Calla’s World: An Interview with Fiction Editor Calla Gold

What does a Fiction Editor Look Like?

They don’t wear capes. 

Calla is one of the tall gray-blondes of the Central Coast. Try to spot her. She camouflages in her faded jeans, loose-fitting tops, and canvas sunhats. Always sporting a smile, Calla dirt bikes in the hills of Santa Barbara with a helmet on. But it’s when she puts on her reading glasses that she does her most powerful work.

Where does a fiction editor come from?

Next door, over the hill, and on the other side of your computer screen. 

Calla grew up mostly in Santa Barbara. Her life history is unique, as is all of ours, but Calla’s might be particularly unique; you can find her writings about it online. Her hands-on connection to the Santa Barbara Literary Journal is a somewhat recent one. Calla first did editing work on Volume 9: Space Sirens. Her role was increased on the 11th volume, This Must Be the Place, and she is listed as a Fiction Editor on Volume 12: Superposition. Prior to working with the SB Lit Jo, Calla edited her own work and participated in a writers’ group, sharing and receiving critiques. The process of reading and editing helped Calla become comfortable  with her own writing. She described the literary journal as the perfect balance between “a group of volunteers [and] a well-run organization.”

What does a fiction editor do?

They read… a lot.

Calla’s responsibility as a fiction editor is multi-faceted. Though she is not the only reader of the short stories that are submitted to us, she has read most of the submissions (and reread many as well). The submissions initially are sorted into piles: Yes, No, Maybe. Calla is one of the first to form opinions on which piles the stories should go into. Then Calla digs in. She works with the authors, many of whom are publishing their first ever works. Delicately, Calla provides guidance towards the best story.

Separately, Calla also helps on the backend. Once the final product is completed, Calla puts on her reading glasses and makes sure that everything is perfect prior to publication. She is also immensely involved in bringing contributors to the journal together, whether it be for a lunch meeting, an event, or even a blog interview :)

What does a fiction editor read?

Fiction.

Excluding the countless short stories she’s read as an editor, Calla enjoys a wide variety of fiction in her free time. She mainly reads sci-fi, dystopian, disaster, and fantasy. One of Calla’s joys is reading series books, like The Murderbot Diaries, because they allow her to follow “characters [she] likes for longer periods of time.” She recommends The Goblin Emperor by Sarah Monette for fantasy-lovers and Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon for those more into science fiction. 

What does a fiction editor write?

Surprisingly, not just fiction.

There is a ton of juicy fiction in Calla’s catalogue. Alongside this post, we’ve republished Calla’s fantasy short story titled Juice the Vegans, originally published in Volume 11: This Must be the Place. It is a super fun story that employs time in a sneakily deep way. Vampires live forever and are stuck in time; psychics are mortals who can see the future. How do those settings play with love, meat consumption, and a changing city clinging onto its old charm?

More recently, Calla wrote a mystery novelette about mountain biking called Diablo Canyon Descent and The Touch that Burns, a short story about jewelry making. As a jewelry designer for 38 years, this story is yet another example of Calla's tendency to write about her passions. She has also written about her life experiences. Like her other writing, her short memoir pieces remain fun and full of life, with a vulnerability that connects her unique experiences with the reader’s own. 

“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures” - Ralph Waldo Emerson