You are a junior majoring in English at Montclair State University. What texts are you studying?

Nothing currently. I just finished a semester abroad with Semester at Sea, so my English classes on the ship mostly focused on literature from all of the different countries we visited. At my home university, however, it depends on the class, but I mostly study poetry. This coming semester I will be studying YA Lit in one of my classes, which is exciting. My favorite book I’ve studied so far, I think, is Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi. It was very cool to read and fall in love with a book I was studying, then have an opportunity, by some twist of fate, to visit the country it was written about. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity, as a student of a major that primarily works on paper, to experience the physicality of my studies; witnessing the things one reads and dreams about is a rare and beautiful thing.

What is it you love about poetry?

I think I value poetry over other kinds of literature because there are no rules unless you want there to be. Poetry is literally open-ended, it can be anything, it is anything! I think I like setting my own limits, being able to break them on my own terms, and following behind the narratives I write as they manifest in front of me, no matter where they take me. The possibilities are endless, and I think being able to create something out of nothing with any kind of comprehensive narrative, not to mention a good something, is a skill I find invaluable, and I wish others saw the merits of it that I do.

Another thing I love about poetry is how diverse it is. The term “poetry” encompasses a lot, and like everything else in the world, it’s not for everyone, but only in the broad sense. It’s not for everyone in that not everyone is going to love everything. There are so many different kinds of poetry and poets out there; odds are if you don’t love one thing, you’ll find something else that speaks to you. The most frustrating thing is the misconceptions people hold about poetry that keep them from exploring the genre.

What do you care about? What themes keep cropping up in your writing?

I mostly write about nature and the relationships in my life, though after this most recent chapter, having circumnavigated the world on a ship, I find myself writing a lot about travelling, the ocean, and my perspective as it’s changed while I was voyaging. I care about my place in the world, that of other people, and the unfathomable diversity of the world. I’m in this transitional period where I’m slowly but surely becoming an adult, and so all the angst has been taken out of my literary sails; I’m much more grounded and aware, I think, with my ponderings nowadays, and I consider each poem a pondering, a grasp at the answers to questions unknown. I care about a lot of things, and it’s hard to condense that into a more tangible passion, so that it becomes something that manifests in my art, but I think the core of it might just be humanity and all of the nuances of being a person.

How do you think technology is affecting humans in today’s society?

I think technology is having both a positive and negative impact on society. If we look at social media, for example, on the one hand it promotes interconnectedness and communication, and for some speaking through social media can give them a voice they might not otherwise have. I also think there’s something to be said about the ability to communicate with someone on the complete opposite side of the globe with a tiny little rectangle you can fit in your pocket. It is becoming extremely special to me to be able to communicate readily with the people I have met in my travels, as well as my old friends, each of us scattered to different corners of the country after graduating high school and going off to college. Social media is also an incredible way to spread information; I don’t recommend using something like Twitter as a news source, but there have been times where I wouldn’t have known that something was happening (and then gone on to research it on my own) if I hadn’t opened my social media. Inversely, social media does, at surface level, appear to be an abyss of nonsense, and the more trivial things are obviously a negative contribution. This goes for all kinds of technology, I think. For every advance it provides there’s potential negatives. I think it comes down to the manner in which we use technology, which ultimately is up to you, and the very least we can do is keep our feet on the ground while our heads are in the clouds.

Describe a typical day in your life.

As of right now, my life has recently taken a startling, brakes-screeching halt. About two weeks ago, I was still riding the tail end of a 112-day-long voyage around the world, to 12 different countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe, barely even stopping to breathe. So, I think it’s safe to say the “typical day” is ever-changing for me. The contrast between the full-throttle of non-stop travel and my sedentary home life has been a culture shock in itself, but a welcome change. Right now, my typical day consists of me meandering awake at my leisure, nowhere special to be, drinking at least one cup of coffee before getting myself ready, and the rest of the day is a product of my to-do list. Lately, I’ve been grabbing meals with friends as they return home for the summer, though when I have no plans, I find myself either reading or writing. My house is on two acres of woods, so I spend a lot of time doing so outside while my dog, Angel, romps around the yard. The end of the day is normally spent either out with friends or facetiming the friends who live too far away to visit. I wouldn’t say this is normal for me, but I am in a particularly transitional time, and it’s looking like this is what the summer will be for me.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

