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 The Forest!
The Forest was, in truth, an experiment in the assimilation of literature and art. Every poem in the book was written by drawing random phrases I had written from a bowl and arranging them into an order that I felt told a story. From there, I gathered these poems together to find a cohesive theme and arrangement, and thus the journey through The Forest and its increasingly dark depths began. I try not to say too much as to the meaning of the book so as not to influence how others interpret the words – the most I typically say is that it was intended as an exploration of what it means to be human. But I have had others tell me the words have meant different things to them and have even come off as political in nature. In truth, I want the readers to tell me what it means to them, not me to tell the readers what to feel.
This book is being published in collaboration with an art exhibition, also called The Forest. How did that collaboration come to be?
The development of the art installation and the book were simultaneous processes. The idea for writing and drawing random phrases from a bowl for poems came to me at work. My day job is as a graphic designer, and I often work with print materials such as postcards, brochures, and the like. While I was using an electronic cutting machine to cut some postcards to size, I wound up with thin leftover strips of cardstock paper. While we usually recycle these extra pieces, I pondered over them and had the idea of using paper slips like these as an outlet for the random phrases that often pop in my head. So, I ordered some cardstock paper of my own, cut them into strips, and put piles of them in every room at my house where I find myself thinking of these phrases – my bedroom end table, our dining table, my home office, and even my office at work. From there, with no idea of what I would eventually do with them, I began writing down these random phrases whenever they would occur to me. Soon after I started, I thought of the idea of turning them into poems by drawing them randomly from a hat or bowl. After I had written a few poems and had these already used strips just sitting in a bag, I wondered what to do with them.
It was then I approached my frequent artistic collaborator, mentor, and friend, Houston artist Mari Omori, with the idea of turning these paper slips into some sort of installation, evolving these papers into something beyond their phrases. She immediately brought ideas of viewer collaboration and branching trees with fabric to the concept, and we set off on developing the concept for the room-spanning work. As the book developed, so did the installation; Mari and I got the chance to show the initial idea of the installation to the public first through a public pin-strip and fabric work called The Branches shown at Houston Community College in early 2020, then the finalization of the book and its acceptance into Riza Press came shortly after.
Several of our plans for the installation got unfortunately sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic, so our timeline got a little out of sync, but now, after the book’s publication in April 2021, Mari and I are hitting the ground running developing the full Forest installation for local gallery proposals and hopeful exhibition in 2022 and beyond. The multitude of works in the installation will not only be named after the poems and acts in the book but will also aim to provide an enveloping experience to every visitor and viewer that sees it, including opportunities for them to contribute to the exhibition with their own words.
Did you have any major hurdles in getting this collection out into the world?
Timelines definitely went astray between myself and my publisher for a variety of reasons, most of them having to do with life and its many surprises. Beyond that, since Riza Press was a hybrid publisher (meaning I pay upfront for the production, design, and publication of the book, but retain full rights and royalties from the publication), the largest hurdle was learning the intricacies of publishing as we were going, including all of the details, hang-ups, and difficulties you can have in getting a book 100% ready for worldwide distribution. It was a highly educational experience for everyone involved, and I’m a better person having gone through it, but it absolutely presented several moments of frustration.
How long did it take you to finish your collection, from first draft to publication?
About a year and a half, even considering how short the book is. It can be a lengthy process!
You are a self-described multimedia artist. How has working in multiple mediums influenced your writing life?
Even when I was little, I was always a very phasic creative – I like dabbling in a multitude of mediums to see what best tells the stories I want to tell. Writing always came first for me and has retained a huge presence throughout my life, but I’ve always imagined stories in fairly visual terms, and that manifested in my interest in graphic design when I was 10 years old. However, I never fully accepted my talents and future in that area until well into my late 20s, and I have multiple Associate of Applied Science degrees in various creative fields (video game design and video & post-production, specifically) to prove it. I’m on the cusp of graduating with my Bachelor’s in graphic design, but even now, I find myself floating between writing, shooting and editing photos, painting, and developing mixed media works. I guess I feel like an endless supply of communicative tools are at my disposal in the world of art, and I look to see what stories I can tell in every single one. (Except maybe dance – I’m not sure anyone would see my goofy moves as performative art, haha!)
