Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Sunday, August 15, 2021

FEATURED AUTHOR: CONSTANTINE DHONAU

 



ABOUT THE BOOK


The Argonauts (Nelson) meets See A Grown Man Cry/Now Watch Him Die (Rollins) in this raw & rattling Memoir-meets-Chapbook spanning more than 10 years of writing! Rummagings of journals, shoebox scraps, forgotten notes, and letters to loved ones come together to tell one writer's coming-of-age and his quest for unconditional self-love by dissecting his darkness. Each one-year chapter explores love, regret, identity, existence, ambition, depression, and the insanity of it all, neatly coming to a close with Constantine Dhonau's fireside banter of contextual backstory for each chapter.

Book Details

Title: Collateral Inentions

Author: Constantine Dhonau

Genre: memoir, poetry

Published: June 1, 2021

Print length: 220 pages




LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH CONSTANTINE DHONAU


A few of your favorite things: bathrobe, slippers.

Things you need to throw out: bathrobe, slippers.

Things you need in order to write: space.

Things that hamper your writing: self-criticism.

Things you love about writing: clearing my head.

Things you hate about writing: overthinking it after the fact.

Easiest thing about being a writer: sharing an experience.

Hardest thing about being a writer: a blank page.

Things you love about where you live: enormous mountains.

Things that make you want to move: small town dating pool.

Things you never want to run out of: gratitude, hope, choice.

Things you wish you’d never bought: meme stocks.

Words that describe you: sharp, gritty, quiet, loud, observant, pointed, driven.

Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: stoic, lax, lazy, critical.

Favorite foods: mangoes, pistachio & dark chocolate chip ice cream, Rueben sandwiches.

Things that make you want to throw up: cheese, anchovies & whipped cream.

Favorite music or song: punk, EDM, rap.

Music that make your ears bleed: jam bands.

Favorite smell: exhaust from the dryer.

Something that makes you hold your nose: freshly-emptied alley dumpsters.

Something you’re really good at: keeping quiet.

Something you’re really bad at: keeping quiet.

Something you wish you could do: teleport.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: procrastinate.

Something you like to do: walk.

Something you wish you’d never done: made up somebody else’s mind for them.

Last best thing you ate: fruit smoothie.

Last thing you regret eating: too much ice cream.

Things you’d walk a mile for: the hell of it.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: rescuey, motherly tones.

Things you always put in your books: notes in the margins.
Things you never put in your books: proper bookmarks.

Things to say to an author: “I like (specific detail/part) in your book.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “that’s deep.”

Favorite places you’ve been: Spain, Redwood Forest, Alaska.

Places you never want to go to again: L.A.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: jumped out of a plane solo.

Something you chickened out from doing: asking her out.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Constantine was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and raised by his mother and his aunt, with the help of several formative programs: Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venture Crew, and Sea Scouts. He spent 3 years as the front man for a Tampa ska/punk band: H1N1. After overcoming blind rebellion against "the system," he attended St. Petersburg College for his Associate of Arts, followed by New College of Florida for his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He made his initial escape to Colorado in 2015—degrees in-hand—in search of his independence, dedicating a year of service to City Year Denver of AmeriCorps. There, he discovered a new passion and direction in life: wilderness therapy. He pursued his first and only dream and vision in life with ferocity to become a field guide with Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, completing nearly 550 days in the field. He enjoys writing, tea, cooking, brooding, dancing, yoga, astronomy, reprehensibly long walks, movies, being outdoors, etc. & suchforth.

Connect with Constantine:

Blog   |  Goodreads  

 

Buy the book
Amazon

Saturday, March 6, 2021

FEATURED AUTHORS: CENDRINE MARROUAT & DAVID ELLIS


 

ABOUT THE BOOK


The medium of limitless possibilities that is photography has been with us for almost 200 years.

Despite its great advancements, its early days still influence and dazzle a majority of professional photographers and artists. Such is the case of Cendrine Marrouat, Hadiya Ali, and David Ellis, three members of the PoArtMo Collective.