I think this question would have been easier for me to answer four months ago. That being said, I don’t know that I have an answer to this question. It’s hard to think of one singular thing that wouldn’t cause literally every other aspect of existence to change along with it. In the interested of keeping things simple, I think I would change the way language barriers affect communication. I’m not sure how to go about this – it hasn’t happened for a reason, right? – but assuming my answer doesn’t need to make full sense, I would want the differences in language  between people to be less politically and socially charged. The root of any kind of negative interaction, I’ve found, is misunderstanding, so if we could somehow minimize the misunderstanding in interlanguage communication, I think the world would be a much better place.

Who inspires you and why?

I think the people who inspire me the most are my friends, to be honest. It’s really important to me to have a support system of people who raise each other up and cheer each other on. Knowing that at least one person loves and appreciates the effort I put into my work keeps me going. My mother also inspires me, but in slightly different ways. My mom stayed at home with my sister and I until we were maybe 12 and 14, simply because she wanted to watch us grow up. Before that, she was a full-time accountant, then became a lunch lady at our school so that she could still be home for us if we needed her. Once we were mostly self-sufficient young adults, she decided to go back to work as a bookkeeper, and she now has her own company. My mom taught me that there’s no right or wrong time to do something big and milestone-esque in your life. Watching her professional journey showed me that I can do everything I want to do in my life, that I have plenty of time to accomplish everything I’d like to accomplish, and that there’s no shame in doing what you feel is right for yourself, even if it goes against the vision of the path everyone else might have in mind for you. Ultimately, she taught me that it’s my life, and I should do with it as I see fit.

Have you been on a literary pilgrimage?

I think so, yes, in two different ways. The first has been about me moving away from YA as I get older and learning what kind of stories I want to not only read, but write as well. This particular pilgrimage has been forcing me to look at things from all different perspectives, and I think the more literature I consume, the more I shape my own perspective. The other pilgrimage I’ve been on is immersing myself into the world of poetry in general. It’s so hard to get into something like poetry, and for me, it took roughly three years to find where I fit into the fabric of it. Poetry is such a big, daunting world, there’s so many different kinds of poetry, and if you have no idea where to start it’s hard to guess and hope you find something that speaks to you. All of this, especially because poetry books are so expensive. I am still very much growing into poetry and trying new things, trying to find more things that speak to me, but for the most part it feels more like a fun adventure now that I mostly know what to look for, as opposed to an intimidating task I really had to push myself to work at before.

What is next for you? What plans have you got?

I am currently writing two different books at the moment, both of which I hope to have published eventually. Both are inspired by, and a product of, my Semester at Sea voyage. The first is a collection of poetry I wrote while on my voyage. I somehow happened to start a notebook on the first day of my voyage and end it on the very last, which is the happiest accident I’ve enacted, I think. So I have been attempting to edit a full notebook’s worth of poems into a comprehensive collection. I have also been working on a short story collection about different kinds of stray animals I noticed in some of the countries I visited on my voyage. I’m planning on writing it from the perspective of each different stray – each chapter will be a different animal from a different country, and I’m going to attempt to thread myself and sometimes my friends into the background of each story, almost like a cameo, so that you can follow my path as I progress along my journey. Other than that, I’ve been writing like the wind and trying my best to get some stand-alone pieces out there.

Describe your journey towards becoming an author.

I published my first short story in the school magazine when I was in the fourth grade.

Tell us about your novel Two-Headed Dog.

Two-Headed-Dog is a wild romp. Hank Ribinthal, psychologist in a state mental hospital, falls in love with one of his chronic-schizophrenic patients, Tiffany. When she escapes he sets out to find her. Escapades follow.

You live in Denver. What is the literary scene like?

No idea. I keep to myself.

Have you been awarded any literary prizes?

