On October 31, 2018, Unsolicited Press released Michael Murray's debut essay collection WRITING NAKED. The collection is brave, reckoning with self-esteem issues, depression, and addiction. 

Our team sat down with Murray for a brief and beloved interview:

What literary journeys have you gone on?

To be quite honest, hardly any. I don’t read much, which is probably surprising. I read a lot of film critiques and other random stuff. I have a difficult time reading, let alone sitting still for more than five minutes at a time.

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What is the first book that made you cry?

I remember reading the Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls when I was in roughly fourth grade. I stayed up late to finish it and remember waking my mom and dad up in the middle of the night because I was inconsolable. I truly remember my heart hurting for the first time in a way that was completely foreign to me.  

Another book that devastated me was The Cay by Theodore Taylor. My fifth-grade homeroom teacher Ms. Jones read it to us little by little for a span of a few weeks. She read it with an islander accent and by the end of the book the entire class, including Ms. Jones, was bawling. I’m not sure if we were crying because the book was sad, or because it was so devastating to see how sad Ms. Jones was. Either way, I’ll never forget it.


Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Writing is completely exhausting for me. I can only write in the morning because it’s something that I look at as “getting out of the way.” So much of my writing, if not all of it, is highly personal, and the process of digging through my mind to remember certain events, feelings, and specific details is, for all intents and purposes, exhausting.


What are common traps for aspiring writers?

I would say self-doubt, and also being overly confident. Also, booze, women, and drugs.


Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

I have the lowest self-esteem of most people I know. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever publish anything, let alone secure a book contract. So, who knows. I think both can work. There are some arrogant assholes out there who do really well, and there are modest writers who crush it too. I guess it depends on what type of person you are.


Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

I always have readers block. I seldom read, but when I find something I like, I binge on it. Right now, it’s Melissa Broder.


Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Yes, and then I remind myself that however people interpret my writing is their problem. I say this, but I don’t really feel it yet. I am terrified that my writing will hurt people. I see a shrink and that’s a lot of what we talk about, but whether it’s a tweet, a FB post, or a text message, once I write something, how people react is completely out of my control. “Once the fire’s lit, fuck the match.”


Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

Well, if someone doesn’t feel emotions strongly they’re either in denial or a sociopath and plenty of sociopaths and people in denial write. So, yes?


What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

No one really famous besides Alissa Nutting. I have plenty of friends that are writers, but none of them are technically authors. Reading Alissa’s “Tampa” rattled me because it was one of the most vulgar things I’d ever read, and at the time I was taking her workshop at John Carroll University. I couldn’t believe that this book came out of her head. She caught a lot of shit for that book, and now it’s been hailed as one of nine books to read this summer for women. She knocked it out of the park. I’m terrified to really write with brutal honesty and nakedness, but she truly inspired me.


Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

I think each book will stand alone and will also undoubtedly connect and cohere with what comes before and after them. I also think that I might write one book and be done with it. Who knows.


What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

$20 for my submission to [the contest offered by] Unsolicited Press.


What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?

I think most anyone that I’ve read and didn’t like I stopped reading.


What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Beyond being a child I feel that I always knew language had power, whether I was as aware of it as I am now, I have no idea. I’m terrible at remembering these things.


What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

A Widow for One Year by John Irving. I saw the film “The Door in the Floor” which covers the first third of the novel and had to know how it all ended. John Irving writes dysfunction so well and he’s beyond well-known, but I never hear people talk about this novel. My mom had the book and I plowed through it. It was incredible to me. It made me want to be a writer even more, not so much because of Irving’s style, but because of one of the characters, Ted Cole. He was the garden variety philandering drunk who was tragic and whatever but I adored him.


How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

I don’t think I consciously do either, and it’s probably a good thing.


As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I wouldn’t, but I am obsessed with emperor penguins and orcas.


What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

I don’t write characters, and I feel the only thing that I owe the people that I write about is the truth, which, of course, is subjective.


How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Somewhere between 1-1,321.


What does literary success look like to you?

Making enough money to be able to do the things that I like and not be in debt up to my ears. Being able to give an occasional reading where people buy me drinks after and cute co-eds find me mysterious and intriguing. Making into Oprah’s book club and then standing her up for an interview. Having one single person tell me that something I wrote gave them hope.


What’s the best way to market your books?

Honestly, after one Facebook post I’ve had hundreds of people asking me “how’s the book Murray?” It’s terrifying. I’m not sure I want to market any further than that, if you can even call that marketing. As much as I can’t stand social media it seems to be the most effective platform to market anything.


What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I don’t research much of anything in regards to my writing. It’s almost completely personal writing. I check facts to cover my ass, that’s about it.


How many hours a day do you write?

It depends, I usually pick one thing to write about and as soon as I’m finished with that I move on to the next thing. Usually between two and four hours.


What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)

Mostly teenager and young adult, but lately I’ve been writing about my present state.


If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? And if writing isn't your "day job", what are you currently doing to pay the bills?

I’ve worked in restaurants half my life. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love serving and tending bar. It makes me love people, and it makes me hate people. The restaurant where I currently work is the most well-run place I’ve ever worked, and I can’t imagine working anywhere else. My co-workers are my family. I feel I get paid to hang out with my friends and deal with some very needy people on the side. I seldom dread going to work, and when I do, it’s usually because I’m hung over or because there’s powder on Mt. Hood, or really good surf.


What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

I feel the one thing I must give up to become a better writer is alcohol.


What is your favorite childhood book?

The Giving Tree.


Does your family support your career as a writer?

As much as they can. My mom is an avid reader, so is my father and step-father. One of my sisters is a writer as well, but she is currently putting that on the back burner. My mom fears that what I write will hurt people from my past, and she’s probably right. She also fears that I’ll air my family’s dirty laundry, but she’s going to have to get over it. My dad is supportive from a distance, and encourages me to write about whatever I want as long as it doesn’t come from a place of anger, and my step-father is supportive in the fact that he has always believe in me and encouraged me to head down this path as a writer.

Want a copy of Murray's essay collection? You can by it in our bookstore, or at any major retailer such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?

When I was an undergraduate, I had dinner with Ray Bradbury in San Diego. I never had an opportunity to cook for him, but if I had, I would have served coconut shrimp.