The result? Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography. This unique collection of artistic styles brings together different innovative concepts of both gripping writing and stunning visual imagery.

In the first part of the book, photographer and painter Ali introduces us to two of her favorite photographers by reimagining and recreating images in the nature of her photographic idols — Irving Penn and Karl Blossfeldt.

In the second part, photographer, poet, and author Marrouat shares a selection of her reminigrams, a digital style that she personally created to honor and pay homage to the early days of photography.

Author and poet Ellis rounds things off with a series of pareiku poems (the poetry form he co-created with Marrouat), offering fresh outlooks for his sincere, heartfelt adoration of photography of the past.

A fascinating and compelling book, Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography will leave you with a deep sense of appreciation and a greater understanding of photography.

PoArtMo Collective is a gathering of inspirational artists, writers, and photographers that combine their talents to produce positive, mixed media projects that stimulate the minds of the people who delve into them.





INTERVIEW WITH CENDRINE MARROUAT AND DAVID ELLIS




1. What is your book, Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography, about, and why did you decide to publish it?


Cendrine Marrouat: Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography is PoArtMo Collective’s new book. As the title indicates, this co-authored project (authors: Hadiya Ali, David Ellis and Cendrine Marrouat) pays homage to old photography, which has greatly influenced us as artists.

The book is divided into three parts. In part 1, Hadiya has “recreated” the timeless photographic styles of Irving Penn and Karl Blossfeldt. Part 2 features some of my reminigrams, a type of digital image that I created years ago. Finally, in part 3, David shares a series of pareiku poems, our own visual poetry form. Each piece is inspired by archival images.

The beginnings of photography were mostly marked with the documentation of the minutiae of everyday life. Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography looks at that triviality with a refreshed and positive outlook. That’s what makes our project unique and why we wanted to share it with the world.


2. What type of reader do you hope to appeal to with Seizing the Bygone Light: A Tribute to Early Photography?

David Ellis: We hope to capture the attention of a wide variety of readers. The ultimate goal for us when we created this project was to have an amalgamation of artistic influences, along with a blending of visual and written material. You get to appreciate the skills of the photographers of the past and we try to frame that with homage, inspiration and poetic nuance that celebrates the uniqueness of all that is around us.

These frozen-in-time capsules are magnificent in their stature, I sincerely hope that any reader will take the time to have a detailed look and find themselves bathed in magical nostalgia. Perhaps they will be motivated to take pictures in a similar fashion or write poetry themselves and that would be a really wonderful outcome for the book!


3. Tell us about PoArtMo Collective.

Cendrine Marrouat: I co-founded PoArtMo Collective in 2019 with photographer Isabel Nolasco, who left last year.

PoArtMo Collective currently has four members: Hadiya Ali (photography and paintings), David Ellis (poetry), Azelle Elric (drawings), and myself (photography, poetry and digital art).

Despite our diverse backgrounds, we believe that good art is all about memorable storytelling. Our goal is to create and release inspirational, positive and uplifting art and artistic projects, including ebooks.


4. In 2019 you founded Auroras & Blossoms. What is its purpose?


David Ellis: The purpose of Auroras & Blossoms is to provide a platform for positive, inspirational art across a variety of mediums. We are encouraged to share the wonderful gifts that people have submitted to us with people who are keen to be uplifted constantly by the art that they read, write and create. It is through our magazines, anthologies, guides, journals, poetry forms, marketing books, artistic movements, and support of the artistic community that we genuinely hope to bring joy and happiness to people when they need it the most.

Auroras & Blossoms is about everyone, about giving people a chance to express themselves and ultimately about making the world a better place through our art and our utmost respect for it.  

5. How did Auroras & Blossoms come about?

Cendrine Marrouat: In early 2019, David and I were discussing the frustrating process of submitting to magazines and journals. We were getting tired of the way many publications heavily factored an artist's credentials and publishing credits into their selective processes. Further, positivity in the arts was not encouraged enough.

