12 or 20 (second series) questions with Damon Ferrell Marbut

Damon Ferrell Marbut is author of the critically acclaimed novel Awake in the Mad World, the Amazon bestselling book of poems Little Human Accidents and the Stonewall Award-nominated collection Human Crutches. garbageflower is his third poetry title. Stay updated online at www.facebook.com/DamonFMarbut or on Twitter @dfmnola.

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
The first published was a novel called Awake in the Mad World. When it finally made print I started acting as a marketer, which pissed me off but was necessary at the time because only small circles in a few North American cities knew of my work and what I was doing. But I met a lot of great people doing the same thing and it became a fine experience. This new book, garbageflower, is a poetry collection. It’s different from my fiction because more and more people are reading my poems. And asking me to read them.

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
I’ve written poems since youth. I was encouraged with this early on. My family moved me around a lot so writing in short bursts became habitual. When teachers took notice, I I felt important creatively and kept with it.

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?
This question reminds me of a friend who has a PhD in Philosophy from Purdue. Very serious cat. Sweet as hell, but so fucking serious. Straight to the point about everything, even if misguided. One thing he said to me a few months ago was, “yeah, when you’re on a new book, you work really fast.” I never paid attention to that. But all things considered, I’ve never spent more than six months on a book. I used to take notes and apply them to a manuscript, but as I’ve done more work I realized as taste buds change, so does process. For me at least. garbageflower came out as largely the same book, even though most of it was written summer of ’09 and poems were added and/or replaced over the six years that led to me getting ready to send it off.

4 - Where does a poem or work of fiction 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?
I know when a book is happening. But to begin either, it’s always been a line or a character’s sound, tone, voice, what have you. I’ll connect with this sense of Other and then go with it. Each book is so different that I think it helps that I’m patient with what comes to me creatively, rather than force it.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
Readings I’m comfortable with. I’ve done plenty, in different cities and venues. I do have a few cocktails beforehand usually. My favorite two readings both involved meeting students and answering their questions about the books. Once in New York, the other in New Orleans.

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?
I just don’t think being alive is super serious, and jobs are dumb, and conflict is avoidable, and chaos is man-made, and having money is dangerous, but the pen on page is necessary. It’s so fucking strange to me that I’ve been like this, philosophically and psychologically. But I TRIED to do so much for meaning in my life when younger, and I THOUGHT so much. I’ve learned since I started publishing that I’m just chronicling my life in each book, poetry or fiction. And whatever theories I may have held about existence, they’re getting clarified through each project. I don’t know a damn thing. Never did. I just play puppeteer to dancing words. That’s cool to me.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
Currently being a writer, in my opinion, means conserving basic principles of communication. Being a “writer” to a lot of people is equal to being a poor mess. Unless you’re doing some tacky political shit, or you’re writing in some entertainment genre that makes a billion dollars at the box office. I still look at being a writer as necessary, and I believe being a poet in whatever form or capacity is precious and vital.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
One has to find the right editor. When I was first sending out poetry manuscripts, I was tired of sitting on the mountain of good and bad stuff I’d produced. The publisher/editor who picked me up, Peter Jelen at BareBackPress, actually read over the first draft of garbageflower before it was garbageflower, and he liked it but wanted something else at the time. So we ended up developing a relationship that made two other poetry books happen before garbageflower. And he became a great friend because we agreed and disagreed on a lot of shit. I even helped him with some other books he had his hands on. We became partners in the work. So an editor is real and good and lovely. Just gotta get with the most appropriate one for what you’re trying to accomplish. That takes time and searching.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
It’s ok to forgive yourself.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction)? What do you see as the appeal?
Awesome question. Man, I was told in grad school I couldn’t do both.  And so it was a learning process to turn on and off those brains, until I realized I was misinformed and that I had that ability to do as much of either as I wanted. After that, it was about learning how much time each project required. But writing both, being able to write both that works for the reader (after, of course, it works for me, first), is great because I can push myself on to the page as I feel and know my readers will get it.

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 write when I have something going on in the bean. Otherwise I drink and work and listen to music and smile a lot. I don’t do that “oh, I write four hours a day” horse shit. I actually got in an argument with a cat in Florida about how much he thought I should write. I cut him loose as a pal. Everyone is different.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
Beer at the corner store. And I also spend time with friends who I usually don’t see because of how isolated I get.

13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
I’ve lived in too many places around the country to know that answer. But I was recently in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains and my friend Steven always had bacon and eggs going in the morning. Our windows were always open. So crisp air there, and promising breakfast smells, yeah, that was home for a bit. I liked that.