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

​I have been writing for so long, that my fears have long since faded away. I used to fear rejection, yet now I look at it as a learning opportunity.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

I adore Tom Robbins. He has travelled where no man has gone before...or since.


What books are on your nightstand?

Whirlwind, by James Clavell now resides on my nightstand. I thought I’d read his entire saga, yet discovered this one hidden on my bookshelf.


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

My inspiration comes from the fact that I never walk from point A to point B without seeing the letters in between. Writing is all about seeing the details in life.


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

I love the dash (—). Semi-colons look too much like sperm cells seeking an egg.


What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?

Sorry. I have always loved reading, and never missed an opportunity, assigned or not.


What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

I would thank adobe, which is still used in the manufacture of homes in Mexico. It has survived the test of time.  


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.

Because, man,  I simply must.


If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

​Don’t write because you can, write because you must.

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WALKING NATURAL PATHWAYS releases on June 19, 2018. You can purchase your copy through our store or at any other major retailer.

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?  

I would cook Schezwan food for Philip K. Dick. He probably wouldn’t like it.

What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

That I’ve bitten off more than I can chew and won’t be able to do justice to the story I’ve conceived in my mind once it’s out on the page. I remind myself that the story is already there, has existed, will always exist, and it’s simply a matter of allowing it to happen + hard work and discipline. The yin and yang of writing.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Is Soren Kierkegaard a weird answer?

What books are on your nightstand?

The Island by Coleman Dowell, The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, Our Friends from Frolix 8 by Philip K. Dick, Affair by Nick Stokes, Dune.

Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

David Bowie. Communication technology. Lucid dreaming.

Favorite punctuation mark? Why?  

I have a love and hate relationship with the em dash--it’s great for creating emphasis, but can be overused.

What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?

I read every book I was supposed to read in high school. I might have skimmed a couple chapters in The Red Badge of Courage.

What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

My shower. It’s where ideas happen.

Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.
Dissatisfaction. Compulsion. Love. Energy. Change.


If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

You can make the impossible plausible.

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If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?  

Rimbaud. Liver and onions with absinthe.


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

I fear lying to myself. I combat this by letting poems remain unvisited for weeks or months or even years. Upon seeing them again, as if for the first time, falseness is usually clearly seen.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Mr Cogito, of Zbigniew Herbert.


What books are on your nightstand?

TJ Stiles, Jesse James. Walter Pater, The Renaissance. Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon.


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

I hate to search for inspiration because I usually fail to find it. I hope that inspiration finds me. Lines or phrases that appear suddenly in my brain are often the germ of a poem. Biography of a Name began with the opening two lines:  Jimmy Hoffa is buried/in this poem...


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

No preferences, really. I avoid exclamation marks generally.



What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

The spent cartridge of a .38.


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.

Need, desire, fear, sorrow, joy.



If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

Don’t trust yourself. You don’t exist. Look at the words.

Bill Rector is the author of Biography of a Name, released on May 8, 2018. You can purchase it HERE and at all major retailers.

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?

George R.R. Martin could probably fill an entire novel with descriptions of food taken from his Song of Ice and Fire series. I’ve been watching a lot of Top Chef and Great British Baking Show lately, so I’d like the challenge of cooking an entire tasting menu for him!


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

The starting. The sitting straining searching. The staring at a screen or notebook for over an hour only to realize what is there is not good. You might think it’s not as big an issue when writing petite poems, but with the limited space and emphasis on word choice it can be even more painful.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Elizabeth from Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess. When she turned down Ronald at the end of the story I fell smack in love.


What books are on your nightstand?

I am currently reading Communion by TJ Beitelman (inspiring at bedtime), Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton (too scary for bedtime!), and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (calming at bedtime). Some old favorites I return to often are Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

Life. Emotions. Many ideas come from working as an elementary school teacher for over a decade - I wake up every day not knowing exactly what will happen. Other ideas come from current events, family, travel and living in the woods.

I am also inspired by stories within stories, like the Deathless Man in Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife, Louis Thanksgiving in Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!, and the flashbacks in Louis Sachar’s Holes. I’m inspired to experiment with how to achieve that in short poems.


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

Definitely an ellipsis . . . I love how it evokes an ergodic response from the reader. When you see it, you slow down your eyes and inner thoughts at the same time - very powerful magic for an author to achieve through three little dots.


What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?

The Grapes of Wrath - and shame on me. I had just read The Catcher in the Rye and fell so deeply in love with its angst and anger toward “phony” people that it was hard for my rigid, teenage self to go through any book with religious connotations so closely tied to it.


What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

Tree House Beer.


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.

We’re all in this together.


If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

Through . . .

David Wasserman is the author of Tiny Footcrunch, a poetry collection set to release on April 30, 2018. You can pick up a copy on our site or at any major retailer.

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?

Anais Nin. Conversation! There’s nothing else to make with a woman like her in the room!


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

Being cliche and losing my identity. Being unable to feel things enough to put them into words. Going blank. All of this scare me and all of this has happened before, and the only thing to do then is let time do it’s thing. Nothing forced is ever good enough.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?

Leonard Cohen:)
And an adman named Daniel Kee. He isn’t published yet, but when he is, I’ll buy them all!


What books are on your nightstand?

​Murakami- Men Without Women
Jhumpa Lahiri- Interpreter of Maladies


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?

​Stories, music, random words, life- my own and that of those around me.


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?

The comma. I do not like endings. I believe that everything is a continuation of something else.


What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?

Wuthering Heights


What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?

My iphone! Most of my 3am poems happened there!


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.

 To feel.To bleed. To heal. For passion. For purpose.


If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?

Stay Raw.

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On March 20, 2018 we will release MERRICK, a short collection of poems about Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man). The author, James LaMontagne is brilliant. To celebrate the release, we would like to share an interview with LaMontagne so you can get to know him better.

If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?


I would love to cook dinner for Christine de Pizan, an amazing French feminist writer of the late fourteenth century  I am particularly fond of her Book of the City of Ladies, which imagines what the world would be like if women ran it. As Christine was a pampered lady of the French court, I would need to make something à la francaise, because she probably wouldn’t like anything else. I think I would make a cream of lettuce soup, followed by a duck in orange sauce, finishing with a tarte tatin. (And yes -- I DO know how to make all that.  I had a job years ago translating at a cooking school in Paris that catered to American students. They paid me and gave me cooking lessons. I have an intermediate certificate in French cooking from the now-defunct Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne.)


