What is a Publishing Company - Publishing Basics

What is a Publishing Company? with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Will Writing Make Me Rich and Famous - Publishing Basics

Will writing make me rich and famous? with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

How Long Does it Take to Get Published - Publishing Basics

How Long Does it Take to Get Published, with Alexandra Pringle,  Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Author Insides - Dylan Gilbert

Dylan Gilbert spent many years in New York City working as an actor in everything from performance art to Shakespeare. He now lives with his wife and teenage son in New York’s Hudson Valley.  His fiction has recently appeared or is forthcoming in The Westchester Review, Pearl, Slow Trains, Red Fez, and others. His website is http://dylansstories.weebly.com/.

His humorous short story, "Writer's Workshop," appeared in the Autumn 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase.


Dylan, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?  

I got into writing when I was about eleven or twelve.  I started writing these humorous stories influenced by Mad magazine and my teacher had me read them to the class.  I've been writing on and off ever since, but only got serious about three years ago.

Why do you write? 

I've always had a need to express myself creatively, whether through drawing, sculpture, acting, or writing.  It's just something inside me that kind of has to be released.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?  

I'm not sure how much I imagined it.  I just kind of dove in.  I did know, however,  that there would be a lot of rejection.  I was an actor in my early 20's and I understand that any field related to the arts is fiercely competitive.

What do you think makes a good story? 

I think one part is it has to tell some truth that is universal, that people can relate to and maybe even help them see the world and themselves more clearly.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

I guess I would say literary fiction, especially work that weaves in social commentary, like Tom Wolf's A Man in Full and T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Flat.  I've really enjoyed some non-fiction lately, too, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Warmth of Other Suns.  A lot of nonfiction reads more like narrative now.  I also enjoy African American literature and magic realism.

Who is your favorite author or poet?  

It's a tie between Dostoevsky and Shakespeare.  I also love T.C. Boyle, Isabelle Allende, Richard Wright, Murakami, Marquez, and many others.

What books or stories have influenced you the most as a writer?  

Some novels where the writing is big and bold and brave and the stories quirky and intense have influenced me, like Drop City, East is East, and Budding Prospects by T.C. Boyle and Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried has influenced me too.  There's this scene where the guys have lost a comrade in battle and no one shares any grief or anything, but one guy just starts slowly blasting away a baby water buffalo.  The scene is gruesome and makes you want to put the book down, but brilliant too because this character is expressing his horror and rage through action, not the narrator telling you how he feels.  That scene and the whole book helped me better understand how to show where characters are at emotionally through action—and not always the action one might expect.

David Sederis's work has influenced me as a writer too.  He's so skilled at finding the absurdity and humor in everyday situations.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

The Autobiography of Malcolm X  is one of many books that has influenced me as a person because it shows the possibility of growth and change and transformation.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration? 

When I leave town, leave the "to do" lists, and the mundane routines, inspiration usually comes to me.  A lot of my inspiration comes from places.  When I visit somewhere, the area and the people there often spark a story in my mind.  For example, I was in Ashland, Oregon a while back and saw this old guy on a farm and it got me thinking what his life must be like.  Ashland is this groovy, new-age, hippie town—I love it.  But I wondered what it's like to be an old-timer, someone who was there when there were mills and farms, no food co-ops or crystal shops.  So I came up with a story about this lonely old guy who is kind of forced to develop a relationship with his hippie neighbors.

What does your family think of your writing? 

My wife and son are very supportive.  My three sisters are writers themselves, as is my mom.  Everyone in my family digs it, but sometimes I burn them out, especially my wife,  constantly asking them to read over my work.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I teach in the day and write in the afternoon and/or evening.  Sometimes on the weekends and during the summer I'll shift my writing time to the morning.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

I write best when there's things going on around me.  Cafes, subways, and park benches are places where I like to write because of the sounds and movements in the environment.  It feels like the action moves my ideas along.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?  

Finishing.  It's almost impossible for me to consider a piece done.  I'm too much of a perfectionist and don't trust myself enough to feel like a story is really where it needs to be.  I have dozens of short stories and even novellas that are 98% finished.  Some have been hanging around for years.

What are your current projects? 

I'm in the thick of about half a dozen short stories: "Ashland Man" (mentioned above), "The Dumpster," an experimental piece about a guy who finds relief by throwing away the junk accumulated in his house, "Jimi Talks to Me," a long short story about a guy who is obsessed with Jimi Hendrix, and others.

What are you planning for future projects? 

I have a rough draft of a slipstream crime novella titled "The Vision" that I plan to revise and hope to get published.  Also, I've begun collaborating with an independent filmmaker adapting one of my short stories, "Rules of the Game," into a screenplay.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

My advice is don't get too bogged down with one piece.  When I was in college I wrote a one-act play that I thought could be produced and I got a meeting with a successful playwright to discuss my play.  We sat over breakfast at a diner and he shared some things he thought worked well in the writing.  When I asked him what I should do with it, he said put it aside and write another one.  I was deflated by his response—I thought he would tell me what changes to make or how to get it produced—but now I realize he was right.  I had gone as far as I could with that play and it was time to move on.

I've had to learn this lesson many times.  I can get so caught up in editing one story or trying to get one particular piece published, that I stop writing new work for long periods of time.  I think it's better to keep moving forward and writing new material, and not get stuck trying to perfect one piece.

Where else can we find your work? 


I have links to most of my published work on my website: http://dylansstories.weebly.com/.

What Makes a Good Writer - Publishing Basics

What Makes a Good Writer, with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Author Insides - Natalie McNabb

Natalie McNabb lives and writes in Washington State where her dog, Skookum, and cat, Mo, can usually be found beneath the trees of her Eden with a squirrel tail, an exhumed mole, or an up-flung mouse. She loves red — red dragonflies resting on bamboo stakes, red wine in her glass, red flip-flops on her red-toe-nailed feet — and words that caress, tickle, irritate or beat against her soul.  Natalie was a Top 10 for The Micro Award 2011 and Top 25 for the Fish Short Story Prize.

Her story "Nineteen Degrees" appears in the Autumn 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase.


