didn’t have the original stories, and I’m a big believer in giving credit where it’s due. This was my way of doing that.
CCK: I love your “house with load-bearing walls” metaphor—it really shows how deeply you’ve thought about respecting tradition while also making space for invention. Beyond this collection, Ekta, you wear so many hats in the literary world—reviewer, podcaster, judge, workshop leader. How do those roles influence your own writing, especially when you’re crafting short fiction?
ERG:
All of these roles allow me to be surrounded by stories all day long! That means I’m always encountering people’s amazing imagination, but I also have many sources of inspiration for my own stories. There have been so many times where I’ve read a book in preparation for a podcast episode or talked to someone at a writing workshop I’ve taught and encountered something that sparks my imagination. When I do, I make a note of it in my story bank journal – a journal where I keep potential ideas. When I’m looking for something to write about, my story bank journal is right there!
CCK: That story bank journal sounds like such a fantastic tool for sparking creativity! I know a lot of writers can feel intimidated by short fiction because of the compression you mentioned earlier. For those who want to give it a try but aren’t sure where to begin, what advice would you share to help them get started?
ERG:
1. Read. Read, read, read. Read short stories and book-length works. Read in the genre you write but also outside of it.
2. Stay open to inspiration. It can come from anywhere and anyone. If you hear something in a TV show or movie and your imagination fires up right away with a story idea, make a note of it and any questions that come to mind connected to that idea. Then come back to it when you have time to write.
3. Everyone’s first drafts are bad. The most famous author you can think of writes terrible first drafts. It’s okay if yours is bad too. Don’t focus on the quality of the writing in that first draft or second or even third. Focus on getting the story down first; worry about making it pretty later.
4. If someone in your life doesn’t understand your need or desire to write, that’s okay, too. A creative pursuit like writing is hard for non-creative people to understand. Rocket science is hard for non-rocket scientists to understand. If your writing holds value for you, then do what you can to pursue it. Don’t let your closest friend/sibling/significant other/parent/anyone else talk you out of it.
CCK: That’s such generous advice, and I think so many writers will be encouraged by your perspective. Thank you so much, Ekta, for sharing your insights with us today! I loved hearing about your process and your thoughts on writing short fiction.
ERG:
Thanks, Caitrin! It’s such a privilege to reach readers this way. I appreciate the opportunity!
CCK: Readers, if you’d like to dive into her enchanting new collection, The Witch’s Apprentice and Other Stories, you can find it on Amazon. Also, don't forget to add the title to your Goodreads reading list!
More about Ekta R. Garg:
A Reviewer, Editor, Author, and Dreamer of stories and books, Ekta R. Garg has worked in niche publishing since 2005—she’s written and edited about everything from healthcare to home improvement to Hindi films! Ekta judges writing contests, hosts writing workshops, and podcasts about great books and how to write them.
She’s currently the Content Coordinator of Neighbors of SW Champaign, a hyper-local magazine focusing on and lifting up the Champaign, Illinois, community.
Ekta’s award-winning holiday novella, The Truth About Elves, and her award-winning fairy tale for grown-ups, In the Heart of the Linden Wood, are available from Atmosphere Press.
Want to connect with Ekta online? Here's where you can find her!
Website: https://ektargarg.com
Instagram: @EktaRGarg
You can also stop by other blogs Ekta's visiting. Here's the schedule:
Share your thoughts on the interview in the comments or by messaging me through my website! And if you read Ekta's collection, let me know what you think!
Peace & Plenty,