What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?

Years ago, I used to revise while sobbing.  I usually write first drafts with gusto and confidence, sure I have written something amazing.  Then, after a time, I return to the first draft and realize it is just a stinking mess. This used to bother me, but now, I acknowledge how bad I am before I become better. I combat my dread of realizing I am not yet better than Shakespeare ever was by admitting to myself that not even Shakespeare was Shakespeare in his first draft. As the novelist Camus said, “Ecrire, c’est récrire” -- to write is to rewrite. This is just the job of the author in all genres.


Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?


Like many  female avid readers, I fall in love with male characters authored by women. Without endorsing the glaring political problems of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, I used to have a massive and dysfunctional crush on Rhett Butler. Luckily, I realized that I did not so much want to be with Rhett Butler as I needed to acknowledge that in some measure I AM Rhett Butler.  I am an eccentric Southerner (transplanted from Brooklyn) with suspicious Yankee ties. I dress well. I swagger. I am unapologetically unconventional. I might be brave to the point of recklessness. And frankly, my dear….

I do retain a love for Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac -- probably not the actual historical figure -- but the man who could win a sword fight while composing a poem with an envoi?  That’s what makes me want to shout at Roxanne that she should forget the pretty boy soldier and respect the man who ghost-wrote him.  But I forgive her. There is no way she could have understood in a society that demanded virginity from brides that a very big nose might be a sign that something else was out-sized as well.
What books are on your nightstand?
Currently, I have a scholarly edition of The Confessions of Nat Turner (the historical document, not the Styron novel), Tracy K. Smith’s utterly brilliant collection Life on Mars, Derek Harriell’s Stripper in Wonderland, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff (Don’t judge me! If this book is wrong, I don’t want to be right), The King James Bible, and Alison Pelegrin’s delightful collection Water Lines, of which I just published a review. I tend to read a lot all at once. I only finish about eighty percent of the prose books I start. If the prose is too provocative of grief or fear, I get a little like that Friends character Joey and want to put the book in the freezer. Right now, Ward’s novel is breaking my heart.  It may end up in the freezer for that reason.


Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?
 I get my idea in portions, rarely as a whole.  For instance. I wrote a series of poems called “Tribulation Lyrics.” I started from the premise that if one reads the Book of Revelation as a whole, one sees events before the return of Jesus at a distance comparable to the one from which satellite photos might be taken -- big-picture, impersonal perspectives of the masses’ experience during tribulation. I first asked myself how one might express something in a first-person lyric that couldn’t see the big picture in any meaningful way, where the person was in the middle of living through a difficult time on Earth. I wondered what that would look like.  I had the negative example of the Left Behind series, which writes about what could be the most interesting topic in the world but finds itself understandably overwhelmed with trying to fit all things in Revelation into the series -- I frankly think it’s poorly written, for all the money it made. So I gave myself small Revelation assignments: The first one was, “if you could leave a note right before getting raptured, what would you say?” The second was, “if someone found evidence of a missing person that might have been raptured, what would he or she say to  the police?” For the first of these two, I thought about who might find the note. I decided it would likely be someone trying to hotwire a nice but abandoned car. For the second of these two, I decided to incorporate the trope from traditional Catholic hagiographic studies, where a sign accepted of sainthood is a dead body smelling like flowers. I decided a housekeeper would be a likely 911 caller, and I made her smell unidentified roses.


Favorite punctuation mark? Why?
The question mark is the most productive punctuation mark and is hence my favorite.  All of scientific inquiry depends on it. I read a great deal of religious literature, and I love how in the Talmud (which I have only read in translation -- no Aramaic, alas ) the method of inquiry is almost always to answer one question with another question. I note that God doesn’t answer Job out of the whirlwind at the end of Job with answers but with questions. I read once from Elie Wiesel that while humans disagree with each other about a great many things, our questions unite us.  Therefore, I applaud the question mark as the unifier of the human race.


What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?
Not surprisingly, my high school assigned Moby Dick, and by chapter 3, I wanted to have that stupid white whale eat them all. I just found Melville’s prose pompous, phallocentric (though I didn’t know that word then), and boring. I got in trouble with my English teacher.  She saw me scribbling during her Moby Dick lectures in a way that didn’t suggest I was writing down what she said about the book.  She thought I was passing notes. She made me stand up and read to the whole class what I was working on.  I was toward the end of writing an 18-page paper on how all of Tennessee Williams’ female protagonists resemble his mother as he describes her in his memoirs. After class, she spoke to me kindly about why I wasn’t reading Melville as assigned, and because she was so impressed with what I was writing about Williams, she let me turn in that essay in lieu of a Moby Dick  paper.


What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?
I would like to thank the world’s supply of Diet Coke. I am shamed by those who claim that the current president’s eccentric and hostile tweets are fueled by his overconsumption of that soft drink, but I manage to keep my Tweets grammatical and polite despite an excessive consumption of that product. Don’t take my word for it.  Follow me @annebabson and see for yourself whether or not I make up stupid nicknames for my political adversaries or ever end a Tweet with a single word sentence -- “Sad.”


Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.
You might read and understand.


If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?


Never fall so much in love with the booming sound of your own voice that you drown out the soft and improbable voice of irrational inspiration.





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On August 8, 2017,  we will release Martina Reisz-Newberry's newest poetry collection Take the Long Way Home. We are thrilled to share this book with you as Martina is such a touching and brave poet.  We asked Martina a few questions, so you can get to know her better! Here is what she had to say:

Hey All!

In an effort to facilitate some hearty promotion, we'd like you to answer the following interview questions.

1. What literary journeys have you gone on?
I tried writing short stories and a couple of novels when I was first taking myself seriously as a writer, but they never really satisfied me. Poems, when I’m writing well, are like a good meal. Very satisfying.

2. What is the first book that made you cry?
One of the books in the Wizard of Oz series. I still have them all--a gift from my son one Christmas--the entire set of the Oz books. I cried somewhere in each book.

3. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
It depends. When I’m mud-wrestling words and I win, it’s extremely energizing. When the words and I just continue to fight each other, it’s very tiring and depressing. I write every day and every day is a different experience.