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?
Musical rhythm affects my dialogue sometimes. Jazz is in my fiction and poetry. Those beats and stories, the nonverbal loveliness, all that. So good.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
James Baldwin is the best writer I’ve read. And I love the gravity, as well, of Marquez. Dorianne Laux writes poems that connect me to sex and earth and challenged divinity and that’s a pretty fucking awesome feeling. To believe and just coast.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Look in the mirror and be proud.

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?
I thought I was going to be a lawyer for a while, then a professor. Then I realized I detested title chasing and I went adrift and accepted what was ahead. If not a writer, I would have gone into business and voluntarily fallen on a sword.

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Nothing made me write. It’s like pursuing a meal. Go long enough without food and you go nuts. Go long enough without putting words down, even if they need to be balled up and thrown in the fire, you go nuts.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I took a long time to get to The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. But as historical context, which is how I perceived it in terms of purpose served, I saw value in it. And concerning the last great film, I dunno. Hollywood sucks. Big Bad Love, in my opinion, is a great movie. Fine attention given to the work of Mississippi writer Larry Brown.

20 - What are you currently working on?
I’m 35 pages into a new poetry book. And here in New Orleans the ubiquitous “they” is pushing me to keep with a stage play I started a while back. But it’s dark as night, and I don’t feel dark right now, so it’s poems when I get to them right now. Otherwise I’m working on being ok with life happening beyond my control.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;

12 or 20 (small press) questions with Peter Jelen on BareBack Press

BareBackPress is an independent publisher dedicated to bareback writers, that is, people who aren’t afraid to bare themselves for the world, to give us honesty. Truth we may not like, but are forced to accept, while at the same time entertaining us.

Peter Jelen has spent the last five years living and working in Japan, China, and South Korea, where he now calls his home away from Hamilton. Peter is also the founder and editor of BareBackMagazine and BareBackPress, which is in the application process to become an associate member in the Association of Canadian Publishers.

1 – When did Bareback first start? How have your original goals as a publisher shifted since you started, if at all? And what have you learned through the process?
BareBack began in February 2012 as an online literary magazine (www.barebacklit.com) and within one year, after getting in touch with so many new and innovative young writers and poets, the press was born. The goal originally was to find poets and writers who weren’t afraid to go bareback ~ meaning that they weren’t afraid to take off their ‘gloves’ and risk it all when creating. To bare themselves in order to give honest, unpretentious writing that would contribute to the evolution of Canadian literature and poetry. Now, a year later, the goal has not changed. Honesty and sincerity is still the key ingredient in BareBack.
   
2 – What first brought you to publishing?
Rejection and realization. After my inbox became full of rejection letters from those fast-talking Ari from Entourage Manhattan agents, and I was ignored by the people in Toronto I decided to do it myself. That’s when BareBackMagazine was started, and that’s when I realized there are so many other writers in the same raft fighting the literary current. There is so much young talent in Canada, and I feel a lot of the bigger players in the Canadian literary world aren’t in touch with the pulse of the youth, or are too focussed on making money rather than great books. I wanted to challenge traditional ideas of Canadian literature and break away from what’s expected in books made within Canada.

3 – What do you consider the role and responsibilities, if any, of small publishing?
The role and responsibility of a small publisher is to challenge the big guys. We are small because we aren’t putting out genre books for bored housewives and seniors. We’re making books we’re passionate about, giving opportunities to authors who deserve the chance despite how many or how little books they can sell.

4 – What do you see your press doing that no one else is?
Brevity. Flash novels. Collections of flash fiction. Short stories. Personally, I think literature will be moving in that direction. People lead busy lives, and many are intimidated by, or don’t have time to pick up a book as thick as War and Peace. Our focus in the future will be on making books like energy bars, they give you the same nutrients and satisfaction as a meal, but in half the time. Books that can be read in a weekend, not weeks.

5 – What do you see as the most effective way to get new chapbooks out into the world?
We’re not in the chapbook business, but from what I’ve seen and heard I think the best way is to give them away for free through social-media, or websites like Goodreads in order to generate interest for when the big one comes out.

6 – How involved an editor are you? Do you dig deep into line edits, or do you prefer more of a light touch?
Definitely a light touch. Especially with poetry. I feel poetry is a spontaneous art, and if it’s edited too many times I think a lot of the spontaneity of its conception is lost. I know the poets have read through and fixed their work dozens of times, so I try not to reedit what’s already been edited. I respect an author’s creative freedom, I don’t knit pick over their diction or syntax, and I don’t pretend I always know best. The books we’ve published, and are currently putting together, have come very polished and tight.  I’d say the only things I’m picky about are titles, the aesthetic of the formatting, and back cover descriptions. 

