About “Deadman’s Float”

1. What was your motivation for writing “Deadman’s Float”?
   1. Working as a medical case manager taxes one’s emotional life. We battle our clients, systems, prejudice, shame. Lap swimming helps me release and process those emotions. I wanted to verbalize what I was feeling, and poetry became the cathartic tool that helped me process that. More than that, it led me to face questions I have often asked, like: why me? what’s wrong with me?
2. What challenges—if any—did you have writing your short story?
   1. Being honest with what I was feeling and translating that to the page. The bigger issue was dealing with my own internalized shame, which came to the surface during the writing. 
3. What is your favourite line—if any—in “Deadman’s Float”?
   1. Two things I love in the [story] are: The concept the character presents that floating in water isn’t an action of the floater but an action of the water. The water presses against the object causing it to float. It’s a moment of acceptance of not being in control.  Another aspect of the [story] I like is the repetition of breathing. In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out. This is a practice familiar to anyone dealing with anxiety. 
4. What do you want people to walk away with after reading “Deadman’s Float”?
   1. That’s funny—I’ve never thought about this before. I wrote “Deadman’s Float” to help me deal with the world around me and make sense of what was happening. There’s a great deal of self-evaluation and honesty in that [story], and I hope people leave the [story] remembering the journey the character undergoes, but mostly they gain an understanding of the value of self-evaluation and honesty. 
5. Is there anything else you would like to talk about regarding “Deadman’s Float” that hasn’t been asked?
   1. I’d like to speak to writers. I submitted to Capture This, and it was accepted.  I’d love to believe it was because my writing is so wonderful that the editors fainted from the beauty. They did not. My [story] fit what Capture This wanted. It shows me the importance of carefully considering the publications where we submit. So often, pieces are turned down because it doesn’t fit the needs of the publication, not because of the writing. It’s important we spend time considering the publications before we submit. 

Reading

1. What are you currently reading?
   1. Reading and listening. I love audiobooks. I’m a big fan of space opera, dystopian / post-apocalyptic novels, mysteries, and LGBTQIA work. Currently reading: _The Memory Police_ by Yoko Ogawa; _Self Compassion_ by Kristen Neff; _The Velvet Rage_ by Alan Downs.
2. Do you have a favourite book? If so, what is it?
   1. I don’t have favourites, I have books I remember loving. Two books by Knut Hamsun, _Hunger_ and _Pan_; Tennessee Williams’s _A Streetcar Named Desire_.  John Wyndham’s _The Day of the Triffids_; _Way Station_ by Clifford D. Simak. When I finished them, I felt happy, amazed, touched. There are also a few books I’ve read, loved, and promised myself I’ll never read again: _The Road_ by Cormac McCarthy, and _Requiem for a Dream_ by Hubert Selby Jr..
3. What is your favourite poet or author, if any?
   1. I love Walt Whitman and William Blake for poetry. 
   2. Favourite authors? For a long time, I loved George Orwell, and still do, but others have been discovered. Octavia Butler, Janet Frame, William Faulkner, to name a few.
4. Do you gravitate towards reading genres outside the ones you write?
   1. Yes. I’m a young writer (even at 57), so I’m still working on what genres I fit. I believe I write literary fiction, but slide into genres, like mystery or urban fantasy, because in the moment it fits my idea and offers an interesting way to develop themes. Reading outside my genre is about learning about the genre, and reading because I love the genre. Although, my adoration of space opera is more about hope. Hope for something grand to happen, that humanity will go to the stars and meet others.

Writing

1. Why do you write?
   1. I have stories to tell. And I’m trying to figure out the world around me.
2. What do you love about being a writer?
   1. I feel happy when I write. The initial draft is always a struggle for me, but the redrafting fills me with purpose, and at the end of a session, I leave feeling good about myself and what I’m doing. 
3. What time of the day do you write, and do you have a writing routine?
   1. At night when I’m employed. However, currently, my family just moved, and I’m not looking for a job but writing all day.
4. Where do you get your ideas from?
   1. A variety of sources and situations. A trip to the ER will become a prose poem about self-reflection and fear. Watching a crime documentary inspired the setting for my gay version of _Blood Wedding_. This is something I learned from Octavia Butler. In an interview, she said that she enjoyed TV because she never knows where an idea will come. It taught me to be open to possibles, not to be conceited and think that only inspiration comes from highbrow sources. I live in the moment and don’t think oh what I’m experiencing right now could be the subject of a poem. After the event, like the ER, I reflect and ask could I use this. When emotions are intense, like the fear in the ER, possibilities arise.  
5. How long does it take you to write your projects?
   1. I’m a slow, slow writer. My novellas and novels need so much redrafting that the process lasts months to complete to the point they are ready to be read. However, I’ve found with my prose poems, the process is much faster taking a couple of weeks from start to finish. 
6. What advice would you give to other authors/writers/poets?
   1. Write—often said. It’s true: thinking about that novel is not writing that novel. Write. Be open to drafting and redrafting and redrafting. 
   2. More importantly, negative feedback. When someone gives negative feedback, if you feel the need to stop them and explain the text—that’s the sign you need to rewrite the section. Do not, above all, explain and clarify for the reader because you’ll leave feeling that the reader just didn’t understand.  You’ll leave believing the work is fine. It is not, it needs to be rewritten so that it is clear without your explanation.  
   3. Writer’s groups. Pick them carefully. They should be supportive, honest, and kind. A writer’s group should never tell you what or how to write. They should explain what they had difficulty with. They can offer suggestions for rewriting, but should not tell you how to fix it.
7. What project(s) are you currently working on?
   1. A retelling of Lorca’s play _Blood Wedding_. I am creating a gay version with a series of prose poems.
   2. A mystery novel: _Render Unto Caesar_ (nearing completion) 
   3. Followed by another mystery, _Murder on Retreat_, or revising my novel, _The Diary of Peter MacSchnaubal_.