Field Recordings

Field Recordings welcomes Scholastic Press' Jeff Hirsch , who is currently blog touring in support of The Darkest Path. You can read my review of The Darkest Path here , originally published by The Broadkill Review. Jeff Hirsch Most recent title published: The Darkest Path Love that Cal is a dog catcher in the first act, how that shows us how dehumanized he is. Couple that with the brutal way he is beaten, and we start off with a hero who doesn't have a chance. You put him through the wringer. He continues to go through the wringer. What were you thinking in terms of heroic feats with this young man? Well, the most important thing to me is that he wasn’t a hero, at least not at the beginning. I think Cal’s just a kid who wants to get back home and is willing to do whatever it takes to get there. In a way he’s as much of a fanatic as anyone in the Path, in that this single desire overrides everything else in his life. I think his journey is about moving away from sel...

Field Recordings welcomes Broadkill poet, Nina Bennett to the internet wilds. Nina shares the same small press home as I do, the very kind and suave Broadkill Press, an imprint of The Broadkill River Press, and The Broadkill Review. Nina's launching her book on Sunday Sep 29 at the Arden Craft Shop Museum, in Arden DE, from 1-4. As usual links are peppered throughout. Nina is also a member of a writing group, which has a home here. Name: Nina Bennett Pen Name: N/A Most recent title published: Sound Effects Where do you write? Most of my writing starts in a spiral-bound notebook before it gets anywhere near the computer. I find it easier to write at home than at a local coffee shop. I do a great deal of writing when I am out of town-hotel rooms and airports. I’ve been known to write on napkins in bars. What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc) Music-60s rock. Describe your writing process: Most drafts start in my head,...

Field Recordings welcomes Shea Garvin to the internet wilds. Shea and I share a small press publisher, The Broadkill Press, and his newest, Where Night Comes From, is one of the Key Poetry Series chapbooks published this summer. Name: Shea Garvin Pen Name: The same Most recent title: Where Night Comes From Where do you write? Everywhere. Bars, Campsites, Airports. I do the revisions at home . How do you classify yourself as a poet? I don't tend to think in those terms, categorizing. If I was to pick , it would be lyrically surreal and brutally romantic. The contemporary American "mode" is elegy, where do you find yourself w/r/t to this "tradition"? I do find myself writing about death quite a bit , its a matter of fact sort of thing with me. I mean , we all die and spend vastly more time dead than alive so of course its something to explore. Do you have any rituals when it comes to writing? Black ink. I can't seem to turn a phrase with a blu...

Vargus Pike is the author of April Songs, a collection inspired by National Poetry Month. Many writers write a poem a day in April to celebrate their craft. As usual, links to his work is throughout. Thanks for seeking us out. Name: Vargus Pike Pen Name: Vargus Pike Most recent title published: April Song Where do you write? A:Often like Marat I prefer the tub, at other times I write while driving or walking using a recorder, sometimes too I sit in front of the television and completely ignore it while I work. What kind of poetic tradition do you see yourself coming from? (lyric, surrealism, realism, etc) A:Difficult to say. My poetry much like my life has gone through phases. There was a time when I preferred realism to lyricism. There was a surreal phase. Now I just write what I feel and do not worry so much about form. The subject matter and the mood tell me what to write The contemporary American "form" is elegy. How do you see your work fitting into that ...

Field Recordings welcomes poet Maja Dezulovic to the internet wilds. Links lie throughout. The fall approaches. Name: Maja Dezulovic Pen Name: I use my real name. Most recent title published: The 360 Degree Heart Where do you write? I write at home mostly. What are your rituals with regards to writing? I like listening to music or reading first for inspiration. Sometimes writing spurts come after a long journey or trip. Describe your writing process : I start by jotting down ideas. Those ideas or keywords then become whole phrases, which turn into poems. The poems then become the basis for short stories or novels. What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process? I look to see if my writing flows naturally and logically. That is, how does it sound like when read aloud? I believe that good writing has musical aspects to it. I change the flow by rearranging paragraphs and sentences. Then I look for any spelling o...

Field Recordings welcomes Adam Gianforcaro to the internet wilds.n His newest book is available via Aldrich Press. As usual, links to his work is peppered throughout. Name: Adam Gianforcaro Most recent title published: Morning Time in the Household, Looking Out published through Aldrich Press. Where do you write? If poetry, I usually draft in my moleskin that I keep in my pocket or on my cellphone, then I revise and flesh it out later. If fiction, I usually write while lounging on the couch. What are your rituals with regards to writing I actually don’t have any rituals. Describe your writing process: 1) Open laptop; 2) Write; 3) Revise; 4) Revise; 5) More revision; 6) Send it away; 7) Wish I revised more. What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process? As soon as I finish my first draft, I automatically think that whatever slop I had written is the best piece I’ve ever created. Upon first read-through, though, I thin...

Field Recordings welcomes Mid-Atlantic author, Franetta McMillian to the internet wilds. I have had the pleasure of reviewing her debut novel for the Broadkill Review, a bi-monthly pdf literary journal out of Milton, DE. I'll post my review of the novel when the print and email version are available, but I will say that her debut work is fascinating. The novel, a collection of connected tales in an America ravaged by toxins, social poisons, and a caste system, is worth the read. McMillian's subject matter goes beyond the usual sci-fi entertainment. She's an author with something to say and a format to say it in. Links to McMillian's work is peppered throughout, including some poetry . Indie Author Spotlight: Name: Franetta McMillian Pen Names : Marta West, Bloody Mary's Cool Sister, Nezzra O' Possum Most recent title published: Love in the Time of Unraveling Where do you write? Between my day job and family obligations (I'm one of the care...