7 – How do your books get distributed? What are your usual print runs?
We are distrusted primarily through our presses homepage, and other internet sites like Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and a few other smaller online retailers. Currently our authors are going door to door knocking on bookstore counters, asking to carry our titles.  We are very new, only four months old, and it’s a job in itself to get nationwide distribution, and I’m learning much of what I know as I go. I’m not a business person, nor a marketer, but I’m learning. I’ve made heaps of telephone calls, and sent a lot of emails, and the response has been very positive. People are willing to help us, and it’s encouraging. Right now we are making our books by print-on-demand. It’s the most cost effective, low overhead means to publish our books at the moment. It works the same as a print run without the financial risks. Basically, the author and I determine the print run, which is usually 300 to 500, and once those books have sold the P.O.D. stops, and we renegotiate. I’m actually quite thankful for the P.O.D. system, because it gives guys like me a chance to start up a small press like BareBack without sinking every dime he has into.

8 – How many other people are involved with editing or production? Do you work with other editors, and if so, how effective do you find it? What are the benefits, drawbacks?
The authors and I are the editors for BareBack books, and my wife is the graphic designer. We all work very closely together and it works wonderfully. We get to know each other as people, build personal relationships, and ultimately reach our goal, which is creating books we’re proud of. The authors I’ve worked with so far are all easy going people who are open to advice and criticism.  If there’re any drawbacks, it’s that we don’t have staff helping us to put out books every month, instead of every three months.

9– How has being an editor/publisher changed the way you think about your own writing?
It’s made me more critical of my own work, and less critical of other people’s work. I know firsthand how much time, effort, and energy goes into publishing a book and now, whether I enjoy a book or not, I’ve learned to appreciate the process, and the sweat it takes from people in the industry. As well, I feel being an editor/publisher has also broadened me as a writer, given me acid eyes, and the ability to look at myself in the third person. Seeing all of the talent that is out there has inspired me, and forced me to be more creative. 

10– How do you approach the idea of publishing your own writing? Some, such as Gary Geddes when he still ran Cormorant, refused such, yet various Coach House Press’ editors had titles during their tenures as editors for the press, including Victor Coleman and bpNichol. What do you think of the arguments for or against, or do you see the whole question as irrelevant?
To be honest, I feel uncomfortable publishing my own work through BareBack, and I fear people will view it as a me using the press as a tool to promote myself, which is why I try to work harder for the other authors than for myself. When it comes to promotions and soliciting reviews my work goes on the backburner. Through BareBackMagazine I’ve gained a lot of contacts, but I don’t use them for my benefit. I put the other authors ahead of me, and work for them.

The argument for or against publishing your own writing is relevant, and an argument I often have with myself. I would love to have my books under the label of another press so I wouldn’t have to struggle with the argument anymore, but that’s not the case. I like what BareBack is doing, and I am proud to be a part of it. And for that reason, I will remain being a BareBack author.

11– How do you see Bareback evolving?
I see us carving out a loyal niche audience that appreciates what we’re doing, and hopefully in the future we’ll make a dent in the mainstream.

12– What, as a publisher, are you most proud of accomplishing? What do you think people have overlooked about your publications? What is your biggest frustration?
As a publisher and as a person I am most proud of how far I’ve taken a small online literary magazine in just over a year. When I started BareBackMagazine I never thought that it would snowball into a small press. Last year I had no idea how to build a website or where to go to get people to submit work and, more importantly, about how to get people to read it. I didn’t even have a facebook page and was stubborn to use social media, and was certainly myopic in my view of its power. I have still refused to insert a “like” button on the homepage, for fear of cheapening the art, but I am chagrined at only having 56 “likes” even though we have nearly a thousand people on our mailing list, so next month I am bowing down to the almighty facebook and adding a “like” button. To make everyone, including myself, feel more at peace. 

This year has been a lot of work, a lot of research, and a lot of learning both professionally and personally, and there’s still so much more learn, which excites me.

I don’t feel people have overlooked anything about our publications. I think they are just not seeing them. And that is probably the biggest frustration. The press doesn’t have thousands of dollars to market our titles, so at this point it’s mostly word of mouth. A lot of people don’t want to risk twenty dollars on a book by an author or a book they’ve never heard of, which is understandable, so it’s my job to at least make the books sound, and look, as appealing as possible.
   
13– Who were your early publishing models when starting out?
At the beginning I felt like William Blake, doing it all myself with a little help from my wife. I think Blake was a big inspiration in the sense that he was rejection prone, but not discouraged and took it upon himself to get his work out to whoever would take it. 