Natalie, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

I don’t have a specific “A-HA!” moment that triggered I-must-be-a-writer syndrome, but if there had to be a triggering moment, it happened when I was about ten. I had a friend who rode his bike with a pet rat perched on his shoulder. He let me try it too, and we had a great summer biking, losing the rat under the patio and coaxing it back out with some peanut butter, and getting into trouble for nailing our plywood fort to the side of his apartment. We were at that age when the world is still perfect, before puberty sets in and children mock one another for playing with rats or having the opposite sex as ‘just a friend.’ I shared stories from my green cloth-covered notebook with my friend, and he shared them with his dad. His dad read them and told me that if I continued writing I would be very good when I was his age. Though my writing had been nurtured by others, it felt as if he was the first adult who really took my writing seriously. Then, I did too.

Why do you write? 

I have to write; it’s part of who I am and, if I don’t, I get moody. My husband doesn’t like me moody.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?

Writing is better than I imagined it could be: it’s therapeutic and you get to ‘live’ in others’ skin. I didn’t have the easiest childhood and teenage years and have probably saved a ridiculous amount on therapy because I write. It’s very freeing—I can floor it the wrong way on the freeway, say good riddance to people I’d like to, or cut a finger off, and it’s all harmless. As well, though, I have found compassion for others I might not have understood if I hadn’t examined a character as deeply as you must to be able to slip into their skin.

What do you think makes a good story? 

A ‘good story’ is subjective, very personal, but I know what I like when I see it. A recent favorite is “Dinosaur” by Bruce Holland Rogers, which I received in a mailing from The Sun. I put the story—all 303 words of it—on my refrigerator at home and bulletin board at the day-job. Another recent favorite is Robert Swartwood’s 927-word“Chameleon Kid,” which I first read on PANK. Lately, I have been leaning toward shorter pieces, because I can read a complete story on the bus or a break at work and still have time to write my own stuff. I think shorter pieces ‘speak’ to our too-busy, ADHD generation for this reason, whether you like them or not.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

What I read depends on mood, but I always come back to literary novels.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

I love Shel Silverstein, Jane Hirshfield, Barbara Kingsolver (her fiction—especially The Poisonwood Bible—and poetry), John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Stewart O’Nan and so many others. It’s not fair to make me pick just one!

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

The books and stories that have most influenced me as a writer are—all of them. I learn what I don’t like and shouldn’t do from the ones I deem ‘bad’ and what I do like and should do from the ‘good’ ones. I get something from each.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

The Grapes of Wrath, “Dinosaur” by Bruce Holland Rogers, and The Thorn Birds. Why? Not completely sure, but they’re the first that came to mind. Perhaps it’s: the dialogue and reality of the first; with the second, the full-circle, completed feeling you get from a mere 303-word story, proving it can be done in such a short space; and, in the third, it’s the symbolism of that poor little bird singing its heart out as it beats itself to death upon a thorn. Now that I think about it, that’s what writers do, don’t we?

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

My inspiration comes from the people—with their oddities and beauties—around me and from watching them interact with this great big world around us all.

What does your family think of your writing? 

Almost no one in my husband’s (very large) family writes, and so I think they’re a bit dumbfounded by someone who puts as much into their writing as I do. There is a thread of the arts running through my family though, and some of them probably understand.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I work full-time, like so many writers have to. So, my writing schedule consists mostly of mornings, weekends and lunch breaks. I am always reading or writing though in whatever free time I find.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

Nothing odd or special. I don’t write in the nude or anything like that—don’t want to scare the family and pets. Wait. There is one thing. When writing, I ‘go away’ somewhere. My husband can walk in, have a full conversation with me while I’m writing, leave, and—later—I’ll know that he was there, but won’t have a clue what we talked about. This could be used to my teenage son’s advantage, though he hasn’t discovered it yet—that I know of. After an intense writing session it takes me awhile to come around to reality, too. My hope is that I never just stay wherever it is I go off to.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

The most challenging part about writing is finding the time.

What are your current projects? 

For the past year, my primary project has been to focus on plot and story, since I noticed I have a tendency to write ‘slice of life’ pieces, basically snapshots that relayed more emotion than story. Once I ramped up the plot and story in pieces I already had going, my publishing versus submission ratio increased. Current writing projects are a novella that began as an exercise in plot and story and flash fiction and poetry as the mood strikes.

What are you planning for future projects?

I plan to continue writing flash and poetry, but have a novel-length work I started last year. I put it on hold until I got plot and story down, and once the novella I am working on is finished I will go back to the novel.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

So many others say it, but WRITE. JUST WRITE. If you can’t find the time, find something else that satisfies you instead. If though, like me, nothing else satisfies you, you’ll find the time.

Where else can we find your work? 

www.nataliemcnabb.com Links to my fiction, poetry and other miscellaneous writings are all here.

What is a Book Deal - Publishing Basics

What is a Book Deal, with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Author Insides - Larry O. Dean

Larry O. Dean was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan, where he won three Hopwood Awards, and Murray State University. His most recent chapbooks are About the Author and abbrev. Selected magazine publications include The Berkeley Poetry Review, Passages North, Big Bridge, Keyhole, and OCHO. Also a critically-acclaimed songwriter, Dean has numerous CD releases to his credit, including Fables in Slang (2001) with Post Office, Gentrification Is Theft (2002) with The Me Decade, and Fun with a Purpose (2009) with The Injured Parties.

His microfiction appears in the Autumn 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase. 

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer, Larry? 

I started reading from a very young age, and developed a love of language and narrative early on which came out in short stories and 'novels' I wrote. I was also a precociously talented drawer who read comic books voraciously and wrote and illustrated my own cartoons. I enjoyed listening to popular music on the radio and also started playing the guitar. By high school I was focused more on lyrics and songwriting, and it was around that time that I felt that rather than declaring allegiance to one discipline, calling myself a 'writer' seemed to encompass them all.

Why do you write?

Number one reason is, I write to please something in myself but I realize that such pleasure is hard to pin down and comes only after much agonizing. Let me add, however, that I'm not someone who revises endlessly but rather feels that it's good to get done with something and move on to the next. Nonetheless when I'm in the groove with something it obsesses me until I reach that indescribable moment when I feel it's finished. I also write for an audience but not with a particular one in mind. I like performing my work and part of knowing when something's done is based on audience reaction; sometimes it's laughter, but more so it's ineffable, more of a feeling I get in my gut or from the room itself.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?

