Tell us about yourself and what inspired you to start writing.
I have been writing since I was a kid. I’d say about… eight years old. So, I think it was mostly boredom or the idea of creating my own escapist universes.
Describe your writing process? Is there anything unique about it?
I have a highly instinctual writing process. I’m a “pantser” by nature. But I came up with playwriting (and later, screenwriting) traditions where that was highly discouraged. For those particular processes, I outline as expected. But for everything else? I hear it in my head and I put it on a page. It’s quite stream-of-consciousness, usually. I’ve come to view it as a psychic/spiritual channeling process that way.
Have you published any books or do you have a desire to do so?
I have two collections out right now, both with Alien Buddha Press. ‘THE BOOK OF I.P. (Idle Poems)” contains a poem that received a Pushcart nomination in its first year and is now being worked into a university syllabus. I can hardly believe it, myself. It’s also being processed by a couple of libraries for inclusion in their catalogs. The Schomburg Center and my alma mater Drexel University will be among the first libraries to house it.
“SLAM POEMS FOR MY BATHROOM MIRROR…And Other Selected Works” just dropped in October. That one is the first that I’ve put up for awards consideration, myself. With the surprise positive reception of my debut chapbook, I figured I’d shoot my shot with my first full-length. Fingers and toes crossed on that one.
I also submitted a third manuscript to Alien Buddha, called “FALDER-ALL & THE PROVERBIAL NATURE OF EVERYTHING.” I’m not sure when that one will be out. I’m also working on a novella-in-verse based on a Black/queer-centered interpretation of the (African) princess Andromeda from Greek myth. That one seems like it’ll be a bit of a magnum opus and take me a while to complete.
Do you have any favorite poets or authors?
I really love Christopher Paolini. His books have been to me what “HARRY POTTER” seems to have been to the rest of the world. I love a good dragon.
Toni Morrison is a literary ancestor to me. In terms of poets, I love Emily Dickinson, Sonia Sanchez, and Gil Scott Heron… I’ve had to come to terms with my childhood love of Edgar Allan Poe, given the reality of his marriage to Virginia Clemm. I can’t undo the artistic influence, even though I wish I really could.
Do you have a favorite book of poetry or poems?
Does the lyric sheet to Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” count?
What are you reading now?
I’ve been going through a lot of old stories due to my screenwriting life. It’s somewhat expected for us to come to meetings with “I.P.” in mind. My first chapbook talks enough about my feelings on that… But I’ve been re-reading some interesting tales like “The Lady or the Tiger” and similar.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Full-time job, pets, hobbies?
I make music. I just began releasing it under the name KWEAN OONTZ and I have an EP/MicroAlbum out now. It’s in all digital music stores, and my first full-length album is coming up soon. Other than that, I love watching movies. I’m pretty boring that way. Don’t get out very much…
Are you working on a current project?
Aside from the album and the next book, I’m trying to figure out what I want to work on next. I don’t know if it’s another screenplay or what. I have some projects that I’ve stopped and started.
I’m also in pre-production on a documentary that will be my first real screen directing adventure. I’m working on it with a brilliant friend of mine who is a leading expert in how spiritual phenomena can emerge in people. She has introduced me to some of the most respected people in the discipline. So, it’s going to be paradigm-shifting. We’re calling it “MANIC PIXIE PANIC” right now.
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