Monday, February 28, 2022

TBR: Share the Wealth by Maureen Thorson

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.

   


We don’t expect an elevator pitch from a poet, but can you tell us about your work in 2-3 sentences?

 

Share the Wealth is a funny-dark exploration of the interplay of luck and abundance. Life is constantly throwing us curveballs – sometimes delightful ones, and sometimes totally crappy ones. These poems try to find the beauty in the world’s both uncertainty and its too-muchness.

 

What boundaries did you break in the writing of this book? Where does that sort of courage come from?

 

Before writing this book, most of my work was in series. My first two books were of poems all drafted around a single idea or theme, and with specific formal restraints. When I started writing the poems that became Share the Wealth, I focused on trying to recover my ability to write poems that would stand up on their own. Ironically, I think that writing a book-length poem or series is for many people far more unusual or intimidating a project than trying to organize singly-written poems into a coherent manuscript. For me, it was the opposite. And of course, when I actually did start organizing all of my “one-and-done” poems into a book, I found that many of them did touch on similar ideas or themes even if I wasn’t consciously aware of the connections when each poem was written.     

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

Share the Wealth went through what I think is probably a very familiar road to publication, at least for books of poems: seemingly endless submissions to contests and open readings! And all the while, revisions. I took poems out, I put others in, I rejiggered the ordering, I line-edited the individual poems.

 

The lows of the contest/open-reading process are well-known. With many presses and contests charging submission fees, it can feel like you are spending a lot of money without knowing if your manuscript is being taken at all seriously. Some contests don’t even notify submitters of the eventual results. When you’ve been submitting a manuscript for a long time without getting any traction, it’s easy to get discouraged.

 

But when a manuscript does get picked up by a press, oh, what a feeling! I actually had to sort of sit with Veliz Books’ acceptance of Share the Wealth for a few days before responding. I kept reopening my inbox, sure that the acceptance email would have disappeared in a puff of internet smoke. 

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

I’m a big fan of trying to write every day. Not that I take my own advice – not all the year-long anyway. But several times annually, I set myself month-long challenges where I draft a poem every day. I typically spend the first seven days or so writing a lot of very obvious poems, after which I run out of “normal” ideas and the very weird and interesting stuff starts coming out.  

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

The inspirational value of snow. I started writing the poems that became Share the Wealth after moving to Maine. Before that, I’d lived almost my whole life south of the Mason-Dixon line, in areas where any snow that does fall melts quickly. Here, not only does it snow a lot, it keeps piling up until spring. But the landscape doesn’t feel bare, somehow. Winter in Maine is at least as lush as summer, in a funhouse mirror kind of way.

 

How do you approach revision?

 

I approach revision . . . slowly. My first draft of a poem is often 90% of the way there, and then I spend 90% of the total time working on the other 10%. Often, the part that is trickiest for me is the ending, and especially trying to resist an ending that is too pat and tied-up. There are at least two poems in the book for which I only was able to find the final lines two or three years after drafting the rest of the poem – which remained unchanged.

 

I also revise in small doses at a time. I rarely sit down and try to do a wholesale re-write of a poem. It’s more like having a jigsaw puzzle where you try to slot in one of the loose pieces every time you walk by, rather than sitting down and doing the whole puzzle at once.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

There’s a lot of food in the book, particularly fruit. While there’s a pear on the cover, I cook more often with apples. So, here’s a recipe for one of the easiest and best apple cakes I know: https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/01/apple-sharlotka/

 

*****  

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://www.maureenthorson.com

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: https://veliz-books.square.site/product/share-the-wealth-by-maureen-thorson/58?cs=true&cst=custom

 

READ A POEM, “Beautiful Now”: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753667/pdf

 

 

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

TBR: The Gleaming of the Blade by Christian J. Collier

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.

 


We don’t expect an elevator pitch from a poet, but can you tell us about your work in 2-3 sentences?

 

In my opinion, my work is interested in intimacy and interrogation. My work tends to focus on exploring the parameters of a subject in a way that both involves the body and the world beyond it.

 

What boundaries did you break in the writing of this book? Where does that sort of courage come from?

 

I don’t know if I really have any boundaries when it comes to my creative work. If anything, I’m interested in granting myself more permissions and possibilities to work with, so I think that’s a more apt lens.

 

My friend Donna Spruijt-Metz attended a workshop with Patricia Smith a few years ago and told me about some of the rules Patricia uses when writing and revising, and I thought that was a great way to set one’s table, so to speak. As a result, when I committed to revising the manuscript before sending it out into the world again, I had established a set of rules to follow: each piece had to have a degree of risk, something I didn’t originally expect to say, and I wanted to allow myself to be a little bit dangerous to get at some truths.