I never thought in concrete terms of what it meant to be this thing, a writer. I'm sure when I was younger I saw the great range of personalities and outward modes of dressing or acting and probably romanticized some aspects of the writing life, but after awhile it became apparent that what a writer is has much to do with individual personalities and less with so-called trademarks of ways of behaving.

What do you think makes a good story? 

There are many factors, but I can't boil it down to just plot or characters, because no two stories are alike. If it achieves what it sets out to do – whatever that means – then it's good.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

I really enjoy well-written hardboiled fiction and satire. (There is some crossover there, I think.) By the former I mean writers such as Jim Thompson, David Goodis, James M. Cain, and Charles Willeford; I should also tangentially add the deeply psychological work of Patricia Highsmith. The descriptive bluntness and existential qualities of this genre has always appealed to me, and while it may not be reflected in my own poetry it is a constant reminder of what I define as great fiction. By the latter, such writers as Terry Southern, Charles Portis, John Fante, and Celine spring immediately to mind; I suppose you could also call it black comedy, but satire is much harder to do well than 'comic' or 'funny' fiction.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

I'll give you one apiece: Albert Camus and David Ignatow. Both were very influential to me at important times in my writing development, and both continue to amaze and inspire me.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

Offhand, The Cry of the Owl, The Plague, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Winesburg Ohio, Masters of Atlantis, A Hell of a Woman, The Glass Key, Babbitt, South Wind, My Search for Warren Harding, Memoirs of Hecate County. The Great Gatsby, Ask the Dust, The Mind Parasites... Individual stories – that could take a while!

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

You could say any/all of the books, above, but Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet might be more applicable here, as well as Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

I love urban environments. Not necessarily the well-established pluses of being immersed in or having access to art and culture, but the volatile nature of people in close quarters who have to get along. Others can keep the leafy serenity of the country, or the homogeneity of the suburbs to themselves; they might even find that those environments stimulate or inspire them, and I would likely enjoy reading all about it. But I prefer cities and their unpredictability. This sparks my writing and my ideas.

What does your family think of your writing? 

I am an only child. My father died when I was still in high school, but he never tried to dissuade me from anything I wanted to do. My mother was always a supporter as well of everything I chose to do. I was very lucky to have encouraging and nurturing parents, and my longtime girlfriend – not a writer herself, I should add – has always been incredibly supportive and patient. 

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I don't have a regimen. I used to do most of my writing late at night, because I worked nine-to-five jobs for many years and after getting home and taking care of whatever it was I needed to do, suddenly the day was done. Now that I teach, my schedule is more flexible (or erratic), and as such I have shifting periods where I'm busier for a few months, and then it lightens. My internal clock seems to be calibrated to moments of availability, but I do write as well (though perhaps not as much output-wise) through more frenetic times too.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

Not really. I'm able to write in pretty much any environment – I don't need absolute silence, or a manual typewriter, or to eat an apple and two avocados in order to write. I know everyone has their own routines and I find other writers' habits fascinating, but sometimes I think those habits or quirks can become crutches and impede rather then feed the process. Better, I think, to try to be open to inspiration under any circumstances, even if one has to re-train themselves in order to reach that beatitudinous state.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

If you mean critically challenging to readers, perhaps my sense of humor, which is very particular. If you mean challenging as a writer trying to achieve something, perhaps finding and expanding upon an audience.

What are your current projects?

I've just 'finished' a full-length manuscript of poems, called Activities of Daily Living and I'm shopping it around. I single-quoted finished because as I said before, I think it's important to wrap up projects in order to move on to something else, but that doesn't mean I won't tinker with certain aspects if I happen to feel inspired to do so. I'm also working on my third solo album with producer Chris Stamey of The dB's, and embarking on the digitization of music I recorded when I lived in California that has never really gotten a proper release.

What are you planning for future projects?

More digitization and possible remastering of music, as above. I'd also like to explore more possibilities for shorter thematic works. I have come to enjoy the chapbook format as a means of focusing on a group of poems on a given theme. My earliest book-length publications were chapbooks, but they were chaps by necessity, not by design. 

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Find what works for you, whether it's a routine or an approach. It will take trial and error, but when it's right you'll know (and feel) it. Writing for an audience is important, I think, but not catering your work to that audience so much as putting it out there to be absorbed. Anyone who says “I only write for myself” is lying because if that truly was the case, we wouldn't be reading their work. Write to please yourself, to live up to your own standards, and the readers will follow. Everyone isn't likely to appreciate you but that's perfectly fine!

Where can we find your work? 

Recent chapbooks have been published by Mindmade Books and Beard of Bees; Amazon has a few older items that are still available, but a lot of my previous books are out-of-print. I have work forthcoming in online and print journals; Google me and see what transpires!

What is a Copy Editor - Publishing Basics

What is a Copy Editor - with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Query Mistakes

Orignally posted August 3, 2010:

Here's a great list of mistakes that could land your queries or submissions in File 13. Some good advice here:

http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/post/query-letter-mistakes.aspx

Some agents and publishers are fuss-budgets, so it never hurts to make your query slick and professional.

It may seem tedious to have to write and rewrite a query letter, but it's time worth investing. The whole point is to make the agent/publisher want to read your manuscript. If they're distracted by misspelled names, irrelevant information, bad grammar, etc., they're not going to want to invest the time it would take to read your work. The same way too much backstory, bad grammar, inconsistent characterizations, etc., will make readers put down your book unfinished.

What is an Editor - Publishing Basics

What is an Editor - with Alexandra Pringle, Editor in Chief, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Excerpt - EXPERIENCED:

Experienced ~ Rock Music Tales of Fact and Fiction
Edited Roland Goity and John Ottey; illustrations by Kimy Martinez
Buy / Amazon / B&N
Tour Diary (Excerpts)
By Sean Ennis

Day 15

Show’s off, and I’m trying to sleep under the Rattlesnakes’ dining room table. Their lead singer fingers through the Kama Sutra with his girlfriend. Their bass player left his kid’s car seat in the parking lot to make room for more beer. Someone calls for a mirror, and it’s for their eye make-up.

