reader meet author

Some of the most passionate and creative times of our lives are spent in high school. I think it is the combination of rapid learning, bottled angst, and ample time, but the downside to youthful creativity can most often be the lack of control and structure. As the student progresses in their education their writing becomes more refined, but their focus and energy may lessen. However, in the case of Sally Weigel, the now student at DePaul, she was able to capture that youthful passion but still show the ability to mold and craft it into a well-rounded novella while still in high school.

Too Young to Fall Asleep was recently released by CCLaP and is available as a free e-book here. Sally was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Too Young To Fall Asleep is your debut novella, what can you tell us about your novella?

Promoting, touring, tweeting, handing out books for hugs, and so on... I always thought being a writer was all about coffee shops and roll top desks, typewriters and subtle jazz floating in the background. However, the modern small press writer may spend just as much time promoting the published work as they spent crafting their future work.

Collin Kelley recently released a novel, the first in a trilogy, called Conquering Venus. He has been using several different tools and methods to spread the word. He was recently kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Tell us about your new novel, Conquering Venus.

I don't normally interview someone twice, but there were two factors that lead me to send some fresh questions to Zachary C. Bush. The first factor was his sudden (well not all that sudden, he is a special writer) flurry of activity, and the second was our last interview was over two and a half years ago.

If you write the most beautiful, most eloquent, most profound story ever, but no one ever reads it what have you accomplished. Just like any other endeavorer it is a balancing act between creative control and visibility. Around the world a tremendous amount of time and energy (and yes, money) is being poured into creating chapbooks and broadsides that are only read by a devote few. So, the question is what does it take to get a broader audience? If you look back at the last few years in the literary career of Howie Good the answer may go in a few different directions, but still boil down to determination.

Every story begins somewhere and writing career begins with an idea and a humble, yet hopeful, submission. Caleb Ross has an honest approach to submitting his work and it has paid off. Through a sincere love for writing and publishing has found a way to contribute to literature as a whole through his work with Outsider Writers, Colored Chalk, and through finding homes for his invented pieces around the internet and in print.

Recently, Caleb was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): I can't decide which is more difficult writing a story or novel or actually submitting your work to be published. How do you approach submitting and what do you look for in a press or journal?

It is a noble mission and one I have the utmost respect for, but you have to the right approach. I feel success in the small press has a lot to do with intent and goal, and from everything that I have seen David Oprava has all the best intentions for his new press Grievious Jones. With hand picked poets and novelists presenting their latest efforts and a sleek uniform appearance, this press has simple goal and an honest approach. It's ultimately about seeking something new and sharing it with the world.

David Oprava, a writer in his own right, has taken a bold step forward and is excited to share these discoveries with you the literary fan. It is a bold and brave move, but a move that keeps the small press vital and growing. His first three books will be released this month.

Recently, David was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): So we've cleared up that the name of your new press does not come from a Pixies song, so where does the name Grievous Jones come from?

The best description that I have found for ekphrastic poetry is "the conversation between two pieces of art". I know typically is involves a writer focusing on visual art, but in the world of Orange Alert I like to let my mind wonder and image musicians composing piece based on classic works of art or painter interpreting a poem. California poet Felino Soriano has dedicated 2009 (and perhaps beyond) to working in this interesting format. He is using the internet to hunt down images the he feels have a story to tell beyond paint and canvas. We get a peak at what Soriano has accomplished and the hundreds of poems he has completed in the new book from Calliope Nerve Media, Apperceptions of Reinterpretations.

Recently, Felino was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Apperceptions of Reinterpretations is an incredibly ambitious project. How did you select the pieces of art that you wrote about?

I allude to it in my first question, but I feel like should tell the entire story. It was 1996 and I had just graduated high school and was heading to Denison University for a week long writing camp. As part of one of the workshops we were handed a list of reviews, journals, and so on that we could begin to submit our work to. We worked on crafting cover letters to include with our poems and stories as we mailed them around the world. It was somewhat daunting for an 18 year old filled with ideas and words hoping for the day that I could share them. An alphabetized lists journals, most of which I hadn't heard of, how would I know what they wanted? The world lit has clearly changed in the last thirteen years, and the path to becoming published has never been clearer and more accessible.

Writer Mel Bosworth has found his path and it typically runs through the genre of flash fiction. His work has a good dose of humor, and has appeared in decomP, PANK, Full of Crow, Dogzplot, and so many more. He was recently kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

"Where you find meaning is your own business as long as it keeps you alive another day."

The act of finding is almost always more fulfilling than when you have actually found something. What William Taylor Jr has managed to capture in his first full-length collection in two years are the small struggles and joys along the daily search. The power in Taylor's work has long been his ability to cut clear the tiny pearl shining in the darkness, and in The Hunger Season he continues to see balance and in both simple and complex situations.

Coming later this month (Aug 20th) from Sunnyoutside, once I read Taylor's collection I knew it was time to contact him.

Orange Alert (OA): Your new collection, The Hunger Season. comes out later this month. What can you tell us about the collection?

Sometimes it is the smallest moments, the tiny cuts, that hurt the most. In life it is those split-second decisions, those opportunities that we don't grab, those words we never manage to say that wind up stinging in the end. In her latest collection Constance Stadler focuses the lens on the microscopic cuts and tears in our armor as we twist and concede our way through life. Paper Cuts was released by Calliope Nerve last month as a free e-book. The release marked the arrival of Calliope's publishing arm, and a honest and sinere defining moment in the career of Constance Stadler.

Recently, Constance was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your new collection, Paper Cuts, is an e-book. Do you feel this format is more freeing? Were you less selective or maybe more inclusive in the editing process?