1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
I always dreamed of becoming a professional writer. When my first book Dark Hour came out in early 2018, I started to believe my dream could come true. Now, in 2026, the dream has become an undeniable reality and I live in an ongoing state of bliss.
2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
Ideas come to me in the shape of sentences, so poetry feels most natural to me. Some people get ideas in the shape of plots or arguments. I think those people tend to become novelists or critics first.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
Most sentences come to me fully formed while I'm going about my day. The only thing I have to do is make sure I write them down before I forget them. I collect these sentences in my Notes app until I have enough of them to see a narrative or image unfold. I then start shaping the sentences into poems. I trim away as many lines as I can until only the essence of the poem remains. This process can take 10 minutes or 18 months, depending on how capricious the poem's central sentence is. It usually only takes one sentence for a poem to work as a poem.
4 - Where does a poem or work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
Everything I write begins in the Notes app. I usually start getting really passionate about a project once I've thought of a title for it. There are titles that have lived with me for many years. But it takes the right amount of experience and thought to write a book that fits the title I've envisioned for it. I try to be patient so I don't ruin my ideas before they're ripe.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
Yes! I love performing and reading my poems to people. It gives me a lot of confidence.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
The main question that runs through all in my work is: How vulnerable can a person be without getting ostracized? I often wonder what it takes for a person to be rejected by society. So far I've learned that people are willing to forgive sentimentality, but not cruelty.
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
The writer creates a private space for working people. Most people have to keep their emotions hidden to survive at work, or in daily life in general. These people need stories to decompress. This is why, as a writer, you cannot afford to be vain, insecure, or easily ashamed. You have to put it all out there so that people without the privilege of emotional visibility have a place to go.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I'm a very stubborn person, but in the case of my writing I think my stubbornness is earned. The way I format or phrase a sentence is never an accident and I get frustrated whenever an editor wants to change my work. Luckily most editors I work with know me by now, and they're very careful about touching my text, which I appreciate.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Never put your housekeys in your checked baggage and never date a man who fears more than he loves
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to prose to criticism)? What do you see as the appeal?
I find it very challenging, and that's why it excites me. Each genre requires a completely different skill set, which is why some master novelists are shit poets, and why some brilliant poets can't tell a story, or make a point. I like to practice my skill in each genre because I feel it makes me a better writer across the board.
11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I have no routine, I live like an animal
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
The inspiration never stops, if anything I have too many ideas and I have to make sure to filter out the ones that don't fit the project I'm working on. I also want to pace myself because I don't want to become one of those writers who puts out a book every six months.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Drum Mild tobacco
14 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
Music! I know nothing about the technical parts of music, but I love listening to it, and other people's rhythms and melodies often give me ideas. I also like going to museums and looking at paintings. I can't paint or draw to save my life, but I find it very energizing to look at a medium that's alien to me on a practical level and still find creative meaning in it.
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
I eavesdrop a lot on public transport and steal language from conversations I overhear
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Write a masterpiece, drive along the PCH from Mendocino to Orange County with the love of my life (where are they?)
17 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
Brain surgeon
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Lack of money and skill
19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk, Rosetta by the Dardenne brothers
20 - What are you currently working on?
I just started collecting sentences for my third novel, which will hopefully be my first masterpiece. So far I have the first and final line in place. I'm giving myself three years to decide what goes in between.
12 or 20 (second series) questions;
No comments:
Post a Comment