Southern California has been all cold rain and pigeons. No beach, no bikinis, no flamingos; I’m told that’s Florida — the only place we’re not going. Got bronchitis somewhere between DC and Santa Cruz and had no air on stage through Raleigh, Austin, Tempe. My lungs want to go on tour, too, find a better body. They’re sick of the smoke and damp and the party in the living room. Last night, I chipped a tooth on the mic trying to make it work, Clip blew a fuse, Warren’s cords got lost and Milk has broken every drumstick. Our van smells like a zoo, like the dark alley behind a zoo.

“Record sales are down,” Roger, tour manager, says, betting our band’s money away on gin rummy. But my boys are still cheery — the Mexican stuff being cheap here — and look, from under this table, to be walking on the walls.

Late night, the balloon deflates; then it’s just snores and NASA static from the stereo. A cat paws across all our backs, little claws. Clip changes his strings by flashlight, looking like a battlefield medic, eyes insomnia-wide, wire cutters in his mouth, playing the E and the A back and forth, listening close, as if for a heartbeat.

***

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Author Insides - April Sopkin

April Sopkin lives in New York, but not for much longer. Her fiction has also appeared in issue #4 of Makeout Creek. Her short story, "James Goes Out" appeared in the Autumn 2011 The Battered Suitcase

April, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 


Not entirely sure. As a little kid, I sat at the dining room table with a notebook for hours. I was too young for self-awareness. I was just doing it.  

Why do you write? 

Again, not entirely sure. As I get older and write more and finish more pieces, I discover more about the process and have a certain faith in it. I’d say that keeps me going.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?


Of course not.

What do you think makes a good story? 

Voice.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Right now, short stories in the speculative vein.

Who is your favorite author or poet?

I’m sure I’ll regret saying this, but I don’t have a favorite. I’ve never read one particular writer exclusively for any period of time.

What books or stories have influenced you the most as a writer?

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

Stop-Time by Frank Conroy. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

Reading a lot and in a wide variety. Watching and listening to others, asking questions of their behavior. Hindsight.

What does your family think of your writing? 

Proud and easily excitable. But they probably wonder where it’s all leading and when it’ll finally get there.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

It varies every couple months. Any routine held too long will eventually lead to some boredom and eventual procrastination. Sometimes I’m at the desk at 6am. Sometimes I’m in a coffee shop phase.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

If I’m struggling with a story, I’ll switch to longhand for a while. And I wear headphones but don’t listen to music.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The first sentence. And deciding between first and third when I have a preconceived idea for a story.

What are your current projects?

Short stories.

What are you planning for future projects?


I set aside this year to specifically work on building an inventory of short stories – finishing them and submitting them. To help me do this, I applied to eight artist residencies and was accepted into four. My last one will be a month spent at the Jentel cattle ranch this winter. That’s as far into the future as I have planned.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

If you ride public transportation every day, write during your commute. Or write on your lunch break. Or get up an hour earlier and write then. Find the time that already exists in your life and start from there.

Where can we find your work? 

I have a short piece published in issue #4 of Makeout Creek, which can be purchased at www.makeoutcreek.com.

Excerpt - Birch Hills at World's End

Birch Hills at World’s End
Geoff Hyatt
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I’d never thought Kenzie was a psychopath. An accident waiting to happen, sure, but not a time bomb. Now, watching him and a French drug dealer drag a tarp-wrapped body out of a pickup, I wondered how I could have been so wrong.

“This little man,” René said with a laugh, “he is somewhat heavy.”

“Dead weight,” Kenzie grunted as he struggled to keep his end of the load up. “We need to go to the door around the other side, before the little high schoolers see this. They’ll freak—whoa!” Kenzie burst into jackal-like laughter and said, “His arm, dude!”

I could see it, hanging out from under the tarp, its stiff fingers dragging in the snow. I swallowed the scream quaking in my throat. I had no idea what these guys would do if they discovered me but was positive I didn’t want to find out.

“This is—errrmmmmm—morbid,” René grumbled. “I am not needing this.”

Snowflakes flitted in the moonlit air, like glitter on glass. Kenzie and René, rendered in a palate of grey and blue, lugged their dark cargo around the corner of the pole barn. The door creaked open then slammed shut, loud as a shotgun in the winter stillness. The December wind sliced through me.

I’d fled a dead dog only to encounter a dead man. I only came to this awful party because of Lindsay, who Erik was probably fingering in a coat closet by now. A sour taste washed into my mouth. Hyperventilating and dizzy, I staggered out of the bushes.

“Josh, don’t worry. He’s not dead,” said a girl-voice behind me.

“What?” I shouted as I spun around.

Lindsay stood there in her cloak, smoking a black cigarette from a long, brass holder. She looked like a thrift-store version of a thirties crime dame, afflicted with vampirism. A big army-surplus ammunition bag hung on her hip, on which she’d stenciled the words “KILL YOURSELF, NOW.” I appreciated her use of a comma. She wore one of those furry hats, the kind that usually make people look like puppy dogs, but it worked on her. The smoke she exhaled smelled like my mom’s Easter ham.

“The dog that Jason hit with the beer can,” she said. “He got up and ran off. I think he was just knocked out for a bit. No big deal.”

“It’s still mean,” I said, shuffling in place. I made a tiny white wall between my feet.

Lindsay laughed, lovely and quiet. “Everybody’s mean,” she said. “C’mon. I got to get inside or Amanda’s going to get drunk and take off her shirt or something.”

“Yeah.” I took another deep breath. “Yeah, okay.”

As we began to walk, I considered telling her about the crime I’d just witnessed but thought it might be a bad idea. After all, maybe it was just a passed-out friend they were playing a prank on. Maybe.

***

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Author Insides - Sara Elizabeth Grossman

Sara Elizabeth Grossman has an MFA from The New School and works as a freelance copywriter and social media manager. She has work published in or forthcoming from The New York Press, Untreed Reads Publishing, The Nashville Review, and Narrative Magazine.  Her story “11 Stops” was also chosen as a top 25 finalist for Glimmer Train’s New Writers Award and was published in the Autumn 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase. 

Sara, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

In ninth grade, I began to write really awful poetry.  At that point, I thought I was a writer.  Now I know better.

Why do you write? 

The reason has evolved over the years.  I remember saying “revenge” when I was 19 or 20.  Now I write because I absolutely need to get the words out. I love telling stories.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?  