 

I think that freedom comes from an amalgamation of the people I’m both influenced and raised by. One of the phenomenal things about being inspired by someone else is it grants you certain freedoms to try different things. A large part of my life has been populated by artists who aren’t timid, and I didn’t want the work in this project to shy away from the ways it interrogated race, the South, etc.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

I think the lowest part of the book’s journey to becoming a book was before it received the Editors’ Selection from the 2021 Frost Place Chapbook Competition. There’ve been several times prior to this year that I felt close to having the manuscript in a place where it made a cohesive statement and seemed fully formed, and I’ve later realized that I was wrong. The manuscript was a finalist for another competition prior to it being accepted by Bull City, and in that span of time, I felt a little discouraged. One of the things I worry about artistically is if what I’m making is really hitting the marks I want, and even though I’m certainly not new to rejection, from time to time, it does take the wind out of the sails.

 

As for the highs, they keep coming. I’ve been stunningly blessed over and over this entire time. Bull City has been one of my dream presses for ages, so the fact that Noah and Ross loved the book and wanted to help bring it into the world means a great deal. Having Dr. Destiny O. Birdsong, Charif Shanahan, and Bao Phi blurb the book is an honor. Nate Austin agreeing to let us use his incredible artwork for the cover is amazing. I think, to try to tie it all up in a relatively succinct fashion, the people who’ve blessed and continue to bless the book and me with their time, attention, enthusiasm, etc. is the ultimate high though.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

For the past few years, my favorite piece of writing advice has been to write into surprise. I don’t write in a linear fashion anymore. Most of the time, I’m initially just putting things down and moving words and sentences around to try to find patterns that sound interesting. From there, I’ll continue moving things around until, eventually, I find a way into and through a poem that I wouldn’t have found had I been trying to actively dictate where it was going. It’s a very brain off/ instinct on kind of affair, which I enjoy because it keeps my internal editor out of the equation until he’s needed.

 

There’s a saying that if there’s no surprise for the writer, there’ll be no surprise for the reader, and I believe that. Working in this method has allowed me to write from a place of surprise every time, because I don’t know and can’t anticipate where the poem is going or what it wants to say for much of the process. It’s also allowed for way more interesting poems, too.

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

So much surprised me about the way this book took shape. I have a bit of distance now that’s allowed me to see the book in a different light. I’m sure my answer will change (which is a good thing! It means I’m finding new surprises), but right now, I realize how much of the finished product came from completely new poems. A few poems in the initial version of the manuscript had to be cut, and I was asked about other work that we could consider. I’m not a writer who has an abundance of pieces, and I tend to work more with a particular theme or project in mind, but four pieces I either envisioned for something completely different or hadn’t considered being in the collection at all ended up being added. Without those poems, I think the book misses something vital, so I’m very pleasantly surprised by just how much they add that I never realized earlier.

 

What was your experience ordering these poems?

 

I used the same methods for ordering the version of the manuscript Bull City accepted and the one in that appears in the final book version. When we decided to cut a few pieces and add others, what the book was saying and how it was saying it changed a little bit.

 

I like playing music that captures the tone of the work and just being surrounded by it. When I ordered the poems the last time, I had Kris Funn & CornerStore’s version of “Who They Wish I Was” by Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah on repeat. I laid out all the poems and a few maybes around the apartment and went to work. I know it’s common for poets to try to put the strongest poem first in a collection, but I like poems that introduce you to a world to kick things off, too. From the very beginning, the first poem in the chapbook sets the tone, and I love that.

 

Also, I implemented the last line-first line strategy where I’d look at where a poem ended and see how it worked with the first line of the next poem. I think, because of that, the chapbook kind of feels like a conversation or one big piece, and that interests me. It feels more like a concept album to me than, say, a mixtape, if that makes sense.

  

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book?

 

This is an amazing question! I wish there were some foods associated with the book. I can definitely recommend some alcoholic drinks that would pair well with reading the book as well as some musical selections though.

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: Christian J. Collier (christianjcollier.com)

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: The Gleaming of the Blade by Christian J. Collier – Bull City Press

 

READ A POEM, “When My Days Fill with Ghosts”:  http://haydensferryreview.com/christian-colliers-when-my-days-fill-with-ghosts

Monday, February 14, 2022

TBR: Subtexts by Dan Brady

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.

 


We don’t expect an elevator pitch from a poet, but can you tell us about your work in 2-3 sentences?

 

At its core, Subtexts is about what we say and what is contained within what we say, how language reveals and distorts meaning, and what we miss in our communication. It explores a new, modified erasure form that assembles and disassembles the same text to reveal layers of narrative, intention, and new perspectives.

 

What boundaries did you break in the writing of this book? Where does that sort of courage come from?

 

I was trying to explore the physical space of a poem on the page. I asked myself how I could create a three dimensional poem. That was the question that got me going. I don’t think it took much courage, just curiosity. I think of these poems as “experimental” in the sense that they’re introducing a new element to an existing equation and seeing how the outcomes are altered.