We wanted to change the status quo, so we decided to create a platform that would promote positive, uplifting and inspirational written and visual art; and give artists (ages 13 and over) of all levels a place where they could showcase their work and build their publishing credits.

Auroras & Blossoms officially launched in October 2019 and has grown by leaps and bounds since then. We run a magazine, regular submission calls for anthologies, a monthly show, an artistic movement (PoArtMo), PoArtMo Collective, and a series of guides for authors and artists. We have also created several poetry forms. Also, we pay ongoing royalties to artists whose work has been selected to appear in our magazine and anthologies.


6. What is Auroras & Blossoms looking for in submissions?

David Ellis: We are looking for any material that is positive, uplifting in nature and leaves the reader in a better place than when they first started admiring the art.

Our submission guidelines are extremely detailed and specific, so you will be able to find all of the different art types that we accept in our general submission FAQ.
 
Our anthologies sometimes have specific themes when it comes to submissions, but we will accept any regular submissions that take us on a journey (it can be sad or nostalgic) that winds up giving us a positive overall message.

Finally, I can definitely tell you what we don’t want! We are a family-friendly platform, and do not want any swear words or dirty words. We also do not want any erotica or anything to do with politics.


7. What is included in your Auroras & Blossoms Creative Literary Journal?

David Ellis: In our Auroras & Blossoms Creative Literary Journal, we accept poetry all the time, but we are giving priority to six-word stories, short stories, flash fiction, essays, drawings, paintings, and photography, which we would like to see more of in the future.


8. What is included in your guides and workbooks?

David Ellis: In our guides and workbooks, you can find a myriad of ways to market yourself as an artist, plenty of writing/art prompts to stimulate your creative juices, social media tips and how to improve your own efforts in your given craft too!


9. How did the two of you meet?

Cendrine Marrouat: We met online in the mid-2010s. At the time, I was looking for blogs to promote one of my books. David’s warm and (very) professional response impressed me.

After he had interviewed me for his blog, we stayed in touch and developed a friendship. David has great business ethics and acumen. He is also the best business partner I have ever worked with.

 
10. What’s next for you as a team?

David Ellis: So many things! We would love to recruit more members into our PoArtMo Collective and create artistic projects with them where they can earn royalties and be proud to be associated with fellow artists.

Cendrine & I are constantly looking at new genres for us to be able to release books into. We are both still extremely passionate about our writing and poetry but we want to continue putting our positive, inspirational philosophy out into the art/writing communities in as many different ways that we possibly can!


11. Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you, your site, or your book?

Cendrine Marrouat: David and I have more than three decades of combined experience as authors, writers, artists, and marketers. Our goal has always been to educate and inspire people, as well as encourage artists to create meaningful work.

We believe that Auroras & Blossoms and PoArtMo Collective offer much needed alternatives to many of the online platforms focusing on the “15-minute fame” motto. And we are confident that you will agree.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS


Cendrine Marrouat is a French-born Canadian photographer, poet, and the multi-genre author of more than 30 books. In 2019, she co-founded the PoArtMo Collective with Isabel Nolasco, and Auroras & Blossoms with David Ellis. A year later, Ellis and she launched PoArtMo (Positive Art Month and Positive Art Moves) and created the Kindku / Pareiku, two forms of poetry. Cendrine is also the creator of another poetry form (the Sixku) and a type of digital image (the Reminigram).

Cendrine writes both in French and English and has worked in many different fields in her 17-year career, including translation, language instruction, journalism, art reviews, and social media.


David Ellis lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in the UK. He is an award-winning poet, author of poetry, marketing
workbooks/journals, humourous fiction and music lyrics. He is also a co-author and co-founder of Auroras & Blossoms, and the co-creator of PoArtMo (Positive Art Month and Positive Art Moves) and the Kindku / Pareiku.
David’s debut poetry collection (Life, Sex & Death) won an International Award in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2016 for Inspirational Poetry Books.