It’s not as romantic or glamorous.  And people are always asking me what I do with an MFA in creative writing, as if the answer isn’t obvious? I tell them I’m going to be a unicorn trainer one day.

What do you think makes a good story?  

A compelling voice and an interesting plot are most important to me.

What's your favorite genre to read?  

Not sure of a genre. I like anything that keeps me interested.  I’m more of a comedy than a tragedy type of gal.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

I really like Jodi Picoult, even though she stole my thunder and produced a commercially sold book about lesbians.  I also really enjoy Lorrie Moore, Mary Gaitskill, Susan Shapiro, Lydia Davis, David Levithan, Jennifer Weiner, and Chuck Klosterman.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?  

The Giving Tree.  Since I was young, that book has made me cry every time I read it.  I want to be able to do that to people.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?  

Probably all the books I read as a child, honestly.  It’s so important for parents to make sure kids read.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?  

I write nonfiction, so real life.

What does your family think of your writing? 

It’s a mixed bag because of the topics.  I think at the end of the day, they’re very proud of my accomplishments.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I don’t have a schedule.  I know a lot of people do, but I can’t do that.  When it comes to me, I sit down and bang out a bunch of pages at a time.  Sometimes, though, I go months without writing a thing.  It’s difficult because I write for a living – I do social media and copywriting for a few different companies.  It’s tiring trying to write my own stuff at the end of the day.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

No, but I wish I did.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

Doing it, period. Also, making sure characters are whole.  Since the people I write about are people I actually know, it is tricky to convey them to other people sometimes.

What are your current projects?  

I’m actually trying to write a children’s book right now.

What are you planning for future projects?  

Well I’m planning on moving out of New York.  That in of itself is a project.  As far as writing goes, I’d like to expand the memoir I wrote for my thesis into a full-length thing.

Do you have any advice for other writers?  

Keep on submitting.  I’ve submitted to over 100 places and have gotten 6 acceptances.  You have to take the rejections with a big grain of salt and move on.

Where else can we find your work?  

I have two short stories published through Untreed Reads.  You can get them anywhere ebooks are sold.  I also have two personal essays in the New York Press.  I am part of the world’s largest exquisite corpse in The Nashville Review.  And a chapter from my memoir is in Narrative Magazine as of July.

Excerpt - An Animal's Guide to Earthly Salvation

An Animal’s Guide to Earthly Salvation
  Jack R. Johnson

Chapter One

 Buy / Amazon / B&N 

On the evening before I heard the news, I was worrying about the number of dead dogs in my cages. They were accumulating. If rigor mortis set in, we had to break their legs to get them out.

When I first tried to break one, it was dreadful. I sort of leaned against the leg, hoping by sheer force to make it snap. When Vicki, the other vet assistant, caught me at it, she laughed. Vicki’s a waif, small and studious with a thin, pale, college-student face, burdened with large, pink-rimmed glasses, pale blue eyes and even paler blonde hair.

“Jeff, what are you doing?” She had that concerned look librarians get when they feel a desperate need to intercede in your aimless wanderings through the stacks.

“I can’t get him out. See? His legs are too stiff.” I pinched the toe of the dead Doberman and wiggled his leg to demonstrate. “See?”

“Don’t be stupid. Use something heavy.”

She picked up a fire extinguisher, and with her thin arms, slammed it into the dog’s leg. There was a shocking snap, and the leg caved in on itself.

I thought I was going to be sick.

She pushed up her pink-rimmed glasses thoughtfully. “That’s the way you have to do it.”

 

***

Read More

Author Insides - Jessica Young

Jessica Young teaches at the University of Michigan, where she held a Zell Fellowship for poetry and completed her MFA.  Her undergraduate work was at MIT.  Her Pushcart-nominated poetry has appeared most recently in Bellingham Review, Copper Nickel, and Versal.

Her poetry appears in the Autumn 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase.


Jessica, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 


I don’t believe I had a moment when I thought, “This is it… this is what I want to do.”  I’ve just always written, always enjoyed it, and always found writing to be a world well worth exploring. With that said, I’ll admit that even now, as an active and published writer, I’m not entirely convinced.  Meaning, I’m not sure I want to be a writer!  I struggle with writing’s impracticality.  At the same time, my life is better and fuller because of literature, so perhaps contributing to that is a life well spent.

Why do you write?

I write poetry, specifically, because I have to.  Because an image or idea strikes me as so beautiful/fascinating/potent, that I feel a non-ignorable urgency to record it.  Probably an urgency to connect—to find someone else who is taken so wonderful aback by the light coming through the trees.  I get the feeling that poems derived some other way—a non-urgent way—are less likely to be successful.

Is being a poet anything like you imagined it would be?

Yes!  It is living life with open eyes.  Eyes that investigate and appreciate.  It’s a lot of sitting and thinking, reading and thinking, practicing and thinking.  Good exercise for the brain.

What do you think makes a good story? 

I like to feel connected to a work, and invested in it.  I mean, who doesn’t?  But I want to live in the novels and poetry collections that I read… and I want those worlds to be different enough from mine that I’m tricked into thinking that I’m momentarily escaping my life… but of course close enough to mine that I’m just reflecting on my own experience, and expanding my understanding of what it means to be human.

What's your favorite genre to read? 

Probably magic realism. Aimee Bender is my hero.

Who is your favorite author or poet? 

As if there’s just one!  For poetry, these days, I so believe in Campbell McGrath, Matthea Harvey, Ken Chen, Tung-Hui Hu, and Theodore Roethke.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

I’ve read Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” maybe a dozen times.  I love how simple and accessible the text is on the surface, but how complicated it is deep down.  This has served as a model for me, for my own writing—that my poem’s language should welcome the reader in, and provide no barriers… and that the ideas underneath that easy, inviting language… those should be woven and heavy.  I find that style of writing to be very haunting.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? 

Reading Alan Lightman (“Einstein’s Dreams,” specifically, but then I read everything he ever wrote) opened doors for me, just because he crossed the bridge from science to writing.  I discovered him just as I was doing the same, myself.  To see his success at it—to see how deftly he wove physics into poetic writing—inspired me to do the same.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

I require outside stimuli, which can come from anywhere, at any time.

What does your family think of your writing? 