I never apply for prizes, because they usually require a fee. But I did submit a flash fiction to 4W, the magazine of the Booranga Writing Centre (Australia) and they awarded me their 2017 Prize for Fiction. It was quite a surprise.

What do you care about? What themes keep cropping up in your writing?

The intrusion of the irrational into the rational world.

What is it you love about flash fiction, as opposed to other forms of writing?

I’d written seven novels, gotten a couple of agents (not simultaneously) but was unable to get one published. Novels are very difficult, time-consuming projects. I thought I’d go back to poetry, my first love. Poetry led to flash fiction. My poetry tends to be prosaic, my fiction poetic.

Describe a typical day in your life

Not too interesting. I get up, read (usually zen books) and meditate (zazen). Then I’ll go to the gym for a couple hours, or for a long walk around the lake. Then I might do some writing or writing correspondence (like this) or work in my garden. You might be able to tell that I’m retired 😉 From 11:30 to 5:30, my wife and I take care of our granddaughter. We’ve done that from when she was three months old, while her ambitious parents work.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

Get rid of ego, greed, hatred, confusion. And all the bizarre, irrational, ancient mythologies (such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam) that cause so much grief in the world.

Who inspires you and why?

The students at Parkland High School in Florida (whose school was attacked by a shooter) who stood up and demanded stricter gun laws, in spite of attacks on them by the NRA.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Work through your karma—that’s all you can do.

Tell us a story in five words.

He aspired to write haiku.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Same advice everyone gives—read a lot, write a lot, live a lot.

What are you reading at the moment?

The Great Gatsby—can you believe I’ve never read that? So far, I’m not too impressed.

What is next for you? What plans have you got?

I’d like to put together a collection of flash fictions—I’ve had over 500 of them published. And I’m still trying to get an agent or publisher for my last two novels. Creatively speaking, I’m in a bit of a dry period right now.

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You are Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at California State University, Fullerton. Tell us about your days there as editor of South Coast Poetry Journal.

The English Department at CSUF was generous toward its faculty in many ways, one of which was the always-present opportunity to design and teach a new course. That’s what I did with SCPJ, the course being called Editing a Literary Journal. I picked ten to twelve students to help as intern editors. Almost every student chosen performed wonderfully, especially when reading submissions, nominating their choices, and then discussing them with other interns at the Friday meetings. Among the excellent poets we published were Rita Dove, Richard Eberhardt, William Stafford, Robert Mezey, Kay Ryan, Lucy Shaw, Denise Duhamel, X. J. Kennedy, Denise Levertov and Mark Strand.

You have six collections of poetry in print, the latest of which is Peripheral Visions, published by Negative Capability Press in 2017. Can you tell us about this?

Yes. The first two volumes came out while I was still teaching a four-course load at Fullerton. The third one hit the table fourteen years after my retirement. We had sold our home, moved, and settled into the new place. I built garden structures and indoor tables until I’d had enough of that. And that’s when it struck me that I had a large stash of poems written in my spare time. So that put me in fifth gear, and the more recent three collections were the result.

Why do you think poetry is important?

I grew up in a blue-collar family where physical activity alone was considered work. But at some point I sensed that there were many topics we never talked about: people and things we loved, or forgiveness, or self-restraint in the presence of temptation are just a few examples. But poetry, I soon discovered, could and did talk about those and more. It was as if I’d been a tadpole and unexpectedly became an air-breathing and hopping frog.

Describe a typical day in your life.

Six a.m. is my usual rising time. I feed the pets and make coffee. Not long after, my wife and I have breakfast, followed by her embroidering while I read aloud from whatever book takes our fancy. Then to my daily walk with our Labrador. After that, it’s my study, reading to myself or writing. I constantly look for poets I have ignored who are worth reading. After lunch I drive into the Post Office in our little town for the mail, return home and lie down for a short nap. And then there’s dinner. In between all of these, I try to write what I would like to find on bookstore shelves.

Who inspires you and why?