4. What are common traps for aspiring writers?
They don’t read enough.

5. Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
Hell, I have no idea! It’s not the size of the ego; it’s that a writer needs to have as much respect for the craft and for the reader as she/he has for him/herself.

6. Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
I’ve never heard this term before. No. I can always read.

7. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No.  I like my name pretty well.

8. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
It depends on what is being written. I don’t know any writers who don’t feel emotions strongly, but I know poets and novelists. I suppose someone could write business or technical or research papers without emotion.

9. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Sad to say, those writers who were my dearest, closest friends and who influenced me to a huge degree have died. Larry Kramer was my mentor and teacher and brother. His work has influenced mine for decades. Marcella Carrie, a sister of my soul, was a writer who was just beginning to produce wonderful work when she died recently.  “Friends” is a tough word for me. I’m very shy and a bit of a loner.  My closest friends now are not writers or they no longer write.

10. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I think I’d like each book to stand on its own, and, at the same time there are definitely connections. Certain characters and stories come up in lots of my poems. They visit me all the time. I have to tell some of them to go away and come back later.  I tell them, “I already wrote about you today.”  

11. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
My Norton Anthologies are my treasures. I have a Norton Anthology of Poetry, 1970 which is falling apart and I can’t part with it. Several other of the Norton anthologies are also writer’s tools  which I am so glad I bought. I have them handy all the time.

12. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?
C.S. Lewis is one. I didn’t much like his writing until I read his Space Trilogy and the Narnia Books. After falling in love with those, I came to like his other work very much.

13. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I think I was born knowing it. I began reading way before Kindergarten and loved words and the way they sounded and felt in my mouth and mind.  My father was a grand storyteller and some of my most wonderful memories are listening to him speak. His stories made me laugh and wonder and sometimes cry.

I have experienced the beauty and the terrible harm of language. I have never believed that “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That’s nonsense. Language has great power to hurt. I remember vividly the first time I was told I was ugly, the first time my ex-husband said he hated me.  But then there is the beauty of language. When my dear friend/mentor, Larry Kramer called me a “real poet,” I remember exactly how it affected me and where we were, and what the weather was, etc. There is a remarkable Spoken Word Artist named Monte Smith who uses language in a way that each word is palpable--you can smell, taste, feel his life in every word.  

14. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
“Under the Volcano” by Malcolm Lowry is one. I love the book and don’t know too many people who share my opinion of it.  I also like “Wolf” by Jim Harrison.

17. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?
I owe them the privacy of not using their real names unless it’s a dedication or epigraph.

18. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have three books in progress and they aren’t published.

19. What does literary success look like to you?
I think I’d feel successful if I had a kind of following--maybe a couple hundred people who actually buy my books when they come out. And, maybe hearing from those readers that I affected them somehow.  I am so grateful for those who do like my work, I guess I just wish there were more of them buying books and saying so.

20. What’s the best way to market your books?
Pardon my French, but I have no fucking idea.

21. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I am always writing poems, always thinking of how to weave them into a book. I read all the time, nearly as much as I write.  I look up anything that strikes my fancy: subjects I hear people discussing on the bus or train or in coffee shops, odd names and places I hear on the news, bits of information I see in my reading. To me, researching is listening as well as reading.

22. How many hours a day do you write?
I write either on paper, on the computer, or in my head all day, every day.  I am at my desk writing at least 4-5 hours per day.

23. What periods of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)
They all sort of blend in my mind. I write about all of them.

24. How do you select the names of your characters?
They knock on the door of my heart/mind and introduce themselves to me.

If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? And if writing isn't your "day job", what are you currently doing to pay the bills?
I think I’d like to be a very, very exclusive, high-priced Call Girl.

What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
Worrying.

What are your favorite childhood books?
Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz series

Does your family support your career as a writer?
My husband is extremely supportive he is an artist in his own right, a Media Creative, and is incredibly respectful of everything having to do with my work as I am with his.

Q: Many of the characters in your stories are men struggling with guilt, shame, confusion, lust, and existential angst. What draws you to these characters?  

You’re talking about the essential building blocks to a healthy existence! Seriously, most of us spend our entire lives wallowing in that emotional stew. 

The night before my father died – at age 90 – he was still feeling angst over his father’s mistreatment eighty years earlier. Eighty years! My Dad was born during a worldwide plague, lived through the Depression, fought in World War II, almost died several times, helped raise five children, managed to construct a terrific life with a great wife and family, and live twenty years longer than he ever could have imagined. But the biggest thing on his mind as he slipped away was his abusive father.  

That incident, along with a personal experience that happened a few years later and which at the time seemed traumatic, was the catalyst that led to my search for emotional peace. I was feeling guilt, discontent, and anger that, especially considering my advantaged and relatively trouble-free life, didn’t make sense to me.    

Writing became my therapy, and in particular, writing about angst-ridden characters became a way to exorcise my own emotional demons. The challenge is to lose the baggage that doesn’t matter, while maintaining a proper dose of self-analysis to keep you from becoming a complete asshole.  

Q: Several of your stories are about the struggle to adapt to a new reality, both from the standpoint of getting older and also because what was once familiar is quickly vanishing as technology advances. A few of your characters see the benefits of technology, but some also experience the downside, like your character in “Hecklers” that becomes an overnight YouTube star. What are your attitudes about technology and how does the tension between getting older and keeping pace with our rapidly changing world inform your writing? 

I am deeply conflicted on the entire issue of technology. It makes me sad to see a couple or an entire family ignoring each other at dinner, their gazes tilted into their crotches, preferring online interaction over the people in front of them. That being said, technology has been very good to me personally, and it seems an essential tool for the challenging future humans face. I am also somewhat of an early adopter, and can’t imagine life without many of my silly devices. Could life exist without Sonos? Of course not.  Plus, not a day goes by that I don’t see some interesting storyline in our love of technology. 