Your collection was published through an independent press. Can you share with us why you chose this route and what about it has worked well for you?
I wanted to learn how the backend of publishing worked before I dove into submitting to traditional publishing companies. As I had a very particular vision and goal for The Forest, I also wanted a certain level of creative control retained during its production, and Riza Press not only understood my need for that but was insistent on my involvement in the design and development of the final product. It was a wonderful experience and one I feel every author should go through at least once, so they are aware of all that the process involves. Even as a professional graphic designer with a lot of familiarity with the software and mechanics involved in designing a publication like this, it was still a steep learning curve for me.
Recently, your work has appeared in two publications focused around the COVID-19 pandemic, Capsule Stories and Pages Penned in Pandemic: A Collective. How has writing and publishing in the pandemic been for you? Has it changed your experience as an artist?
I had spent a majority of my twenties denying myself as a writer for a number of reasons. However, there’s a reason why this book and its art installation began developing heavily during the pandemic: I finally had the time to reflect on myself and who I truly was. I had spent the years before hustling, trying to figure out how to pay bills, find stability and security, figure out the next step, set myself and my husband’s lives up for the future. But even before the pandemic, I was starting to dive into internal reflection, something I had not yet allowed myself to do, and the pandemic really gave me the time to fully go through that process. Now, I’m comfortable in my self-declaration as a storyteller and have a lot more clarity in who I am and who I want to be. I’m also a lot more comfortable using these artistic and writing platforms I have to explore myself as an individual and make more sense of everything now that I can more objectively reflect with maturity and understanding on my past.
What is your writing kryptonite?
Too much planning and routine, as counterintuitive as it may seem. I can’t write at the same time every day like some people can, and I can’t go through seven drafts of a poem like a lot of creative writing programs structure their classes. My writing happens in spurts of inspiration, frustration, stress, anger, and emotion, and I just have to follow it through and let the ink flow. While I do favor some editing to my works, especially after I’ve given myself time away from them to clearly and objectively see them for what they are, I can’t pore over a piece for days or months. It becomes a chore or assignment to me and begins to lose its original meaning and intention. As much as people pan the cliché of “writing when the inspiration strikes,” it’s something that actually works for me.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who are working on their first book?
Allow yourself time away from your works to objectively see them for what they are. Be patient with yourself. Prioritize finding your authentic voice over a manufactured one that publishers might like; if they’re trying to change your story, they’re not the right publisher to handle your story (perhaps consider self-publishing instead so you retain control of your story and present it in the manner you want it to be seen and read).
Beyond that, get at least one or two good and thorough beta readers you trust (people who preferably know how to read poetry and its between-the-line intricacies), and absolutely invest in an experienced editor, someone who will catch the wrong capitalizations, misspellings, and grammar. Nothing takes me and many people out of a story more than bad or non-existent editing, and it can really interfere with telling your story accurately and impactfully.
The Forest is available now. What are you working on next?
My second poetry collection is well underway! This one will be a full-length collection and a lot more personal, focused on the road I took to finding the place I call home. I also have many ideas and story concepts for a few novels in the future, all tied to a branching narrative universe I’m creating that also includes The Forest. My poetry collection is currently taking priority, though!
Ten-year-old Harold Hufferbluss has extraordinarily vivid dreams. Some good, some not so good, and some freaky bad, but all in full color and jukebox loud. And these particular weird dreams have attracted the attention of something not quite human: Slender Sam. Ol’ Sam is watching Harold, intrigued by the boy who can dream just a little bit better than everybody else. A boy with a special knack for dreaming that others can only...dream of.