After exiting the Marine Corps, I found the writer I admired most, Shakespeare. (Eventually I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Hamlet.) But later I opened Homer’s epics, and now I’d be hard put to say which of the two greats I admire more. There were others of course: Wilbur, Auden, Dickinson and Gjertrud Schnackenberg. And now that I’ve said they inspired me, I’ll amend that to say the benefits I derived from reading them did not include a sense of competition with them, but a feeling that I’d found a soul mate.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I’d say, “Give up this fame business. It makes you trendy instead of sincere. And don’t try to publish anything new until the paper has turned yellow in your desk drawer. In the meantime, READ all of the greats, from Beowulf to Thom Gunn. This won’t guarantee your success as a poet, but it will give you a leg up on those who didn’t do it.”

Tell us a story in five words.

Kissing his palm, she departed.

Have you been on a literary pilgrimage?

I’ve visited the Bard’s haunts and toured Robinson Jeffers’ house, but in general I prefer that friends do my literary pilgrimages for me. Their reports are far more enlightening, which tells me that I am less adept at imbibing the essence of an author from his or her surroundings than most people are. Also, I’ve just about given up on flying, and my wife gets seasick easily, so we’re two happy homebodies.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Find peace. Then write.

What are you reading at the moment?

Marilynne Robinson’s essays, Schnackenberg’s poetry, and Rachel Naomi Remen’s book on her grandfather’s blessings.

Your seventh volume, Selected Poems, is forthcoming by Future Cycle Press. X.J. Kennedy described it as ‘a vital contribution to American poetry’. What is next for you? What plans have you got?

I plan to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and I’m grateful that retirement allows me to do that. There have been several times when I’ve thought my end was near, but I’m on the edge of eighty now, having survived polio and cancer, so I’ve stopped guessing how much time I have left in me. But I’m enjoying every minute so far. As for writing and publishing, I have another collection out there looking for a home. And then there’s that New Poems file that keeps getting fatter.

You began your writing career as a military journalist. Can you tell us about this? Did you write print articles, or material for radio and television?

I entered the Army right out of high school. It was during the war in Vietnam and I wanted to go there, not to kill anyone, but to see for myself what was going on. My grades in English in high school were excellent, and thanks to high verbal test scores in the military, I was afforded the opportunity to attend the Defense Information School, which was a joint military school for training military journalists and photojournalists. The same day that I graduated they stopped deployment of many military occupations to Vietnam, including journalists, so I was assigned to the District Recruiting Command Headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a civilian office and my job was to travel the state and write articles for local newspapers and radio spots for radio stations about men and women who were enlisting, those returning from Vietnam, and aspects of Army recruiting. From the time I arrived in Florida until I got out of the Army three years later, I never stepped foot on an Army base. Of course, I never got to Vietnam.

Can you tell us about your collection of short stories, Sand, which was published recently by Clarendon House Books?

There are 30 stories in the collection in the literary, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, speculative fiction, absurdist and humor genres. There is no central theme. What the publisher and I wanted to do was produce a collection of my stories that would appeal to different literary tastes.

Your plays have been produced in several states in the U.S. Interesting. Tell us about one of them.

A Cowboy Comes to Dinner is a farcical comedy with a cast of ten. It was staged in Kansas City, Missouri, and Rio Rico, Arizona. It’s about a play being performed about a cowboy coming to a posh dinner that goes awry when the cast performing it break out of their roles during the production and an accidental murder occurs.

What do you care about? What themes keep cropping up in your writing?

I’m not the type of writer who has a planned, specific message or agenda in my stories. I love the short story form and I write short stories in many genres with many different themes. With over 160 different stories published in over 170 different publications since June 2016, there are bound to be some similar themes, but as often as I’m asked that question, I still don’t have an adequate answer. I’m not an “intellectual” writer. I don’t analyze my work while I’m writing a story or after it’s finished. I tell a story. It’s as simple as that.

How do you think technology is affecting humans in today’s society?

We are becoming more connected on a broader basis but less connected on a personal basis.

Describe a typical day in your life.

I wake up. I eat. I write. I nap. I wake up. I eat. I write. I eat. I do some other mostly mundane stuff. I write. I go to sleep. Somewhere in between waking up and going to sleep I read books that my peers have written, I hang out on social media, I watch a little television and I spend time with other human beings. My days of adventure are behind me, but they were great fun while they lasted. I’m retired and have no need to prove that I can still act or live like I’m twenty years old.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

This is going to sound so much like a Miss Universe pageant contestant answer: I’d bring world peace.