David is extremely fond of tea, classic and contemporary poetry, cats, and dogs but not snakes. Indiana Jones is his spirit animal.


Hadiya Ali is a 19-year-old Pakistan-born artist who now lives in Oman. A keen observer of people, she noticed at a very young age how talented market workers were at what they did – but that they seemed unaware of their own talent. So she decided to capture their stories with her camera. Before she knew it, her project had attracted attention and she had been booked for her first professional photoshoots, suddenly realizing that she, too, had been unaware of her own talent all this time.

Hadiya works on projects that capture unique stories and themes. Some of her photography is featured in The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: 2020 Edition.


Connect with the authors:
Website   |  Blog  |   Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  YouTube   |  Goodreads

*Buy the book:
Books2Read

*Book to be released mid-March

TRAILER



Thursday, February 11, 2021

FEATURED AUTHOR: BOBBY JOHNSTON


 

ABOUT THE BOOK


Sinners, saints and saviors collide in Bobby Johnston's stories, which chronicle the savagery and poetry of oppressive Catholic upbringing in 1970s Rust-Belt America. Johnston weaves landscapes of transgression and absolution, humor and resilience into his sharp-eyed tapestry of recall.


Book Details

Title: The Saint I Ain’t: Stories from Sycamore Street

Author: Bobby Johnston

Genre: literary fiction, short story, coming of age, Americana, poetry

Publisher: Fomite Press (January 9, 2021)

Print length: 125 pages






LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH BOBBY JOHNSON


A few of your favorite things: musical instruments, classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles, cats.
Things you need to throw out: anxiety, VHS tapes, used guitar strings.


Things you need in order to write: Macbook Pro, time, space.
Things that hamper your writing: Youtube, musical instruments, anxiety.


Things you love about writing: freedom.
Things you hate about writing: juggling projects in progress.

Easiest thing about being a writer: finding inspiration.

Hardest thing about being a writer: engaging on social media.


Things you love about where you live: Dodgers games, incredible variety of restaurants, weather.
Things that make you want to move: traffic, smog, wildfires, earthquakes.

Things you never want to run out of: new musical instruments, new movies to watch, ideas, time, space, old and new friends.
Things you wish you’d never bought: rental of the film Hillbilly Elegy.

Words that describe you: honest, independent, artistically adventurous, stubborn.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t:
stubborn.

Favorite foods: street tacos, BBQ, Asian cuisine, Buffalo wings, Italian sandwiches, cheese, popcorn.
Things that make you want to throw up: fish.

Favorite music: good music of any genre.
Music that make your ears bleed: bad music of any genre.

Favorite beverage: beer.

Something that gives you a pickle face: milk.

Favorite smell: BBQ.

Something that makes you hold your nose: burnt hair.

Something you’re really good at: composing music. 

Something you’re really bad at: dancing.


Something you wish you could do: dancing.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: worry so much.


Last best thing you ate: Buffalo wings.

Last thing you regret eating: Buffalo wings.

Things you’d walk a mile for: The Buffalo Bills. The Los Angeles Dodgers.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: The New England Patriots. The San Francisco Giants.

Things to say to an author: “I bought the printed version.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “It’s not my cup of tea.”

Favorite places you’ve been: Paris, France. New Orleans, Louisiana.

Places you never want to go to again: Las Vegas, Nevada.

Favorite things to do: spend time with family and friends. Jogging.

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: house cleaning, changing cat litter box.

Best thing you’ve ever done: being a birth partner with my wife.

Biggest mistake: Not trying out for Jeopardy when I was younger.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: publishing this book.
Something you chickened out from doing: learning to dance.

The last thing you did for the first time: bought property.

Something you’ll never do again: ocean diving (sharks).