Field Recordings welcomes YA fantasy author, blogger, and twitter addict S.M. Boyce to the internet wilds. Links to connect with S.M.Boyce are scattered throughout the interview. A bit about her fantasy world is at the bottom for you lovers of fantasy. Name: S. M. Boyce Most recent title published: Treason (Grimoire Saga #2) Where do you write? My office desk, surrounded by my books. What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc) I listen to a "trigger song" that gets me into the mood & mindset of the series I'm writing. The Grimoire Saga's trigger song is Unstoppable by E. S. Posthumus. Describe your writing process. I'm a plotter, which means I need to have a solid outline before I dive into a series. It helps me focus my attention on the story instead of what's coming next. What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process? Actually, my husband and...

Field Recordings welcomes Tad Richards , the celebrated poet, painter, and artistic director of Opus 40 , a sculpture park in Saugerties, New York. Richards work stretches back to the 1960s and has written a variety of work in a variety of fields. You can read more about Tad Richards career here and connect with Tad Richards here . Name: Tad Richards Pen Name : Same Most recent title published : Fiction – Nick and Jake (Arcade Books), poetry – Take Five: Poems in 5/4 Time (eFitzgerald e-publishers) Where do you write? I can’t stay in 0ne place. I move around, sometimes within the space of a single peom. What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc) Hard to imagine writing without coffee. And I must have a pen that I really like – a Micron, a Tech-Liner, or failing that an ultra-thin Sharpie or a Pilot Precise. Describe your writing process: I start in longhand in 6x9 sketchbook. Every time I come to a halt (this is poetry ...

Field Recordings welcomes poet and indie author Joan Colby to the internet wilds. By “indie” Field Recordings means independent: working with small and regional presses, smaller imprints of large publishing houses, self-published, and e-published. Name: Joan Colby Most recent title published: Selected Poems Where do you write? Anywhere and everywhere. What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc ) I don’t have rituals, unless writing first drafts in longhand qualifies. Describe your writing process: As I mention above, I write in longhand. When an idea or image comes into my head, I try to write it down before it can escape into the ether. What do you when you begin to revise? What's the first thing you do during that process? I revise as I write. My drafts are covered with cross-outs, scribbles, insertions, etc. When I have something that seems finished, I type it into my computer. I may then have up to 5-6 additional versi...

Field Recordings welcomes Southern poet Anthony Watkins to the internet wilds. Watkins has published poems in Poetry Super Highway, Stellar Showcase of Canada, and has written papers for the Treasure Coast of Florida. Most recently he was the Poetry! Goodreads Group Poet of the month. Name: Anthony Watkins Pen Name: Anthony Watkins Most recent title published: My most recent collection of poems was Warm Enough for Ice Cream (2011) Lemonade Press Where do you write? In my Wingback chair, on my third or 4th one by now. For the longest I almost exclusively wrote while driving. Yeah, I know, but that is what I did, and I drove a lot, so I had lots of time to write. I couldn’t begin to write on a computer. I would have to retype everything, and my hand writing is so terrible if I didn’t rewrite it in a day or two it was lost, because I couldn’t read it. Somewhere, I think it was while I was writing my first novel, currently and probably forever unpublished, I realized I had to...

Field Recordings welcomes poet and author, Ruth Bavetta , to the internet wilds. Bavetta's work has appeared in dozens of journals and literary reviews. Bavetta has a new book of ekphrastic poetry (one of my fav modes of composition) out, Fugitive Pigments, and two new books forthcoming from Moontide Press and Tebot Bach, respectively. Links to Ruth Bavetta's work can be found throughout. Happy exploring. Name: Ruth Bavetta Pen Name: Ruth Bavetta Most recent title published: Fugitive Pigments , a book of poems about art and other poems that resonate with them, published by FutureCycle Press . I was a professional artist for years before I started writing poetry. In this book I bring together the worlds of poetry and art. These are ekphrastic poems, instructive poems, poems riffing off the principles of art—the art of living, of shading, perspective, colors; how to create an exquisite corpse, and what one should know about shadows. I speak in the voice of Joseph ...

Field Recordings welcomes New Englander, freelance editor and writer, M.W. McKay, to the internet wilds. You can connect with McKay throughout the feature. McKay has even teased us with a poem towards the end of the interview. Please take some time and explore. Name: Margaret Eckman Pen Name: M. W. MacKay Most recent title published: Hope Runs Through It , published by Four Square Press (foursquarepress.com) Where do you write? I write at my desk, in my office. Boring, I know, but it’s a place I associate with work (I’m a freelance editor), so I can make myself get down to writing. I think of ideas for poems all over the place; the trick is to remember those ideas while they’re fresh enough so I know what kind of thing I want to write about, and then to make myself actually sit down and write. What are your rituals with regards to writing (ex: Must have tea, a cat on the lap, etc): I don’t have much in the way of rituals. If a poem is coming on strong, I try to write ...