14– How does Bareback work to engage with your immediate literary community, and community at large? What journals or presses do you see Bareback in dialogue with? How important do you see those dialogues, those conversations?
As of now we’re only in dialogue with online journals, no heavy hitters in the Canadian literary world. We are talking with BookNet Canada and have applied for associate membership in the Association of Canadian Publishers and will also seek membership in the Literary Press Group of Canada in the future once we meet all of their criteria. I would certainly like, and am completely open to establishing relationships with everyone in the literary community, and I encourage all of our authors to keep getting their work into journals and magazines because it is always important to have your work reach different audiences. Mike Algera, author of Old Gods for New, just received the Editor’s Choice Award for Poem of the Year from Arc Magazine for one of the poems in his collection coming out in June. Other authors we’ve published are also keeping up their relationships with magazines and editors who have previously published them in the hopes of getting more exposure and press. The relationships we make with other publications and people in the literary community as a whole are extremely valuable to us, and we are slowly building up our contacts. Although we may be in different boats, we’re all floating in the same water. And just like when you’re at the cottage, you wave when you see another boater.

15– Do you hold regular or occasional readings or launches? How important do you see public readings and other events?
Readings are up to the authors themselves. We’re scattered throughout the country and its best if each author arranges their own readings or book launches. These events, I do feel, are very important. I’ve been to book readings before, and hearing an author read his/her work really makes it come alive. The voice in which they read stays in your mind and makes their work take on an entirely different tone. Connecting with people face to face is a great way to attain readers, and personalize the work for them. I was actually lucky enough while in university to have bill bissett come and read for my class, and it completely changed his work. I can still hear his voice in my mind every time I read his poems.

16– How do you utilize the internet, if at all, to further your goals?
As I mentioned earlier I am learning the value of social media and networking through the internet. I’ve found Goodreads is a useful tool for authors to interact with readers, and for potential readers to get a glimpse into what people think about an author’s work. The internet is great for finding and getting in touch with people in the literary community you may have otherwise never heard of, or had a chance of getting in touch with. The internet is probably the best weapon in a publisher’s or an author’s arsenal to gain readers, which is the goal.

17– Do you take submissions? If so, what aren’t you looking for?
We’re always accepting submissions, and eager to have a look at pretty much anything close to our guidelines. The only thing we aren’t looking for is pretention. Writers who haven’t found their voices yet, and aren’t willing to give us the honesty and sincerity we’re looking for.

18– Tell me about three of your most recent titles, and why they’re special.
Unwrapped: The BareBack Anthology is special to me because it showcases what BareBack is all about. It’s eclectic and quirky, dark, humorous, and sardonic at times. It features not only Canadian talent, but poetry from writers in Europe, the U.S., and India who were willing to bare themselves for our pleasure.

re: verbs by Robert Swereda, which was also released in February is an interesting collection of visual poetry which shows the unlimited creative potential of poetry. It shows that poetry is not dead, that it’s alive and well, and there’s still something to be learned from it.

Old Gods for New by Mike Algera is an amazing collection of poetry that spans nearly ten years. Through his book you essentially get to see Mike grow up. We feel what he went through, and where he hopes to go. I think he’s setting a new standard for what poetry should be doing, which is making people feel welcomed, not stupid because they don’t understand a poem. His writing is simple, and graceful. One poem he’ll have you chuckling, the next giving you chills and making tears well up.

BareBack Press participates in the fall 2013 edition of the ottawa small press book fair on Saturday, October 12, 2013.

12 or 20 (small press) questions;

Robert Swereda, re: verbs

My short review of Robert Swereda's re: verbs (BareBackPress, 2013) is now online at Bywords.ca

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Robert Swereda

Author of re: verbs (Bareback editions) and a chapbook ionlylikeitwhenitrhymes, Robert Swereda is a member of the Filling Station collective. He studied creative writing at Capilano University in Vancouver. Other work has been published by The Puritan, ditch, West Coast Line, The Incongruous Quarterly, steel bananas, The Capilano Review, Enpipe Line and Poetry Is Dead.

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
Change my life? Although the recognition feels nice and maybe my ego got a boost, I didn`t exactly win the lottery. My work has been getting more and more visual. I`ve been experimenting with forming sculptures with text, collages, investigating dead languages such as Latin and Futhark and playing with translation. These new adventures don`t feel so different than what I`ve done in the past, I`m just expanding my palette.