My biggest concern—and the latest literary theme that seems to be driving me—is that we are in uncharted human territory, and we don’t know how this will all develop. Communication has become so trivial, our societal heroes so plastic, that it all feels very out of control. Online communication is uniquely anonymous, so honesty, civility, and compassion are no longer valued. In many ways it has become a digital highway for hate. That was certainly a big part of my motivation for writing “One Star.” 
For the first time, human beings seem to be switching ecosystems. Since our origin we have been part of the interconnected system of living organisms that make up this planet. I spend a lot of my free time working on environmental issues, and one of the things you quickly learn in how connected all living things are, and what seems to be a relatively minor disruption can have major consequences. Our blatant disregard for the earth, and our relentless drive to instead plug into the worldwide web portends a big change. It feels like we might be abandoning this living ecosystem, to jack into a manufactured world that has completely different rules, and outcomes, we might not understand.  

  
 Q: What do you think women would think of the men in your stories?  Do you think most men view women the way your characters do?  

Ah, that seems to be a bit of a loaded question. I am the first to admit that some of the men I write about are truly awful human beings, but hopefully the reader understands that I am usually being satirical, or in my darker stories, exploring those horrifying, yet compelling personalities that make us shudder. And I totally reject the idea that writing should be hampered by political correctness, as life isn’t politically correct. 

You might not like all my characters, but they will never bore you. Sometimes I burden a single character with the terrible traits I’ve observed in multiple individuals to better highlight a point, making that personality a little over the top. Throughout the collection I also hope the reader discovers many authentic, likable men. The man in Costco Girl, and The Tower are confused romantics. The fathers in Midnight Elvis and One Star are emblematic of the strong, wonderful, flawed men I knew growing up that were just trying to provide for their families. 


Q: You’re a 30-year veteran of the advertising world. How does that inform your writing? 

Advertising can be a terrific training ground for a writer. Most importantly, it teaches you creative discipline. You’re not allowed to have writer’s block. Colleagues and clients are waiting, and your job is on the line. You have to create every single day, and meet every deadline. You grow accustomed, and in fact, appreciate constructive criticism and editing. By its very nature advertising forces brevity, and a multi-layered approach to communication, which can be a great asset. 

It also forces you to stay culturally aware, and depending on the kind of advertising you are involved with, it can provide you with a lifetime of interesting characters: crazy inventors, bombastic CEOs (one was accused of murder), sociopath advertising directors, sex fiends, religious fanatics, a narcoleptic woman that would fall asleep in meetings while eating Dairy Queen Dip Cones, Mafia members, movie and television stars both on the way up and on the way out…. A cavalcade of awful, wonderful, slightly insane characters that inspired me with a lifetime of stories. 


Q: You grew up in Montana, but now divide your time between California, Oregon, and Washington. Most of your stories are set in those places. What significance does “place” play in your life and your writing?   

I’m acutely interested in the connection between place and persona, and to understand the connection I think you need to spend time there, so all of my stories are rooted in locations that I know well. I will often research a hundred years’ of a town’s history before I use it in a story. It helps me, and I think it helps the reader. I want them to literally be able to smell the place, and know how the location has shaped the character. 

In my story “Impala,” a boy is kidnapped outside of Sunset Bowling Alley in Billings, Montana. Sunset is a real place that I spent a lot of time frequenting as a kid. I loved it, but it always seemed sinister to me. When I was considering the location for a kidnapping, it seemed perfect. 

A lot of my work takes place in Montana—in fact I’m working on a novel right now that’s set in Montana and Oregon, the two states I know best. Generally, I just like people from Montana. The good ones have a libertarian streak that transcends the usual biases. They tend to be self-sufficient, and are generous. They’re tough, but very friendly. And they never feel inclined to demonstrate how smart they are, it just unfolds in normal conversation. Dewey, the Sheriff in The Purification, reminds me a lot of the men I grew up around. He’s economical in emotion and word, with a deep sense of duty, a wide tender streak, and a surprisingly good sense of humor. Montana also gave me my literary roots. I spent my undergraduate years at the University of Montana.   


Q: Are there particular kinds of stories you’re drawn to? Ones you steer clear of? 

It sounds awfully basic, but I like a story with a beginning, middle, and an end. I tend to value concept equally with craft. I want to take my readers on a journey, as opposed to just painting a beautiful scene, and I like my characters big and messy. I want a laugh, or at least a smile, or perhaps to shock you. 


Q: Some of your stories are based on true events like “Dick Cheney Shot Me In the Face” and “The Big Chocolate Whizzle.” What inspires you to fictionalize and flesh out true events? 

There is a basis of truth to all my stories, as I tend to be a collector of unusual events that inspire me to investigate more, and imagine the circumstances that preceded the story.  

A few years ago I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at a fly-fishing tournament. One night Dick Cheney showed up, floating through the room like a smiling corpse, and of course the conversation among my friends migrated to his hunting skills. Cheney is so iconic, and I became very curious. I read a couple books on the man, and researched his background. While my narrator in the story is fictional, all the facts about Cheney are true, and I thought it just became an interesting way to bridge fact and fiction. 

Years ago my wife and I were on an overnight flight from LA to Australia, and when we woke up in the morning I discovered that the flight attendants had handcuffed a young man to a bathroom door in the rear of the plane. Sometime during the night he had gotten drunk, jumped up on his seat, and began urinating on his fellow passengers, which I believe placed him high on the terrible traveler scale. I researched the phenomenon, and discovered it was not all that unusual. Who would have thought that was a thing? The main episode that occurs in “The Big Chocolate Whizzle” is based on a real event I discovered during the research; a business executive overly imbibed on a flight, and ended up ruining his life. I wouldn’t have thought to make that one up. 


Q: Many of your stories are darkly humorous and have hints of irreverence. How do you approach comic relief in your stories without being gratuitous?      

Your question makes the kind inference that my work isn’t gratuitous. I do hope it isn’t, but sometimes it’s difficult not to cross a line, as it is often in the eye of the reader.  About a year ago I received the following rejection letter from an editor: “Thanks for your submission. I found the story very insensitive and offensive on many levels, but I must say it was the best thing I read all week. It made me laugh out loud. Unfortunately, we could never publish it.” A week later another publication accepted it absent any trepidation, and it is in the collection. I will let the reader guess which story he was talking about. 

Wit is its own brand of intelligence, and I admire and aspire to witty writing. Those that do it well can navigate potentially gratuitous subjects with grace. Take the fart joke. As told by guys like Adam Sandler it will always be gratuitous; more shocking than funny. But thirty years ago I read David Niven’s wonderfully witty biography, The Moon’s a Balloon, which contains the greatest fart joke ever told. I still clearly remember it; a wonderful story involving Cary Grant and a surprised fan.    