Who inspires you and why?

There are a group of individuals, mostly other writers in the Inner Circle Writers Group on the MeWe social site, who encourage, support and inspire me every day.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

As a person, don’t sweat the small stuff. As a writer, don’t try to write the same way as your favorite authors. Find your own “voice” and write with that.

Have you been on a literary pilgrimage?

Yes, but I have gotten off track a few times and for long stretches of time and had to find my way back.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Travel as much as you can, meet as many people as you can, observe nature, get involved in the world. Take mental notes on everything until you’re ready to write from those notes.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m re-reading some of Grant Hudson’s How Stories Really Work. Every writer at every level of expertise should read it.

What is next for you? What plans have you got?

I’m hoping to reach my goal of having stories published in 200 publications by the end of this year. I have another collection possibly being published by another publisher, so I’m waiting to hear about that. I have a completed novel that has been gathering cobwebs in my computer for a couple of years. I may get that out, dust it off and find an agent for it. Some days I think about retiring from writing altogether.

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Tell us about your journey towards becoming an author.

I have been writing since I was a child. I didn’t keep up with it regularly, but it was something to do. I have always loved stories and writing. I love how the same words in a different way can tell a completely different tale. I regularly began writing when I was about thirteen years old. I wrote, wrote, and wrote. I didn’t have any other writers in my family, so I wasn’t sure how to approach getting my work published. There’s probably some of my early stuff up on poetry.com which seemed rather popular when I was a kid. I took about a five year hiatus from my writing because I thought it and myself were rubbish. It wasn’t until 2011 that I started getting work published. Some of my first poems and short stories didn’t even receive a response. They were just ignored by the editors I sent them to, and that was a bit disheartening. But I knew writing was one of my talents and my strengths, so I looked for a way to improve my writing, and ways to improve myself.

What is it you love about poetry?

Poetry is short, succinct, and yet very powerful and distinct. Every poet writes differently, but their experiences are sometimes very easy to relate to. I think my favourite poems are the short ones that pack a punch, that hit you hard in the gut, no matter the topic.

You also write short stories. How do you approach writing a short story? Do you plan it first, or just see what happens as you write?

I usually brainstorm for a while. Then I get to writing the story. The story usually changes from what I thought it would be in the beginning because characters and plots aren’t always predictable. Every twist and turn is thrilling and teaches me something new about the world and myself.

What do you care about? What themes keep cropping up in your writing?

This is a loaded question. There is a lot of things that I care about. Themes that crop up in my writing often are self-worth and finding oneself, not giving up, of finding oneself, how bullying, whilst painful, has strengthened me, how women are not objects of sexual gratification but rather spiritual and divine creatures full of power and magic, social justice, ecological concerns, nature, slice of life vignettes, etc. There are many things that I write about. Some profound and some just confessional.

How do you think technology is affecting humans in today’s society?

In some ways I think technology is great. It helps connect me with other writers, poets, and readers who may not find my work otherwise, which is wonderful. It’s a platform in which I can engage with people with my writing and connect, which is always an amazing feeling. I have had a few people tell me that my work changed their life and that’s really meant a lot to me. However, on the flip side of that, I do see a disconnect with reality. I see people measuring their worth in how many likes or comments they get on posts and pictures, and that’s really rather dismaying. I see people become glazed eyed zombies addicted to their phones and ignoring the beauty and bounty of nature, and those who love them. I really think for every pro there is a con to everything. Technology needs to be wielded wisely. It can be a waste of time if used improperly.

Describe a typical day in your life.