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?
From my late teens and on I`ve been interested in metaphysics and through that I found Robin Skelton, who published a few volumes on Paganism and many books of poetry. Fiction I have dabbled in a little but never felt confident enough to try to publish it yet. I find there is so much more room for experimentation with poetry.

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?
When I first started writing, everything spewed out of me rapidly. As some years have gone by, the process has really slowed down. I guess when I was new to writing I wanted to try any type of writing prompt that was available to me. Each piece takes a different amount of time to be realized. I`ll have an idea in my head, but it may need time to brew in my brain before it`s ready to transfer to paper. Maybe I don`t try to edit and revise as much as I should, I like my writing to have a rawness to it.

4 - Where does a poem 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?
Sometimes they`re like “ AH-HA!!” moments, when I`m not even thinking of writing and some new idea will spark. Other times I see an idea I want to try out just to see what happens. That`s how my Flarf chapbook I only like it when it rhymes happened. Other times I want to use techniques from other mediums and figure out a way to use it poetically like, "Arpeggios on Leo Brouwer" in my book re: verbs. My attention span is quite short, so my pieces are also. Though I feel that the section of my book "b)rainstorms" could have been something book length.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I`m a terrible performer. I get too nervous, I hate using microphones and hearing myself through the speakers. Since my work is more visual, I think that performance is more a way to promote myself it doesn`t really aid my writing. I do feel public readings are important though. There have been a few books I read through and the text alone didn`t do it for me. Then I got to see the author live and I came out with a better understanding of how they wanted their work to be interpreted.

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?
Answering questions, no. Raising questions, yes. I`m just here to make a big mess.

I`m interested in the flexibility of language, especially English. How nouns can flip to verbs and back again, how one word can have several meanings. I demonstrate this in "Arpeggios on Leo Brouwer" in my book, and in a piece called "signature move" http://horselesspress.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/hlr12.pdf

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
I wish writers, especially poets were more celebrated in North America. I spend Canadian winters in Latin America, When I tell people I meet in Canada that I write poetry, I get responses like “uh, that`s....interesting” or they assume I`m writing traditional poetry, or they might know something of the Beat Generation. When I tell people from Latin countries the same thing, it`s like I`m some rock star. They`re more curious and excited and ask a billion questions.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Honestly, I don`t have much experience. When Bareback Press was putting my book together, the editing was only for space and layout, which didn`t affect the pieces so much.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
I had the opportunity to interview the Peruvian poet Tulio Mora, and I asked if he had any advice for younger writers: I would tell them to be intransigent, rebellious, self-demanding, to avoid lying to themselves, to take any feedback with disbelief, especially if they start receiving praise. Those who care about the comments and reviews that appear in newspapers are not poets. A poet is the one who transcribes how the world shivers at our survival.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to photography to visual art)? What do you see as the appeal?
Poetry is actually the last medium I`ve attempted. In my mid 20`s I was really into painting. I`ve played guitar and wrote music for a long while now. http://soundcloud.com/burntumber Also photography and video collage. Usually I focus my attention on just one of these for a short time until I change direction on to the next. But really they`re no different from each other. A paintbrush, a guitar, a pen, a laptop, a camera – they`re just tools for one humungous job I`m getting done.

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 can`t say I have one. When I have an idea, I either plough away at it right then and there, or let it steep in my head for awhile. I used to keep a writing book, now I do most of my writing on my laptop. I`ll have scraps of paper for a few notes. I find it useful to try writing in different places, cafes, laundromats, malls, buses. In my house, or outside.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I just try to forget about it. And that never works. I distract myself with other things, and then something will eventually pop in my head. I`ve tried to force myself to write on a few occasions and didn`t care for the outcome. In my case, writing just needs to happen.

13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Alfalfa and cough syrup.

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?
I mentioned music before. Some other pieces, their layouts were stolen from patterns in abstract visual art, geometry, architecture.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Probably like most 20-something males I went through the Beat phase. I was more into WSB and Brion Gysins practice of majik through the arts. I found the San Fransisco Beats getting entwined with hippies and Buddhism to be kind of flakey. The paintings of Cy Twobly always fascinated me, and I stole from him for my more visual work for sure.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Tell you about the last time I ate a pear. Paragliding.

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?
Most likely visual arts.

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I do plenty of other things, as mentioned before. I just found the writing community a little more welcoming. So my energies have been focused in that direction for the past few years.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
On Seeing and Noticing – Alain de Botton. Not the last film I saw but, Gummo ( Harmony Korine) reminds me of my growing up in rural Alberta.

20 - What are you currently working on?
A manuscript of visual poetry and Flarf, as well as a gluten free cook book.

12 or 20 (second series) questions;