Sometimes I’m unsure if I crossed a line, and I tend to call on five or six different people that I respect to read the work. Each of them has a different comic sensibility that I understand, and I look to their responses to judge if the piece is working. They almost never agree, and I don’t write by committee, but sometimes there is consensus about something that escaped me that I take seriously.   


Q: What books do you remember most from childhood? Any stories or characters that really stuck with you through the years? Is there a particular book that made you want to write, and who influences you now? 

My literary journey began with The Hardy Boys, Jack London, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I remember being obsessed with Treasure Island, The Swiss Family Robinson, A Wrinkle in Time, My Side of the Mountain, The Outsiders, and The Catcher in the Rye. From there I discovered Stephen King, and a host of mystery writers often read via flashlight under the covers.  

Hunter S. Thompson’s work was probably my first major literary crush as a near adult. I’ve admired Gay Talese, especially Thy Neighbor’s Wife, though I have to admit I’m a bit baffled by his newest book, The Voyeur’s Motel. 

More recently I’m inspired by Tom Perotta’s ability to move from suburban wit to dark, high concept tales.  I’ve had a life-long love affair with Elmore Leonard’s writing, especially his incredible dialogue. I’m a fan of Richard Russo’s dry humor, and smart, stoic men. The opening paragraph to his newest book, Everybody’s Fool, was a delightfully humbling experience. I will always read anything Cormac McCarthy writes, though sometimes it’s a bit difficult to stomach. Carl Hiaasen is a wonderfully funny satirist, and I love Dave Eggers take on culture. 

While the first edition of If & When We Wake was being edited, printed and set for release, Scott Hutchison and Francis Daulerio sat down and, over the course of a few days, had a conversation about writing, music, inspiration, and influence.  
 
Scott: When did you write your first poem and do you still have it somewhere? Perhaps I mean your first "serious" poem. The one that made you realise that you could actually DO this...
 
Francis: I’ve always been interested in creative writing, but my poetry “career” is relatively new.  I was in a band throughout high school and college, so all of my writing was geared towards crafting songs.  Even today, most of my influences are songwriters, not poets.  When we stopped playing together in 2008 I wasn't really sure what to do with myself.  I tried to do my own thing musically for a little while, but after I graduated I had to trade the guitar in for a job, and that kind of sucked up all my time.  A few months after I began teaching, I started really getting into poetry, and eventually I scribbled down a little poem called Gift; or, Curse while I was sitting at cafeteria duty.  It’s about the past never totally going away or something like that.  Nothing too groundbreaking.  My buddy Rich, who I teach with, gave me some tips and encouraging words, and I guess that’s how this all started.
 
It’s not the best poem, but it was the first one I wrote in the style that I currently follow.  It’s only four or five lines long, but I tried to thicken it up with layers.  I think it was important because it allowed me to feel out the contemporary poetry world as far as what was considered acceptable, and I was able to use that information to help me craft more poems and eventually apply to grad school for my MFA.
 
I’ve always had that need to create, and when I wasn't able to satisfy that urge with music, I turned to poetry.  How has that worked for you?  Did you start out with the visual arts and shift towards music, or have they always been a separate thing?  
 
Scott: I definitely made pictures before I ever thought about making music, though I do clearly recall telling my one of my first school teachers that I wanted to be Eric Clapton when I grew up. I remember being confused by her response at the time, though I now realise she was essentially saying “that might not be a good idea, he was really fucked up for a while.” Throughout high school I was just a guitar player and I had no interest in singing or writing lyrics, so my main creative outlet was still drawing at that point.
 
That changed during the four years I spent at art school. There, I was making work that generally went down well with my tutors and classmates, but I felt like I was pretending half of the time. There were fewer moments of real expression and joy at just making something. It slowly became a slightly fake, cerebral pursuit as opposed to a genuine reflection of my thoughts and personality. That’s when I started to sing and write lyrics (still very privately for the first 3 years), and the balance slowly began to shift. Music, once a hobby, became a real concern. The art that I was making started to feel emptier and by the time I graduated I had pretty much decided that I was going to be a songwriter first and visual artist second.
 
That said, the two often go hand in hand, and my approach to writing and recording music is eternally influenced by what I learned at college, particularly the lessons of what NOT to do. I guess I try to follow my instincts with both of these outlets now and it’s strange for drawing to take on a much less intense, more pleasurable role in my life whilst making music has become a business of sorts. I do feel a sense of belonging in the music world though, which I never quite felt at the art school. I suppose this has to do with the “gang” ethic of a band, as opposed to the lonely practise of drawing. I was interested to know whether you write quite privately, or tend to bounce ideas off those whose opinions you trust? Reading the work, I get a real sense of solitude and many hours spent within your own head.
 
Francis: It’s interesting how that shift occurs.  I don’t know how my writing would have changed if I’d continued writing songs, but I definitely feel like what I’m writing now is authentic.  I’m not going through the motions with it, at least right now.  All of the poems in If & When We Wake are incredibly personal for me, so I didn't need to spend a lot of time inventing material.  It’s all the culmination of my experiences over the last ten years or so.  In that sense it makes everything really valid for me.  Who knows how that will change as I try to push my writing further?  Do you ever feel like the creative well is running low?
 
And yea, you pretty much nailed my creative process.  A lot of time spent in my head, brooding over thoughts.  I think of it as the Bon Iver approach to writing.  You know how Vernon isolated himself in that hunting cabin in Wisconsin when he wrote For Emma Forever Ago?  I lock myself into this quiet, private world and let myself become totally immersed in what I’m writing.  It’s escape as much as it is catharsis.  
 
I don’t know what your songwriting process looks like, but I spend exponentially more time coming up with a central image than I do actually writing a poem. The material is there, but finding a creative way to get it out is the real challenge, especially with the shorter pieces.  The good thing is when it happens, it happens quickly.  Some of my favorite pieces were spoken into the recorder on my phone while I was driving to work, but the amount of time that went into developing and editing those ideas is hard to quantify.
 