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

I had been submitting an earlier version of this book off and on for awhile and never got anywhere with it. When my first book, Strange Children, came out in 2018 with Publishing Genius, I really enjoyed working with Adam Robinson, who runs the press, and I asked if he’d be interested in taking a look at this other project I’ve been working on. He did and he liked it. That’s how we got here.

 

In a way, that’s the story of most books, I think—years and years of rejection, but then you find the right person or people to help bring it into the world. It can take a long time and each time is different. It’s kind of mystical in away. Like climbing a mountain.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

There is no secret. Just keep going.

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

Once I figured out that I’d be using erasure methods as a starting point, I was surprised by how many variations I was able to come up with: poems that build, poems that decay, poems that come in and out, poems compacted, etc. I still think there’s a lot more to explore here and I hope others will take this up. I’m teaching a few workshops after the book release to show people how I approached things.

 

Who is your ideal reader?

 

I tend to think that my ideal reader is someone who is pretty well-versed in contemporary poetry, but I’ve been surprised at readings that it’s people’s non-poetry friends or parents who are like, “Wow, that’s really cool!”

 

These poems have a strong visual element to them and an intricate repetition that I think gives people new to poetry something to grab onto and they seem to really like where the poems take them from there.

 

Inquiring foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? (Any recipes I might share?)

 

The poem “Cabin Fever” is based on the February 2010 snowstorm (Snowmageddon!) that shut down the DC area for over a week. I mention how every day we drank mimosas and strong black coffee, which is true! It’s all true. But I also mention a big pot of chili. I like to make a version based on the chili at Clyde’s, which has a certain sweetness to it because there is an unbelievable amount of chili powder in it. Before making this, I never realized that chili powder is sweet!

 https://www.food.com/recipe/clydes-famous-chili-153157

 

 

READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.danbrady.org

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: www.publishinggenius.com

 

WATCH A VIDEO EXCERPT, “The Deep and Narrow Night”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl29JGal1aM

 

 

Monday, February 7, 2022

TBR: Hollows by Tommy Dean

 

TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and from time to time, a recipe.

 


Give us your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?

 

In these 45 flash fictions, you’ll find the last two people on Earth, wondering if love or ramen will keep them both alive; two brothers racing the clock of the millennium, as they consider their fear for the future; a son trying to convince his father to abandon a decrepit house while the father demands to die among his things. These stories thrum with the electricity of wonder, challenged by the open wounds of love for parents, of desire to strike out in a world without reason or guidepost, threatening to harden players into their desperate natures. Clear and urgent prose unites reader and character as they travel down dark and shaky paths toward the fading light.

 

Which story did you most enjoy writing? Why? And, which story gave you the most trouble, and why?

 

“You’ve Stopped” is one of those miraculous stories that I was able to write in thirty minutes and only changed the last line through the advice of Kim Magowan, who published it first in Pithead Chapel. The voice of that first line just invited me directly into this hot spot moment for these characters. Not sure this has happened so perfectly again.

 

“Three Boys in the Woods” was one of the hardest stories to write because I feel like I was trying to write a novel in flash, and that this story isn’t quite done yet in that there’s so more I’d love to explore about these characters and the events that lead up to the hot spot of this story!

 

Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.

 

One of the hardest things about trying to publish a story collection, especially a collection of flash is that you never know when it's done. There’s this desire and a normality of publishing a chapbook or multiple chapbooks for flash. But I wanted something that felt more like a full collection. Ten years of indecision, constantly putting stories in and taking stories out, all to create the best cohesive collection. Then the process of publishing a collection or chapbook with a small press usually involves submitting to contests, which not only usually have fees to keep the publisher going, but also long waits. Publishing is often a game of numbers and attrition even when the writing is really good.

 

What’s your favorite piece of writing advice?

 

"When you reach a place where you feel blocked, lower your standards and keep on going. There is no possible way to do permanent damage to a piece of writing. You cannot ruin it. You can only make it a little better a little at a time.” ― Richard Bausch

 

My favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of this book?

 

I was surprised by the connections in the stories, how they feel like they belong together even though I wrote them over a ten-year period. How the themes repeated much conscious thought or planning on my part. I rarely thought about specific themes or characters, but my subconscious brought me back to these obsessions.

 

Who is your ideal reader?

 

My ideal reader is someone who loves to be immersed in small moments in characters lives, who likes to make inferences and judgments about the characters based on the character’s actions. I love reader’s who want to feel as if they are in the world with the character, that they can feel themselves being empathetic toward the character.

  ****

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WRITER: www.tommydeanwriter.com

 

 

ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR OWN TBR STACK: https://altcurrent.square.site/product/hollows-flash-stories-by-tommy-dean/43?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

 

 

READ A STORY FROM THIS BOOK, “Candy: A Teenage Gospel”: https://lascauxreview.com/candy-teenage-gospel/

 

 

 

Work-in-Progress

DC-area author Leslie Pietrzyk explores the creative process and all things literary.