Windmill’s Writers | An Interview with Riana Odin

Olivia Kuch: I guess my first question for you with [“Just Off the I-15”] is what was your inspiration for writing it? What made you want to write this creepy and scary and suspenseful piece? 

Riana Odin: So that’s kind of a three-part answer. My initial inspiration came from Bruce Springsteen lyrics, my stories usually come from Bruce Springsteen songs. I had also heard a ghost story about two people who were driving through California and pulled over and they were never seen or heard from again. I kept wondering about what could have happened to these people. And then the third part of my answer is that I usually don’t write happy stories, but I haven’t done anything kind of spooky, so I wanted to try something new. 

OK: Oh, I love that! That actually leads me to my next question. You included the Bruce Springsteen lyric at the beginning, and you said that your stories are inspired by him, so I was wondering what it was about this particular lyric that you used that made you want to write this piece? 

RO: I lived in LA for eight or nine months right after college, so I know the Hollywood Boulevard area pretty well and it’s pretty gross. I was listening to Bruce, and when I heard that part of the song where he sings about a dirty city and dancers and a kind of downcast town, it made me think of LA, and that’s how the setting came about. There is a lot of music in this piece. The name, Jorma, is actually a singer from the band Jefferson Airplane. He’s a man, but I made it a woman’s name: Jorma Kaukonen.

OK: That’s so cool that you find your inspiration through music, that is such a unique way of finding inspiration, I love that. 

You did just mention that you’ve never really written anything spooky before, but I was blown away by the atmosphere that you build, and the way you build suspense within this story. Was there a tactic that you used? How were you able to create this atmosphere, and get this suspense going in the piece? You do it so masterfully for someone who does not write these types of stories typically. 

RO: Thank you so much. I actually was thinking back to third grade when we were learning how to write. There was the rule of three where if you’re writing a scary story there should be three steps: something happens but you don’t find out, then something creepy happens again and you don’t find out, and then the third time is when you find out what the scary thing is. So, I kind of drew from my roots there. 

OK: That’s amazing! You know, I do remember learning about that too when I was in elementary school. Tried and true I guess, that’s why they teach it.

RO: Yeah, very basic, but I think it helped me. 

OK: Sometimes that’s what’s best. You don’t need to be too complicated. That’s where the best stories come out of, just something simple. 

You included the dog, Churro, and every time I read the scene where they leave Churro, I actually get a little mad at you because it hurts my heart so much. Can I ask, is there a reason you decided to add that little detail? 

RO: I have two dogs and they are probably the most important part of my life, so I thought that was something that would show how hard of a decision it was for Jorma to leave. I just wanted to stress how big of a decision this was for her and how hard it was. 

OK: Yeah, I think you get that across perfectly. Like I said, I’m upset with you every time I read it. I can feel my heart physically breaking in half, so that’s a wonderful detail to add to get the severity of the situation across. 

The last question that I have for you is about the ending. We never get any clarification about what exactly was tracking Jorma throughout this trip. Jorma sees the eyes, and then there is a person who is crouched by the car with a tire iron. It’s not totally clear who it was or what it was, and you don’t have to tell me the answer, I just want to know if you have an actual answer of what was going on or if you just left it, even for yourself, up in the air.

RO: I do have an answer for what it is, but I think it’s better if people don’t have the true answer. Other people read this, like my writing friends, and they all had different answers that they thought it might be. I like that people can come up with different answers for the ending.