My Writing Process/Blog Tour

So thrilled to be back on my blog after a long hiatus, and that fact requires a major obrigada/gracias to my compañera, the mighty Rosebud Ben Oni for inviting me to participate in the writing process blog tour.  She remains the cat who knows where it's at. Without further ado, the four questions that need answering.

What are you working on?

What I'm working on changes daily, and that too needs to change. But currently,  I'm devotedly finishing edits to my play, The Widows of Whitechapel, redrafting a novel manuscript (that is  an unholy child which I sometimes wonder if I must forever carry and never birth), then finishing a short story collection, and collaborating on a graphic novel with artist Matthew Schultz. Then there’s poetry. But I don’t want to talk about that right now. I do not recommend this schedule but it's mine, so until further notice, read how Juno Diaz describes becoming a writer. 

How does your work differ from others in your genre? 

That's tricky, but I can say that my writing is situated at the crossroad of the grotesque, where hybridity and transformation are always at play, where beauty and violence intersect. That is what I know life to be and my best work turns that creature loose on itself. 

Why do you write what you do?

I write what I do because it's mine. Because I am trying to breathe in this world, and writing my stories, my voices, those authentic to me is the only way I know to fill my lungs. I believe the voices that come to me are essential stories and I try not to fail them. With that said, I'd rather fail miserably  at writing well than be in any other fight. Even if I’m getting the shit knocked out of me on the regular. Devoting my heart to anything less than my authentic voice is pretense.

What is your writing process?

My writing process is basically months of very organized early morning writing, followed by months of complete and utter terror and disorganization, lost files, teaching, grading etc. Rinse and repeat. Procrastination thy name is Sayre Baptista. However, I try to write something every day, and if I go more than a few days without writing, I will cut someone, and swiftly. My mantra?Write brave. Write often. Write home to your parents on occasions other than, I need money.

One of the great blessings of being a writer is the fellowship of others creative minds, so please watch next Monday, July 7th for two of my very favorites, two gentlemen you must read and follow on twitter...

 A.D Carson is a Writer-Rapper-Poet-Student-Teacher-Person. He is the author of a novel, COLD, and The City: [un]poems, thoughts, rhymes & miscellany and hear him rap right here.

Jim Warner's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals including The North American Review, [PANK] Magazine, Drunken Boat, The Minnesota Review, Midwestern Gothic, and is the author of two collections Too Bad It's Poetry and Social Studies (PaperKite Press). Currently, Jim is the Managing Editor of Quiddity housed by Benedictine University at Springfield, and writes the weekly column Best Worst Year for SunDog Lit.