- What’s your favorite thing about writing?
My favorite thing about writing is its capacity to defy my intentions and take me somewhere unexpected.
- How often do you get new ideas? A thousand a second, or every 12 years when the moon is full and the stars align?
I rarely get ideas at all, but I gather input (words, sound associations, images, and juxtapositions) all the time. When I play around with those raw materials, sometimes their friction sparks an idea.
- Who is your favorite author that you don’t know personally? Who is your favorite author that you do know personally?
Favorite author(s) I don’t know personally: Toni Morrison, Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood.
Favorite author I do know personally: Denis Johnson, who just passed away. I didn’t know him well, but I feel lucky to have met him.
- What is your most re-read book, if any, and why?
The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, because her words are endlessly electric and resonant and mysterious.
- What kind or creative rituals or patterns do you have?
I think following “phonic echoes” (rhyme, word play, etcetera) is its own creative ritual and pattern, and it’s the one I use the most.
Bonus question: If the last thought you had last night before falling asleep was an animal, what would it be?
A little noisy monkey.
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Now that the 4th is over, get ready for the next exciting thing – Writers & Words, July 11th at Charmingtons! Yes, Writers & Words is as exciting as fireworks. You don’t need to believe me, come out on Tuesday and see for yourself.
