What inspires you to write?
I’ve always felt the need for expression. When you’re young and not sure who understands you or whether you even understand you, there is writing. It allowed me to digest the emotions I struggled with and gave me an outlet to be creative at the same time. Writing allowed me to say things in print I never would have had the strength to tell someone else. So, to be more concise, writing allows me to be courageous. It allows me to take inspiration from the emotions brought on by the journey of love and loss.
What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject/genre that isn’t so?
When people think of poetry, they have a preconceived notion that it’s all about I love you’s, outdated metaphors and dead as a genre. I’d challenge that and say that poetry is even more relevant today. In a society where people are struggling financially, emotionally and with political unrest, this is a perfect time for poetry. Poetry has a long history of challenging social norms, calling for political reform, and delving into the emotions people keep hidden because they aren’t sure if there’s anyone else out there like them. For those who think poetry isn’t socially relevant anymore, now is the perfect time to challenge them with a comeback.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer and how does that affect your writing?
This is an interesting question because I don’t know if anyone can actually be a part-time writer. I think once you get the itch to write you begin a writing centric life. You may not write every day, but the ideas and the creativity are there, whether it’s developing characters in your mind to thinking about what a cover may look like someday. Love Letters From Barstow is my latest book, but there is a lot of writing in between. I also spend my time performing freelance articles for several websites as well as some ghostwriting, so I always have something on my plate. Luckily for me, one project does not get in the way of the other. I enjoy writing, period. I’m able to separate my news-based articles from my artist interviews and still have the passion to devote to my books.
Do you have a special time to write, or how is your day structured to accommodate your writing?
I’ve been asked this question a lot over the years and I have to say my process is a little manic. There are times that I dedicate to working out new ideas to see if they fit creatively into a project, but I have this need to write all the time. My office is filled with pieces of paper with scribbled ideas. Everything from old receipts, to napkins and old notebooks filled with ideas or lines that I found exciting. They can come at random times so I keep something to write on everywhere I go. I sometimes record lines and ideas into my phone, but it doesn’t have the same feeling of writing it on paper and being able to hold them in my hand. I will say though in my younger years I would write at all hours of the night and felt more creative the later it got. Now that I’m a little older, I appreciate the daylight hours and how they give me a little more clarity in how I organize my writings.
Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?
My latest book, Love Letters From Barstow, is a book of modern poetry heavily influenced by “Beat Movement” and has flairs of Bukowski influence. This book explores all aspects of love, while reminding others of the hope and resilience needed to navigate through complicated relationships and the pain of heartache. Figuratively illustrated by the long, lonely road from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Love Letters from Barstow shares empowering poems that reflect on love, heartbreak, and one man’s limitations.
What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing this book?
In 2012 I released my debut effort, Wylde Serenity, a collection of poems that I had been curating since the 1990’s. I guess I was waiting to find the courage to really do something with them. It was released independently and I was shocked how it resonated with people and the amount of sales it generated internationally. After that, I really felt I had accomplished all I needed to in that style. I spent the next ten years or so writing for websites, doing artist interviews and ghost writing for others. Then one day I was walking through this bookstore and had this incredible flutter in my heart, and I told my wife I thought I had more to say and that I knew there was another book in my heart. I began writing that afternoon and spent the next year putting together what would become Love Letters From Barstow. During that time, I couldn’t escape my own need to be a writer again. My heart just had something to say.
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
When I sat down to write Love Letters From Barstow, I had a lot of trepidation. I had anxiety over everything. Would this measure up to my previous work? Would anyone still be interested in me? Would what I had to say matter to anyone? I guess you could say there were times where the voices in my head won the argument, and I retreated from writing. It was about that time I reread Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast Of Champions. I can honestly say investing the time to reset and reliving that book opened me up creatively again. Vonnegut’s abstract ideas and fight for creativity gave me the courage to write again.
Who is your favorite fictional character and why?
Atticus Finch is my favorite fictional character by far. Reading To Kill A Mockingbird will always be one of the greatest joys of my life. For those in life who had disappointment at home, Atticus was the guiding light of what a father should be. His love and dedication to his children, and the idea of doing the right thing even when in the minority was heroic. Atticus gave me the blueprint of being a father and I’ll always be grateful to Harper Lee for that.
If there was one thing you could do to change the world, what would it be?
This is a great question, but I think my answer is going to be a little different than some may think. The easy answer is to say something that will accomplish world peace, but I have a passion I wish others would take an interest in. I’d love to do something that would encourage people to become more involved with their public libraries. Growing up in Southern California, I was completely in love with spending time at the Fullerton and Buena Park public libraries. It was a world that let me feel creative and gave me peace when there was little at home. I’d love to be able to share that feeling with young people. To this day I spend a lot of my time advocating for local libraries and giving back whenever I can. I love sharing my love for local libraries and what they can offer to the community.
Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?
I’ve been heavily influenced by the “Beat Movement” of the 1950’s. I always have appreciated the way they redefined writing and what art was meant to be. They were able to marry both literature and a cultural shift in society to broaden minds. That entire style can be traced back to Columbia University but not necessarily as an academic art form, but something more in the vein of anti-conservatism. Reading On The Road for the first time as a teen just opened up my eyes to a world of adventure and freedom. As I began to discover more I fell in love with Allen Ginsberg. He’s not just about the sensationalism of Howl, but he can be political and introspective like in his poem, America. Then later stumbling on the works of Hermann Hesse and Charles Bukowski, I began shaping who I would become as a writer and a thinker.
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