They’re incredibly supportive.  My parents read everything I publish, my extended family asks how my work is going and reads the occasional piece.  They let me know that I always have readers at home.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

I’ve never been able to keep a writing schedule.  These people who wake up every morning at 6am, eat one cup of cottage cheese with peaces, and write 7 chapters—I can’t do that.  Some days I write for hours, some weeks I don’t write at all.  When it happens, it happens, and I’m seemingly not in control of that.  This has always worked for me (I’ve always been able to “produce” when I need to, for example in my MFA program), so I haven’t pushed myself to spend every waking hour trying to write more.  There is so much else I want to be doing, anyway—teaching, cooking, trying to nail the crow position in yoga (I still think it’s impossible!), etc.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? 

I read everything—everything!—aloud.  If I send a one-sentence email to a student, a one-page email to a friend, a 30-page story… it all gets read out loud, word by word, to make sure it sounds smooth.  I’ve even read these interview answers out loud.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Brevity.

What are your current projects?

A book of astronomy-poems, and trying to figure out my next project (because I sense that the astronomy poems might not be a full book, at least not at this point in my life).

What are you planning for future projects?

Nothing concrete, just whatever brings me joy.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write if it makes you happy, and write whatever makes you happy.  The publishing world is absolutely insane (just as every industry is, once you’re inside it, I imagine).  So in some sense you should only enter it if you “have” to… if it feels urgent.  But in another sense, if you like writing, then write.  There are readers out there for you.  There are people who love your style more than anything else, and are happier, fuller people because your work exists.  The trick is to find them.  And that’s a lifelong trick.

Where can we find your work? 

Bateau Press published my chapbook, Only as a Body, and did a truly beautiful job with it.  I also have poems in handfuls of journals, as noted on my website: https://sites.google.com/site/jessicayoungpoetry/

Thank you for being a reader!

Author Spotlight - CS DeWildt

CS DeWildt lives in Tucson Arizona with his wife and sons. His short stories can be found online at Bartleby Snopes, Word Riot, The Bicycle Review, Foundling Review, and the unfortunately defunct Writers Bloc. He is currently working on a new novel and a collection of short stories.

His novella Candy and Cigarettes was published by Vagabondage Press in July 2011 to great reviews. You can read an excerpt at our website.

Chris, when did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was in second grade. Our class published our own short books as part of a regional “young authors” program and I was selected to represent my class for my story, The Traveling Seed. I remember the sheer joy I felt while writing my story and I guess it just stuck. Today, writing takes me through an array of emotions and on the best days I feel just like I did at seven years old.

Why do you write?

I write because of an innate urge, a nagging muse that compels me to put words on paper, to tell stories. I write because I want people to read my work. I’m an entertainer and I think writing is the freest form of expression an artist can have. The words make music, paint pictures, dance. They do all the things I wish I could.

Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be?

Is anything they way we imagined it would be? I guess the biggest reality check for me is that I used to think that there was this dichotomy among writers, which is either you’re on the bestsellers list or you’re struggling. And while reality might be a little closer to the latter I’ve discovered that there is room for those of us who just want to write and make an honest living at it. That’s my dream, not to be hugely successful (though that would be nice), but to pay the bills with my words.

What do you think makes a good story?

A compelling character goes a long way. If you’re interesting I’ll follow your lead longer than I will a total bore.

What's your favorite genre to read?

I like anything with a dark edge, from something as prosy as Cormac McCarthy, to Big Jim Thomson, to Stephen King. Literary fiction is often presented as a genre all its own, but I think of it more as a subgenre present within all other genres, think a typical Danielle Steele romance versus Lolita. Talk of genre often pigeon-holes a stories unnecessarily. They’re just stories, a character wants/wants to avoid something and is met with conflict while trying to get/avoid it. Some work for you as a reader, some don’t. Genre conventions are just set dressing in my opinion.

Who is your favorite author or poet?

The answer to this question would depend on the day you ask so I’ll list a few I consider masters of both story and language: Paul Theroux, Cormac McCarthy, Vladimir Nabokov, Irvine Welsh, Sylvia Plath. Again, ask me tomorrow and I’ll give you a new list.

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?

The Mosquito Coast, beyond being a compelling read, has great take-away lessons in character development, use of symbols, themes, and structure. It’s your classic man vs. man vs. society vs. nature vs. machine vs. self. And repellent or not, Allie Fox is my favorite literary character hands down.

The Old man and the Sea would be another. Regarding critical analysis, Hemingway said of it, and I’ m paraphrasing: “The old man is a man, the fish is a fish.” I think any writer or critic knows that was a damn lie, whether it was an honest lie, only Ernie knows. Regardless, considering the state of his career when he wrote it and how the story so closely parallels facets of his writing life, even the unpredictable post-publication response to it, it just shows how important honesty is when writing a truly magnificent story. To me, the work was a vivisection of the author. And ideally, that’s what a good story is.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?

I wish I could say that reading Hemingway toughened me up, the hero code thing, but I’m still pretty soft. However, his lessons in stoicism keep me from crying myself to sleep post rejection slip.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

It hits when it hits and I just try to maintain within a piece until it hits again. Usually, a story will come from a random event that just strikes me the right way, be it a comment, a conversation, or an observation. Some of these things will explode in my consciousness like a cherry bomb, and I think, that might be an interesting story. Another piece of inspiration is definitely my own memory, I’ll let my thoughts drift and then in a similar explosion I’ll recognize something that I feel is worth developing.

What does your family think of your writing?

My wife is my biggest supporter. She believes when I doubt and that’s a pretty special secret weapon to have.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I’ve always been an early riser so most of my writing gets done in the dark wee hours while everyone else is asleep. I try to do this every day, and I mean every day. I’ll sit down other times too, if I have the opportunity, but until I can quit my day job, the writing has to be worked out around the man’s schedule.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

Not really. I used to smoke cigarettes constantly while I wrote. I’ve since traded them in for nicotine patches. So I guess, sure, I always make sure I have my nicotine. Caffeine too.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

If I slow down, or get pulled away from a piece I tend to lose interest. Sometimes the challenge is just believing that what I’m writing will work itself out in the end. I don’t do a lot of plotting, a couple sign posts in my mind and then I take the scenic route.

What are your current projects?

I have three incomplete novels I’m letting stew until they’re ready to finish. I’m working on another story I hope to develop into a novella, that’s what I’m working on right now. For fun I like to write a flash piece or two a week, just to keep things interesting and to help my other projects from feeling stale.