BOOK TRAILER




ABOUT THE AUTHOR  


Bobby Johnston is a Los Angeles based film composer, multi-instrumentalist, and US Air Force veteran. Bobby’s composer credits include original scores for directors Larry Clark, Laura Gabbert, Stuart Gordon, and Darren Lynn Bousman. Called “A new voice in film” by Film Score Monthly, Johnston broke into the movie industry with an unusual approach to composition; using only acoustic instruments and often performing every instrument himself. In subsequent years, he has accented his process by bringing in many instrumental soloists. Johnston scored the award-winning documentaries City of Gold and Bleed Out (HBO), and his music has been featured extensively on the popular radio program This American Life. The Saint I Ain’t is his first book.




Connect with Bobby:


Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter Goodreads

Buy the book:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

Monday, January 14, 2019

FEATURED AUTHOR: JOE ALBANESE




ABOUT THE BOOK



These poems leave no doubt in our minds that the poet is a great artist and poet by birth. The poet's mastery of words is remarkable and incomparable. All these poems reveal the concrete and artistic expression of the poet's various moods and emotions.


Book Details:

Title: Cocktails with a Dead Man

Author: Joe Albanese

Genre: Poetry Collection

Publisher: Cyberwit.net (Jan 15, 2019)

Print length: 106 pages












LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH JOE ALBANESE


A few of your favorite things: My family. Awww…nothing?
Things you need to throw out: Not throw out, but last week I donated a bunch of books. I got rid of half, but had to hold on to a lot. I need to donate them too.

Things you need in order to write: Time.
Things that hamper your writing: Unwanted noise.

Things you love about writing: You start with nothing, then create an entire world. There are no rules. Well there are, but most of them can be broken.
Things you hate about writing: Once you hit that spot where you have no idea where to go, the work stops. There’s no progress, not even a little. You hope you can claw out of it, and most of the time you do, but you’re never really sure you will.

Easiest thing about being a writer: I make my own hours, so I can get out of social situations by saying I need to do work. It’s a lie, I never work.
Hardest thing about being a writer: No guarantees, but I guess it’s that way with most jobs. Just different.

Things you love about where you live: I get every season. Sometimes too much of a season, but it’s easier to appreciate the nicer days. I live in a small enough town, with Philadelphia only twenty minutes away. So I get a little of both worlds.
Things that make you want to move: Sometimes it feels like there’s nothing to do around here. There actually always is, but I never want to do any of it, so it’s not like that would change if I moved. I convince myself things would be different.

Things you never want to run out of: Love. Awww… still nothing?
Things you wish you’d never bought: DVDs. That technology got outdated fast. I don’t even think I own a DVD player, but I own a ton of DVDs.

Words that describe you: Well my psychiatrist says I’m—wait, what?
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Needy. Insecure. Paranoid. Obsessive.

Favorite foods: I’m in the middle of a stomach bug and spent the first half of today vomiting, so no food sounds good right now.
Things that make you want to throw up: I’d say my own writing, but I don’t think my publishers would appreciate me insulting the work they invested in.

Favorite music or song: I like like most music, but say ambient music to be different. I’ll say my favorite song, currently, is Njosnavelin by Sigur Ros. That will probably change as soon as I hear a different song.
Music that make your ears bleed: Not all, but most country and rap.

Favorite beverage: Well since my book title references alcohol, my favorite alcoholic beverage is a Tom Collins, though vodka and Red Bull gets me to my destination fastest.
Something that gives you a pickle face: No clue. Side note: don’t Google “pickle face.”

Favorite smell: A bag of fast food.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Oh, many, many foods.

Something you’re really good at: Interviews, am I right?
Something you’re really bad at: Liking myself.

Something you wish you could do: Be better at predicting lottery numbers.
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Procrastinate.

Something you like to do: Watch sports. Only pro teams. If they’re not getting paid millions of dollars, I don’t care.
Something you wish you’d never done: It would take less time to say the things I’m glad I’ve done.