Well, typically on days I work, I sit down on the computer and get to the grindstone of writing. I like to push myself to get as much accomplished as I can before work. On a day off my writing is sometimes more sporadic. It depends on if I am visiting with friends and family, or if the day is one that I get to myself. If it is one that I get to myself then sometimes I rest a lot to recover my strength. My night job is sometimes rather exhausting because I deal with a lot of people and I am an introvert by nature. So rest is sometimes necessary so I can heal up and have enough strength and focus to put out my best writing.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Money. I would do away with it completely. It disgusts me how greedy and cruel people are. How stingy people can be. How some people would rather poor people starve and die rather than to help them. Those with much always forget that they can be on the other side of the coin. They might not always be facing heads up when they land. I think it is important to give and help others as you can. Even if it means giving someone some of your time. Listening to someone can make a world of difference in their lives. I just think money, like power, can corrupt souls. I tire of the greed of men, and what said greed causes them to do to people who they should be loving, instead of swindling.

Who inspires you and why?

Non-famous people include my grandmother because she always encourages me to keep going no matter how hard it gets. Similarly, my best friend Alicia, who has epilepsy, has shown me the meaning of strength, and sometimes even when I backslide and doubt myself she is there cheering me on. My mother encourages me to be a better person and to keep going because I don’t want to quit this journey of my writing. It means a lot to me, and it is something that I love to do. One day I would like for it to be my full time job, but I’m just not at that point right now. Famous people include J.K. Rowling because I find her story inspiring. As a woman who has also has dealt with bouts of depression in my life, it is wonderful to see someone from such a humble beginning rise to such fame and fortune, especially considering all the money she gives away to charity and to help others. I feel that is wonderful that she gives back after all she’s been given. I also find Anne Rice rather inspiring because despite the fact that she grows older, she does not let that stop her writing her books and living her life. Not to mention her Vampire Chronicles are getting a television equivalent now after all these years, and she keeps pushing upward and onward. I love that she soldiers on no matter what life hands her. I cannot imagine how painful it was for her to lose her daughter and her husband, but she doesn’t let it slow her down.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t worry what people think. You are enough as you are, because you are one of a kind. Your power is that you are you. You are full of worth, even if some people will never see it. Never give up on the pursuit of the things that set your heart on fire no matter what anyone tells you because you are stronger and more powerful than they’ll ever think. Dreams are not only necessary, but can be fought for and sought for, and they should be.

Have you been on a literary pilgrimage?

Yes, I’ve been writing for many years. Over the years I have learned and honed my skills so that my writing is more effective and reaches audiences better. I have learned some of the things that don’t work and those that do in my own writing and my own voice. I’ve received rejections that have made me cry and press on, and acceptances always make me excited. Because one editor may not see value in my words, but another may love what I sent them. Writing is a subjective business, I’ve learned, and so I soldier on. Rejections sting no matter how nice or polite they are, but I remind myself they are not the end, and I persevere despite all the odds.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Buy other writers’ works when and where you can, love reading as much as you do writing, never give up, always go ahead with ideas no matter how weird or strange they are because even if you end up scrapping them, at least you can say you were brave enough to see where they were going Always be brave and kind, learn from your failures and strengthen your writing from what editors tell you, don’t be too proud and self-assured that you cannot take good advice when it’s given to you – no one wants to be reminded of their faults, but we all have them, and never let rejections turn you away from your craft. I won’t tell you not to take it personally, like everyone else does, because honestly every single rejection wounds me, but don’t let a rejection cut you up so badly that you leave behind what you’ve worked so hard to create. Be willing to take a chance on yourself.

What are you reading at the moment?

I don’t always have much opportunity to read as I did when I was younger, what with my work schedule and all, but the last thing I read was Isabelle Kenyon’s book of poetry This Is Not A Spectacle which is an interesting book full of different observations that tie together with a corresponding theme. It was really well executed and enjoyable.

What is next for you? What plans have you got?

We’ll see what the future holds. I hope lots of more publications, naturally. I’m planning on publishing more books of poetry, publishing my novels, getting more short stories out in the world. I would like to get a collection of short stories together and published, too, at some point. I plan on getting more personal articles out there, too, because I have found a fondness of sharing my self to the world in a vulnerable way that can help others. I plan on being a part of more anthologies, and taking more chances on myself and my writing. I plan on submitting to places that scared me off before, for whatever reason. I plan on becoming a better person and a better writer, and seeing where this journey takes me.

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