What are you planning for future projects?

I’ve got several things in mind, but you’ll have to read them to find out.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep at it. Deal with rejection and move on.

You can’t be a writer without writing. A lot of people talk about writing something, but don’t put the time in. Put in the time.

Don’t be above taking criticism, but don’t bow to it either.
If it isn’t giving you pleasure, you shouldn’t be doing it

Where else can we find your work?

Online at Bartleby Snopes, a great journal by the wonderful writer Nate Tower, also on Word Riot, The Foundling Review, The Bicycle Review, and the now unfortunately defunct Writer’s Bloc

Author Insides - Meg Johnson

Meg Johnson's poems have appeared in Slipstream Magazine, Word Riot, WTF PWM, Blood Lotus, Camroc Press Review, and others. Her poem "Free Samples" was nominated for Best of the Net. She is currently a poetry student in the NEOMFA Program, a teaching assistant at the University of Akron, and the poetry editor for Rubbertop Review. Prior to this, Meg worked for many years as a dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, and actress. She blogs at: http://megjohnsonmegjohnson.blogspot.com

Meg's poetry appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of The Battered Suitcase.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

My mom told me recently that she was looking at something I wrote in first grade about how I wanted to be a dance teacher and a writer when I grew up. I wrote poetry every year for my high school literary magazine and would secretly write in my early twenties, but I didn’t have any serious awareness about wanting to write until I was twenty-five.

Why do you write?

I feel like I have to write. I fought against that feeling for awhile, but at a certain point I couldn’t anymore.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?

Yes and no. Before I ever submitted any writing to publications, I had worked as a dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, actress, and model. I had dealt with people who thought I could do no wrong and people who thought I couldn’t do anything right. Both extremes are, of course, crazy. So acceptance and rejection were not new concepts to me. I try to keep my experiences in the performing arts in mind to help understand possible highs and lows as a writer.

I started submitting poems to publications about a year and a half ago and I was surprised when I started getting some acceptances shortly after starting to send out submissions. I really appreciate the time editors have taken to read and consider my work whether they have accepted or rejected it. I’ve been really surprised by editors who were able to respond to submissions within one or two days. I had a poem published by Word Riot this year and I have poems forthcoming in Camroc Press Review and it was exciting to get those acceptances within 24 to 48 hours after submitting those poems.

I appreciate how publications promote their writers in unexpected ways. I was definitely surprised when the editors of Blood Lotus nominated my poem “Free Samples” for Best of the Net this fall. It’s really cool how The Battered Suitcase makes an effort to get to know their authors through these interviews. I organized a poetry and fiction reading this fall and Zozie Beatrice and I were two of the five readers. We had both published poetry in WTF PWM and the WTF PWM editors were generous enough to share information about the reading on their site.

What do you think makes a good story?

When it’s a piece that feels honest, regardless of whether or not it’s true.

What's your favorite genre to read?

I love reading poetry and non-fiction. I enjoy reading fiction but I don’t read it quite as much.

Who is your favorite author or poet?

Some poets that have really influenced me include Chelsey Minnis, Frank O’Hara, Anne Sexton, Denise Duhamel, Matthew Guenette, and Robbie Q. Telfer. Of course there are many more, but those are a few that I automatically think of.

What books or stories have influenced you the most as a writer?

I started reading books by Augusten Burroughs when I was twenty-one and his writing really influenced me, especially the books Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?

My mom read to me every day when I was a kid and I’ve been thinking about how those books, like A Little Princess, have stayed with me and how they creep into my thoughts as an adult.

There are books I read in my early twenties that I had strong emotional reactions to like The Age of Innocence and Debra Marquart’s The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere. I remember being twenty-three and being obsessed with both of those books. I’m twenty-seven and a half now so I guess that wasn’t that long ago, but it feels that way.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?

Some of it I find in my own life. Some of it I find from my imagination. I try to feed off the energy I feel when I read writers I really love.

What does your family think of your writing?

My dad and my brother Alec probably read whatever my mom points out to them. My mom has read about half of the work I’ve published and is very supportive. I’ve published some poems with some very adult subject matter and I’ve been relieved when she has seemed unfazed by them. She reads a lot and is supportive of the arts, but when it’s your mom you still worry.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

It’s always changing.

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?

Yes. I wish I could be one of those people who can write in public places like coffee shops. I do jot down lines in public sometimes, but when it comes to writing a poem I need to be in a room by myself where no one can stare at me. It’s much easier for me to write behind a closed door. Sometimes I pace around. Sometimes I eat candy and drink Diet Mountain Dew.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

It depends on the particular piece I’m working on.

What are your current projects?

I don’t know what city or town I’ll be living in or what I’ll be doing next year (fall 2011), so figuring that out is obviously something I’m focused on.

What are you planning for future projects?

I have some forthcoming poems. I’m working on some new poems. I know that for at least the rest of the year I’ll be teaching dance classes. I might organize another reading this spring or summer.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

I’m not sure I’ve been a writer long enough to be giving advice.

Where else can we find your work?

I’ve published writing in various print and online magazines. I post updates about where you can read my work on my blog. http://megjohnsonmegjohnson.blogspot.com/

New Release: Coming of Age Novel from Geoff Hyatt

Birch Hills at World's End

Geoff Hyatt

Birch Hills at World’s End begins between Detroit and nowhere, in 1999, when high school senior Josh Reilly senses an apocalypse approaching. Josh's unease increases as his privileged but disturbed friend Erik schemes in a journal he calls "The Doomsday Book," where he plots revenge against the suburbia he's learned to despise. When Lindsay, a sixteen-year-old famed for dramatic self-mutilation and questionable poetry, becomes Josh's girlfriend, Erik finds companionship in a circle of bikers and small-time meth traffickers. Josh, suspecting his friend Erik has become a competitor for Lindsay's affections, peeks into the Doomsday Book and is shocked by what he learns. A web of domestic strife, romantic rivalry, and millennial anxiety challenges two boys to stand together as their youth comes apart.

Columbine... Y2K... can friendships survive the end of the world?

Read an excerpt here.