Last best thing you ate: Sour fruit snacks.
Last thing you regret eating: Whatever made its way through my nasal passages when I vomited earlier.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Exercise.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: My reflection.

Things you always put in your books: A crumpled up bookmark in the wrong spot because my nephews insist on taking it out constantly and crushing it.
Things you never put in your books: I don’t dog-ear them anymore.

Things to say to an author: Where I can I buy your book, handsome?
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Have you written anything I would know?

Favorite places you’ve been: Disney is my go-to.
Places you never want to go to again: High school.

Favorite book: I usually say A Clockwork Orange. I feel the least bad about saying that one.
Books you would ban: Books better than mine. So most.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Tom Hanks. Andrew W.K. They just seem like delightful people.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Insert politician you disagree with.

Favorite things to do: Sleep.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Like most writers, writing.

Things that make you happy: Sleep.
Things that drive you crazy: When someone takes something out of the microwave before the timer goes off, so instead of the time, the display says two seconds.

Most embarrassing moment: Nice try.
Proudest moment: Yet to come.

Biggest lie you’ve ever told: I’m fine.
A lie you wish you’d told: I’m fine.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Be nice to people.
Biggest mistake: Be not nice to people.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Looking in the mirror sometimes takes more guts than you’d think.
Something you chickened out from doing: Asking a girl out I like.

The last thing you did for the first time: Gotten a poetry book published!
Something you’ll never do again: Well, I hope I never throw up again.




OTHER BOOKS BY JOE ALBANESE


Caina

Smash and Grab

   




ABOUT THE AUTHOR 



Joe Albanese is a writer from South Jersey. His short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry can be found in publications across the U.S. and in ten other countries. Joe's novel, Caina, and his novella, Smash and Grab, were published in 2018. His poetry collection, Cocktails with a Dead Man, was published in 2019.


Connect with Joe:
Twitter Goodreads  

Buy the book:
Amazon

Thursday, May 26, 2016

FEATURED AUTHOR: DANE COBAIN




ABOUT THE BOOK


When the Angels attack, there’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED.

Father Montgomery, an elderly priest with a secret past, begins to investigate after his parishioners come under attack, and with the help of Jones, a young businessman with an estranged child, Montgomery begins to track down the origin of the Angels.

The Angels are naked and androgynous. They speak in a dreadful harmony with no clear leader. These aren’t biblical cherubs tasked with the protection of the righteous—these are deadly creatures of light that have the power to completely eradicate.

When Jones himself is attacked, Father Montgomery knows he has to act fast. He speaks to the Angels and organizes a final showdown where he’s asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.


INTERVIEW WITH DANE COBAIN


Dane, you currently have three books published:
a supernatural thriller called No Rest for the Wicked, a book of poetry called Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home, and Former.ly: The rise and fall of a social network. Do you write every day?
Writing is just a part of my lifestyle, and so yeah–pretty much. There may be the odd day here and there where I don’t write anything, but it’s pretty rare. When I’m on holiday or at music festivals, I keep journals and write poems, and I carry a notebook around with me and jot stuff down in that, and on my phone. It’s not necessarily that I try to write every day—I just do, without really noticing.

What do you wish you’d done differently when you first started the publishing process?
I wish I’d had a more thorough understanding of marketing earlier on in my career. These days, I work in marketing, and so that helps a lot with getting the word out—however, it also makes me more conscious of the end product when I’m working on something. It doesn’t necessarily influence the story, but I do start thinking about how I could sell the book before I’ve even finished writing it. It helps to have one eye on the goal.

What do you think is hardest aspect of writing a book?

Getting people to buy it and read it—you wouldn’t believe how much of a writer’s time is spent on getting the word out there. That said, getting feedback from new readers is also the most rewarding aspect, so it’s a necessary evil.

Yes, sadly, I would believe it. What’s more important—characters or plot?

For me, as both a writer and a reader, it’s characters. I’ve read plenty of good stories with characters but no plot; I’ve never read a good one with plot and no characters.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
Cigarettes and a lighter.