As for sharing my work, I hate it.  I have a few people who I’ll reach out to for help with unfinished work, like my grad school professors, the other poets I went to school with, a few friends, and my wife, but otherwise I really don’t like bouncing ideas off of people.  That’s a flaw, because sometimes it results in shit poetry that I don't realize is shit.  At least not right away.  I’ll feel like I’m onto something, but there’s always that doubt that keeps me from reaching out to people for tips or help.  My MFA program helped me a lot with it, but I doubt I’ll ever be too extroverted when it comes to my writing.  I’m just too private.    
 
Maybe I’ll get there eventually.  Have you?  Do you feel like you know when a song or a picture is satisfying its requirements?  I was more than happy to give you carte blanche with the drawings for the book, and I’m so pleased with the results, because I wanted them to be your own interpretations, but did you ever question whether or not a piece fit properly?  Was that stressful for you at all?    
 
Scott: I totally agree with the idea of forming words around a central image. Once that’s in place the rest of it tends to arrive reasonably quickly, and I will continue to edit everything right up to the moment I’m called upon to record the final vocal. Those key themes have eluded me for brief periods of time (though it can feel like an age when I’m waiting for something good to arrive). Conversely, I never had any trouble finding a way to represent your words in an image. My method was simply to read through until something struck me, and not to overthink things thereafter. The idea was that new light might be cast on the words and these two pieces can kind of “collaborate” on the page. I loved the fact that you gave me total freedom during this process. This book is something I’m really proud to have been involved in and it gave me a chance to get back inside my own head and work in that private, quiet manner again. So… thanks!
 
I suppose the major difference between the forms that you and I have chosen is the noise. My work is often pretty fucking loud, but I love the silence and the short, meditative moments that your poetry gives the reader. Do you find it disconcerting that these personal thoughts of yours will now be available to anyone who wants them? I try to look at it as a privilege rather than an intrusion. You are the one extending the invite after all... That said, it was a shock to realise during the first bouts of touring following The Midnight Organ Fight that my private thoughts had become quite the opposite. I guess I’ll ask you about how that feels in a couple of months! I enjoy the fact that any musician has two very different formats in which to present songs - on record and playing live in front of an audience. I didn’t have any choice but to become more extrovert when I made the first moves towards a career in music. Performance is a huge part of my life now and I jumped into it a lot more wholeheartedly than anyone, including myself, could have expected. Have you ever performed your poetry for an audience? It feels like a lot of the poems aren’t really made for the stage, but is that something you’re interested in?
 
Francis: I was really happy that you didn't ask for directions about drawings.  I definitely wanted the book to be more of a collaboration instead of me delegating ideas.
I have done a few readings, but I can’t say I enjoy it.  Have you been to the Blind Poet in Edinburgh?  It’s a little bar near the university where I did my residency a few summers ago.  I gave my first reading there during an Open Mic, and it went pretty well.  They have cheap whiskey, too, so that helped.  It was a good initiation.  I figured if I was terrible, no one would remember me anyway.  The poems themselves aren’t fit too well for a live audience, but I find that I can talk between them to give context and a bit of a back-story, which filled what would otherwise be uncomfortable gaps.   
 
It’s weird, because I loved being on stage when I was in a band.  I was the singer and I really got into being up there in front of a crowd making noise.  Now I write these quiet little poems about tomatoes and people dying, and it feels like such a different beast.  I’d be so much more comfortable getting up with my guitar and just playing some songs, but I guess I did this to myself, right?  I’m sure it’ll grow on me.
 
I’m glad you feel that silence!  That’s totally what I go for as I write.  With this book I tried to create an environment for readers, not just a set of ideas.  I wanted to paint a landscape and build a context for people to feel like they’re part of as they read.  I think that’s why the central image thing is so important for me, and also why I try to focus so much on natural settings.  I want people to feel the dirt and the grass when they’re interacting with the poems.  It’s not just the words.  It’s about the full experience, which is another reason why I think your illustrations add so much to the book.
 
Despite my hesitation to share unfinished work, I’m actually really excited for people to read this.  While I’m writing, I’m very shut off, but now that it’s done I want as many people to see it as possible.  I’m removed from the writing process enough at this point that the whole privacy thing doesn’t scare me anymore.  I think it might be difficult for some of my family members to read, so I am a bit nervous about ripping open old scars.  But otherwise, I hope everyone who reads it can take something out of it.  I like to think that people will be able to identify with the poems on their own personal levels.  We’ve all experienced loss of some type.  Everybody’s been through some shit, and that has to count for something.  I’m sure you have people tell you that they identify Organ Fight with some really important moments in their lives, maybe not in the way you had intended.  Do you think about that as you write?  Is listener interpretation something you think about when you put an album together?
 
Scott: I have been to The Blind Poet! A friend of mine read there a couple of years ago, though I didn’t get any of that free whisky. Damn. Personally, I’d hate to get up and read for people. Nobody really knows what to do at poetry events. Do we applaud? Do we interact? Nope, let’s just shuffle our feet and cough every so often. There are very established modes of behaviour for audiences at rock concerts, and I love playing to that. And this is something that, like it or not, is present in the back of my mind when we’re making an album. I do think forward to the potentially massive set closer, or the bit where everyone in the crowd is singing along. It’s not that I design the music to work in that setting, but it’s definitely a (partly subliminal) consideration.
 
Having said that, I’d never second guess a listener’s interpretation of the material. Once an album or song is released, it doesn’t belong to me anymore. The feeling that went into making it is probably long gone by that point, having spent too many hours in the studio thinking about the snare sound as opposed to the sentiment. I think my family certainly found it enlightening, if a little odd, to hear how my life had been going over the course of the last few albums. Singing a song about suicide when your parents are in the audience is an interesting experience, especially when they didn’t know you had been having such thoughts. But ultimately, it’s a song about NOT killing myself. I think anyone close to you will recognise the same sense of catharsis in your work and realise that this is your way of staying sane.
 
Going back to the performance thing, perhaps some things are meant to exist only on the page, and it’s an interesting question as to whether anyone even wants to hear why you or I wrote something. I feel like your work lends itself really well to the reader’s immersement in their own memories. Something about the amount of space left on the page around the words makes it very easy to drift off into thought whilst reading your work. Is it intentional to use the page in this way? Graphically speaking, you’ve laid it all out very sparsely which I think works really well. I like how this contrasts with some of the ‘busier’ drawings. I’m not very good at minimalism. Even when I was a wee boy, my mum said i would always fill the page right to the edge when I was drawing. It’s often that way with my music, for better or worse. I’m intrigued as to what kind of music you made/make… Does it relate to your poetry at all? Or is your writing intentionally opposite to what you did with the band?
 
