Blog Tour Monday

The wonderful writer Marissa Cohen tagged me to play this game, and since I've been fascinated to read these posts on other people's blogs, I'm happy to answer.  I need to tag two other writers who will answer these same questions on their blogs a week from today, and so I tag Shefali Choksi and Khebhin Gibbons.   Long ago when I was 19, Khebhin inspired me to think not just in terms of individual poems, but in book-length collections too.  These days, his medium may be yarn instead of words, but I suspect his answers will inspire us.  Shefali Choksi continues to inspire me with her retelling of fairy tales and mythology of all sorts.  Most of the stories I've written in the past few years have been because we've been meeting as a very small writer's group of 2.

What am I working on?
Memoir Project:  I'm taking different blog posts that explore the interesections of creativity, spirituality and the secular work that we do to pay the bills, and I'm revising them into a book of essays that follow a calendar year.  My goal is that each essay could stand alone and be enjoyed in a single, short reading period, but that taken together, they will be more than the sum of their  parts.

Book Length Collection of Poems:  I've put together a manuscript of poems that explore all the different ways in which we place our faith in individuals and/or institutions.  Is that faith sustained or not?

Individual Poems:  I continue to write a poem or two or three a week about any sort of juxtaposition which offers intriguing possibilities.

Linked Short Stories:  I just put together a rough draft of a collection of linked short stories.  I have yet to go back to see if they work together as a unified whole in the way that I thought that they did when I was writing them.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

It really doesn't differ.  I'm not doing anything earthshattering or genre-bending.  Even my memoir project, which takes blog posts and turns them into essays, isn't breaking brand new ground.  However, I don't see a lot of people looking at the intersections of spirituality and the secular work we do for pay and how those worlds mesh together or how they don't.  I've seen plenty of memoirs written that explore the intersections of creativity and work, or spirituality and creativity, or but not much out there that explores all three.
Why do I write what I do?

I write for all the regular reasons:  it interests me, and I want to see where it all leads me.  I write what I can't always find other places.  I write because something prompts that expression.  I write because it's better than watching TV.

How does my writing process work?

I usually get up very early, sometimes as early as 3 or 4 a.m.  It's the only time when I can be sure no one else will be up, and there are fewer distractions.  I read a bit on the Internet, and then I write my blog posts.  If there's time, I work on other projects.  I jot down notes through the day, and the best week-ends are those that give me some writing time in addition to loved ones time and reading time and time to enjoy good cooking.