What do you love about where you live?
High Wycombe is a multicultural town, but there’s also a great local community and a lot of artistic and writerly folk around.

What is your superpower?
Multitasking—I do it all of the time!

What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do?

There’s always something to do! If I run out of things to do, I find more things to do, so that I’m always doing something. I’m the sort of person who hates sitting around and doing nothing. I don’t find ‘relaxing’ to be very relaxing.

Where is your favorite place to visit?
Amsterdam. It’s a beautiful city and the perfect mixture of weird, seedy bits and beautiful, historic bits. I must go back sometime soon.

Would you rather be a movie star, sports star, or rock star?
A rock star—that was my initial goal, as a kid. I guess I started writing after picking up the guitar as a teenager—I used to write songs, and from there I moved on to other stuff.

What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
People on the Internet. Seriously. This is the awesome part of the Internet, and so I’m sure that everyone who reads your blog is pretty cool, but there are a lot of really stupid people out there who get angry and aggressive over nothing. I have no time for people who use the Internet to start fights and arguments. It’s much more fun to make new friends.

What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Beer and cheese! That’s the simplified version, anyway. I’m a vegetarian, so no meat!

Who is your favorite fictional character?
I’m a big fan of reluctant heroes and antiheroes, but my favorite character of all time is probably Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, purely because she’s the protagonist and it’s my favorite series.


How do you like your pizza?
Vegetarian hot (onions, mushrooms, jalapenos, and extra cheese), with garlic and herb dip.


What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
It says: “Life has no ctrl+z.”

What’s your favorite smell?
I’ve been burning a lot of incense recently, and I usually have a candle going. My favorite smell is probably vanilla—simple, but lovely.


What’s your favorite color?
Red.


What is your favorite movie?
It’s hard to say, because I usually name a few of them: Wayne’s World, Donnie Darko or The Princess Bride. I like each of those for different reasons, mostly sentimental.


What are you working on now?
I’m working on loads of things—I just finished finalizing the edits on Former.ly, a novel about a social networking site for the dead. I’ve also got a non-fiction book called Social Paranoia, about how consumers and brands can stay safe in a connected world, which will be going into editing just as soon as my editor, Pam Harris, finishes off Former.ly. I’m also writing a novelization adaptation of a screenplay that I wrote—the two will be published together as Come On Up to the House. After that, I’m planning on writing a detective series.


KUDOS FOR DANE'S WORK


Eyes Like Lighthouses
is Dane Cobain’s first book of poetry, distilled from the sweat of a thousand memorised performances in this reality and others. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

“I’ve never seen anyone do a stream of consciousness piece as talented as that. Very impressed.” – Mark Allard-Will, author of Saskatch-A-Man and co-founder of Cuckoo’s Nest Press

“Dane’s poetry is a multi-layered spiral of the macabre, quirky humour and disjointed imagery. Not only does he make you think, he captures the small forgotten moments of everyday life.” – Nikki Dudley, co-editor of Streetcake Magazine

“ . . . [Dane] combines concrete detail with socioeconomic concerns.” – Lorna Wood, associate editor of Gemini Magazine



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Dane Cobain is a writer, poet and musician from a place you've probably never heard of, somewhere in England. When he's not writing books, he's reading and reviewing them on his book blog, SocialBookshelves.com or working at his day job in social media marketing.

Connect with Dane:

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Featured Author: Amy Muniz





Amy Muniz says her book, Water is Many: 50 Poems, is poetry for people who don't necessarily like poetry.

Amy is an Arizona native, hiking enthusiast, and edible/poisonous plant expert. She speaks sign language, Spanish, and Arabic. Loves to try a new recipe every now and then. Married to a hot, older Hispanic gentleman.







Author Interview


What do you like best about writing? What’s your least favorite thing?

My favorite part is realizing that I have a good idea or finishing the first draft of something. My least favorite part is the editing and formatting of a book because then I obsess over every little detail.

