Thank you so much for sharing your book with me and agreeing to do a Q&A for my readers.
Give us a quick summary of These Bodies!
It’s a collection of twelve short stories that explore the lives and relationships of contrasting protagonists. The stories address experiences unique to all of the characters and highlight the subtleties and undercurrents of their truths, loves, and bodies.
This your fourth collection. Did you have any specific hurdles with writing and publishing this book?
In regards to publishing, not at all. The staff at Tolsun Books were so accommodating and supportive through the process, it was very smooth and a wonderful experience. The writing process didn’t garner any hurdles besides the typical finding time to get the stories on paper, or in most cases, on screen.
When you were writing the stories that would eventually end up in this book, did you know they would be part of a collection? Or did they come together after the fact?
After the fact. It was a lovely process to see come together in that right. Where themes and trends at the underbelly of previous works actually get to come to light, be investigated, and displayed in a sort of melodic, literary unity. A very pleasant compilation, and surprise.
While your other collections were poetry, this is your prose debut. Has the experience of publishing prose been different?
Not so different, but comfortable. I’ve always considered myself, primarily, a writer of prose. Getting to dive into this first short fiction collection felt like coming home. The editing process seemed a bit more concrete with prose, not as much wiggle room as the term goes, but in a way that is structured to the benefit of the story, always.
This book is described as “Championing underrepresented stories, loves, trials, and bodies”. Why did this theme stand out to you?
The necessity. It’s still angering that terms like ‘underrepresented’ still exist in the scope of literary fiction, and so many other things; but because they do, it will always stand out. Various voices and presences in the genre are necessary in creating a climate of inclusivity. If there is no voice, no presence, outside of what we more than often see and/or read, we’ll never know that it means to not deem an experience or reality underrepresented, for it to exist like everything can, and be its well represented self.
This is your first collection published with Tolsun Books. What drew you to this small press?
Their author list. The amalgamation of authors, genres, and stylistic differences was just so refreshing. Such a wonderful thing to see a press that is willing to pull in such varying voices and showcase the beauty and power in all of them.
One of the things that most stood out to me in this book is the raw, authentic feeling of the stories. Was anything based on real life experiences? If not, how did you come up with such strong stories and voices?
Some yes, some no. There will always be familiar themes in the writing process that showcase themselves through life experience (identity, race, sexuality, classism etc…). While there may be a few literal happenings, I definitely don’t experience and tell, save through the prose! I did have an exceptionally difficult time locating salt when I was in the Bronx though.
What advice do you have for other writers who have a passion for both prose and poetry?
Never limit yourself. There’s this strange pull some writers have to be a specific type of writer. A poet, novelist, short fictioner, etc. When we were in school, Sarah and I were classmates, Metta [Sáma] told me I didn’t have to choose. I remember feeling so silly when she said it, it seemed the most obviously and far away thing that had been escaping me as I muddled through grad school applications. My advice is ultimately Metta’s. Don’t limit your writing the way you wouldn’t limit yourself in any other aspect of life.
These Bodies, your prose debut is available now. What are you working on next?
I have another poetry chapbook out this, when they come (Black Sunflowers Press, 2021) about earth’s inevitable invasion and our hand in the process. Oh, and of course, still working on a novel - isn’t there always one in the works? Thanks for having me, Sarah!