Author Insides - Andrea Judy

Andrea Judy's work appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of The Battered Suitcase. You can read it online here.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
In the third grade. We were going over colors and my teacher talked about ‘Storms as dark as ebony.’ It was like an entire new world of creation was created inside of me as soon she uttered that word. From that day forward I was fascinated with words, and how they fit together and naturally fell into writing.

Why do you write?
I write because people and what we do to each other and ourselves fascinate me. I write because words need to be strung together and hung out for the world to see. These fascinating images and ideas pop into my head and they have to escape by any means necessary. Honestly, I don’t know if I can put a rational reason behind it. It’s just like breathing for me, even if I’m not writing actively I’m still thinking of ideas and things to write.

Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be?
It’s nothing like I imagined! I always imagined that it would involve going out with exciting people, being paid ridiculous amounts of money for my ideas and that it would always be easy to write. It’s hard work! No muse magically floats to my shoulder and whispers all the right words. I sometimes have to pin the muse down and pull the words out one by one. Sometimes, nothing comes at all and I stare at a blank screen on my laptop. One of my favorite quotes about writing is from Gene Fowler, "Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." That describes the writing process perfectly for me! Every so often an idea will spring out, fully formed and ready to go but those are rare and even those ‘fully-formed ideas’ need editing and work. It takes dedication, it’s just like being dedicated to going to gym and putting in an hour of hard work everyday. You have to do it to get any results.

What do you think makes a good story?
For me it’s all about the characters, the words and the images. If I can recall a sentence or a character from a story years later it’s a great story to me. It has to give me something I know in a way that I’ve never seen before. I want to read something that will make me think and want more.

What's your favorite genre to read?
I don’t read as much as I should, but I do enjoy a wide variety of genres. I really like speculative fiction and works of magical realism but I also love fantasy, sci-fi, horror, ‘literary’, non-fiction and poetry. I read a little bit of a lot and have a bookshelf filled with interesting books of indiscriminate genres.

Who is your favorite author or poet?
Oh, I hate this question. it’s so hard to pick one favorite out of the millions of writers out there. Neil Gaiman is among my favorites but I also love Matt Bell, Claudia Rankine (her collection of poetry Don’t Let me Be Lonely is probably the most invigorating collection of work I have ever read and I highly recommend it), Margaret Atwood and Christina Rossetti. Oh dear, that’s more than one, isn’t it?

What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?
Matt Bell’s chapbook, The Collectors, has been one of the most influential books on my writing ever. It’s absolutely breath-taking and gorgeous in its tragedy. If you haven’t read it you should go to Cake Train right now and view it online for free. It’s short and a super quick read—you won’t want to put it down. The variety of narrative voices and the tragedy of the character’s lives leave a lasting impression, I probably go to re-read it at least once a month, or whenever I am feeling low on inspiration just a few chapters and am reignited with a desire to write.

What books or stories have most influenced you as a person?
As a person, Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. It’s an incredibly interesting discussion of what can be done across the globe to help out and nowhere near as dull as it sounds. It’s inspired me to start donating part of my income to a charity every month and to try to actively volunteer and be aware of what I really need. It isn’t at all my usual type of book, and I was forced to read it for a class but it really changed my perception of the world and what I can do.

Where/how do you find the most inspiration?
I find the most inspiration by listening to what is going on around me and taking constant notes. I find inspiration everywhere, TV shows, video games, movies, news articles, other writer’s work, e-mails, phone calls, a stranger walking by or even a dream. I have notebooks filled with inspiration and ideas just waiting for me to write. Always write it down when an idea strikes you because you don’t know if you’ll remember it in another few hours.

What does your family think of your writing?
My family supported me while I got my BA in Creative Writing so I would have to say they’re very supportive. However, I don’t actually share a lot of my writing with my family or friends too much. I have a small group of people I trust to help me workshop and I go to occasional writing conferences but otherwise I am a solitary creature.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
That’s a challenge right now. I just graduated from college where my ‘job’ was to be a student by reading and writing. Now I have a full-time job that keeps me very busy and I come home exhausted. I’m even more impressed by all the writers out there working 9-5 jobs and still coming home to write. I recently purchased a copy of ‘The Nighttime Novelist’ and it is helping keep me focused on my writing. I’m trying to devote an hour to writing everyday but I’ll be honest, that doesn’t always happen!

Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
I keep a pocket-sized notebook with me at all times and jot down words, ideas, things that strike me. I think every writer should have a notebook on them at all times. I have to have music of some kind playing (most of my characters, or poems, have a ‘theme song’ that I will listen to over and over while writing) and I try to just lock myself in my room from the moment I get home from work to when I have dinner. I usually warm up by posting on a blog, or twitter or something just to get my writing muscles twitching. Another fun thing to combat the ‘dreaded white page’ stare is to actually make the background of my document something funky. Writing a dark poem? Why not a blood-spatter background to set the mood?

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I always struggle with knowing when, where and how to end a piece—whether it’s a poem or a short story. The ending is always something I have a really hard time with and I will go through dozens of endings before I will just leave it alone. I will rewrite endings countless times and never really know when I’m done or where the story should stop. It’s something I have continuously struggled with and that I usually only resolve through workshops.

What are your current projects?
My notebook right now has: Thanos, pregnant by murky waters, and obsidian written in it at the moment, as well as a link to an article about a man who beheaded his wife. I’m working on a novel at the moment (though I think every writer is working on a novel at all times) but I enjoy delving into short stories and poetry still. I do participate in National Novel Writing Month every November so that’s something that is always on my mind. I think every writer should give it a shot. It’s a great way to test yourself as a writer by writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

What are you planning for future projects?
I would love to get a chapbook of poetry together in the near future for publication. I’m really interested in poetry inspired by current events, and horrors that are happening everyday. I also am working on a few fairy tale re-tellings that I hope to get into an upcoming anthology.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
One of my dear friends gave me the best advice I’ve ever received and I’ll share it. “You can’t be a writer, if you don’t write.” I think that is sometimes the hardest part, is to get it all written down and worked out. Don’t give up when, if you get your rejection letters, take them with a grain of salt and move on. If you are writing solely to get published and get famous, there are easier ways to find fame.

Where can we find your work?
I work on a blog: http://judyblackcloud.blogspot.com/ where I talk about my writing. And at the moment I have a portfolio available at: http://www.behance.net/ajudy13 where I post my published work. And you can always follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/judyblackcloud