Your book has an interesting title. How did you come up with it?


Water is Many is the title of one the poems inside the book. I picked it because like my book, one drop of water either acts alone or with other drops of water to come to a conclusion. It's a metaphor for the variety found inside my book. I've written everything from love, loss, friendship, nature, universe to even two ghost stories.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

It's not really a job, but I make a little off of my YouTube account so I'm always making a video. I teach languages there. I take temp work when I can find it, otherwise my husband likes it that I stay at home and write.

Why did you decide to write this book?


Poetry seems to be forever a dying art, and the American culture doesn't make room for poetry. I wrote something that I hope is of literary quality. And right there, I'll probably lose some people, but having read all 1800 of Emily Dickinson's works, one would hope that I could also produce poems of beauty. So I did it to try to contribute to our culture.

Tell me about your cover art.


For the cover I went to the cemetery where my parent-in-laws are buried, a nice Catholic mausoleum called St. Francis. There's a fountain there that I thought was a perfect match for the title. I photographed it, which is a challenge, because you can't catch your own reflection in the water and the lens can't get splashed. I did some moving around and got it.

What's your favorite poem in the book?

The long ghost story poem called “The Bells of San Xavier” takes place at the old mission south of Tucson, San Xavier del Bac. I used to live on the Papago Indian reservation, and I remember seeing the towers over the fence. In the poem, the Padre is standing among empty pews. The altar is full of lit candles and it's after hours. In real life, there is a skeleton in a display case to the left. Depending on your point of view, this is either comforting or creepy.

Who are your favorite authors?

Lately, I have discovered H.P. Lovecraft, who I've always heard was a good writer, but I'm just now delving into his works. I like them because they're short, succinct, and his wording really draws me in. Before discovering him, I was into Edwin Arlington Robinson, who is just like Poe.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?


I'm not really reading anything, but what I'd like to do is pay it forward because of people who've helped me. I'd like to take some time out to write some reviews for self-published authors. There's a couple in mind, some of them poets, who seem to have a good product.

I know a good mystery you might like...< cheesy smile > Do you work better at night, in the afternoon, or in the morning?

People are surprised to learn that I get up at 4AM to start writing. This is when I'm most alert, when I first get up and am able to concentrate the most. It's quiet outside. My husband keeps on sleeping for some hours. I get the most done. By 10AM, the street outside turns into Times Square with horns blaring and kids kicking a ball against my door. Not good.

Do you ever get writer’s block?

Never, since I brainstorm and write down a list of ideas before I ever start writing, I don't get writer's block. I used to think of things throughout my day, then I'd forget them. Now when I have an idea, I write it down, explaining it with one or two sentences, so I can't possibly lose it.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I enjoy figuring out what is edible in the desert. I've tasted dandelions and they're surprisingly tasty, just like salad greens. In Phoenix, they're considered a noxious weed. During the Great Depression, a lot of people survived on dandelion salad, the leaves and the flower heads. I mistrust the dollar, wouldn't count on it to feed me, so that's why I'm learning this stuff. One day I'd like to experiment with cooking palo verde beans and trying it with some salsa.

What are your favorite books?

As a child: I loved The Cay, in which a Dutch boy gets stranded on an island with a Negro, even though I hated that the Negro died near the end.
As a teenager: I read The Shining and loved it.
As an adult: I am reading The Arabian Nights and love how it's a story within a story.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

A little known country called Belize. It's east of Mexico and north of Guatemala. I was denied a visa two years ago. Yes, I actually tried to leave. I have half a mind to drive to Corpus Christie, TX and float on a tube down to there.

What are you working on now?

My first book, Envious of the Clouds, is getting a makeover. I'm much better at covers now and the cover on my first book is beneath what I'm capable of doing so I'm changing it and sprucing up the inside. After that, I will begin an anthology of horror stories.

Great! I hope you'll come back and tell us about it when it's released.

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