Francis: Poetry readings can be terribly awkward if the readers don’t know what the hell they’re doing.  They’re like solo performances.  If the performer is uncomfortable, everybody else will be too.  There’s also the problem of etiquette, though.  Readings aren’t the most widely attended events, so people don’t know how to handle themselves when they go.  I guess it’s a chicken/egg kind of thing.  There’s no way to determine who makes it weird, but I think if a crowd is good and a reader is good it can feel really natural.  We’ll have to wait and see how the readings go for this book.  The minimalism you were talking about works on the page, I think, but doesn't lend itself too well to a smooth reading.  Part of me just wants to get up there and read the whole goddamn thing straight through.  Let the narrative do the work.  That could also backfire hard…
My writing styles have shifted a bit over the years, but emotionally I think there’s a pretty noticeable connection between my lyrics and my poetry.  Before my band stopped playing, we had just started recording what would have been our third album.  My grandfather had recently passed, and it was basically me pouring out my sorrows into a grouping of ten or so pissed off and depressed songs.  Some of them weren’t bad, but a lot of them were just undirected emotional purges.  We gave the band up before we got anything recorded, and I was left with this incomplete feeling.  I didn't get the catharsis I was looking for because the whole concept never came to fruition in a way that would have given me some closure.  I felt like I didn't fully get to say goodbye.  That was eight years ago now, and part of me is happy that we never finished it.  I think it was all too fresh, and the extra time has given me the ability to step back and let everything settle.  In a lot of ways I guess I let that need be my starting point for If & When We Wake.  It picks up where those songs would have, but in a more mature and crafted way.  It also gave me time to zoom out and see how those feelings informed the other experiences in my life, which let the poems in the book take on other topics.
 
I still write songs here and there.  Some of them have served as starting points for poems.  I’m really into the indie rock and folk groups.  Modest Mouse, Typhoon, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, Horse Feathers, Gregory Alan Isakov.  I don’t think there’s a big difference between their writing and mine, at least where theme and image are concerned.  I’m certainly not comparing myself to them, though.  You can definitely find their influences in my writing.  And there are bands like Death Cab for Cutie, who actually led me to Frightened Rabbit, that I can listen to no matter what’s going on in my life.  These bands are just as important to me as the poets I’ve grown to love.  They’ve permeated every aspect of my life, and I approach their works in the same way I’d approach a book or a piece of art.  Do you have bands like that?
 
I’d love to get back into music some day, because I do miss it, but I don’t know how or why that would ever realistically happen.  A pipedream I guess.  For now I’m just going to see what happens with this book, and hopefully I’ll sit down to start writing the next one soon.  What’s next for Frabbits?  You guys are heading into the studio soon, right?  
 
Scott: I have only a handful of bands that are always with me. I suppose it’s similar to the way we tend to make friends; the most meaningful relationships are formed in your 20’s. For me that happened with The National, TV on the Radio, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, The Twilight Sad, Neutral Milk Hotel… Frightened Rabbit wouldn’t be what it is without those bands and artists. I’ve been surreptitiously (or perhaps not so!) ripping all of those guys off for the past 10 years. But then you can skew and twist the things you steal to make them your own. For this latest album, which we start recording in June, the influences are different again but the aforementioned will always be there, chipping in.
 
The point when an album starts to come together after a year of slowly finding the puzzle pieces is an incredibly exciting time. I’m sure it’s the same feeling for you with this book. I’m really looking forward to it coming out! I think we first met in October 2013, that’s when you handed me the first manuscript. It’s been a long journey. Congratulations, Fran!  
 
Francis:  Yea, that was October, before your show at the Electric Factory.  I can’t believe how far this whole thing has come since then, and I couldn’t be happier about how it’s all turning out.  It’s funny.  Some years before that, my wife and I saw you guys play at the First Unitarian Church in Philly with the Bad Veins, and halfway through their opening set I realized we were standing next to you.  I didn’t have the balls to say anything, which was probably for the best.  I get really awkward in those types of situations.  I hadn’t really even considered writing a book yet, and to think how much has happened since then just blows me away.  Thanks so much for getting involved in this project with me!  It’s really turned my vision into something remarkable.  
Scott: Ha! Well, I’m glad you had the balls to ask me to illustrate the book! It was a big relief when I read your work after that show at the Electric Factory and realised that it is truly brilliant. I love that it can be read both as tiny moments and as a greater whole. I guess it’s often the same with songs and albums. The reader/listener can scratch the surface and still enjoy the work, but there is layer upon layer hiding below that can be so rewarding if you care to get a spade. I hope we can work together again in the future and can’t wait for the book to come out. Exciting times!
 
Francis: I’m glad you enjoyed collaborating on this!  It’s the first creative project I’ve worked on that I’ve truly felt reflected my original vision. It’s been great having you on board.  I owe you quite a few beers, or perhaps some good whiskey.  We’ll get that all sorted out soon!
  

Stop over at Minotaur's Spotlight to hear the second part of the interview with Francis Daulerio, as he talks about his book!

Here is a brief snippet from the interview:

Why do people like your poems, anyway? 

That’s a good question.  Because they’re short?  Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so maybe I’m just capitalizing off of a budding human insufficiency.

I’d like to think that people like my writing because they can identify with it.  We’re all basically experiencing our own versions of similar life events, so I think my work comes to readers in a familiar way.  I try to draw out emotions by pairing them with other concepts that everybody understands.  One of my favorite poems in the book is about having to call family members to inform them of a death, and I linked it to that split second before the bombing of Hiroshima, where everything was cool and people were oblivious and nobody had a clue what was about to happen.  Then there’s the impact, and the phone rings, and life can’t ever carry on in the same way again.  That’s what I go for when I write.  I want people to feel what I’m feeling in the way that I’m feeling it, so I spend a lot of time coming up with connections that will facilitate that understanding.  At least I’d like to think that’s why people like my work.  But yea, probably because it’s short.

If you haven't read the poetry collection, we invite you to do so! You can purchase a copy on our website or other major retailers.