Tell us about your path to writing.

I grew up in a very large family, and privacy was scarce. One day when I was twelve I developed a burning need to write a novel. Desperate for some space, I cleared a corner of the bedroom closet, installed a cardboard box as a desk, topped it with a lamp, found a stack of paper, and began a heartrending saga set during the Civil War. Approximately three years later I realized that I had no plot (nor could I come up with one). So I began a fantasy trilogy instead. 

Most of my writing has been fiction. I have published flash and short stories and am in the process of pitching my first complete novel. Poetry is a late development for me. I write it chiefly when I’ve had an experience that does not qualify for a full story, but still makes me burn to write. The poems are like precious embers that fall from a much larger fire.

What tips would you give someone taking their first steps in creative work? What did you need to hear when you were getting started?

The first really good advice that I got was from an article by Kurt Vonnegut that my dad gave me when I was starting to write. Two things stood out to me: Vonnegut said (in paraphrase), “Write about something you care about; write about something that you would get up on a soap box in the street and shout about.” Second, he insisted that you must accept your voice, no matter what it is. He said that he is from Cincinnati, and so his voice sounds like a hacksaw cutting through sheet metal—but it is his and he is faithful to it.
Something I did not hear until later in life was the advice given by Gene Wolfe (I believe) to Neil Gaiman. When asked how to get published, Wolfe said, “Three simple tasks. Write things. Finish them. Send them out. That’s it. Do it over and over again until you get there.” And I’ve found that he’s right. I wish I’d known earlier that the magic ingredient in success was pure persistence.

Are any movies, music, books, or poetry collections (or any media at all, really) particularly inspiring to you?

I was actually named after the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley—but I don’t really like his poetry! I much prefer the stories his wife wrote. My favorite poet by far is T. S. Eliot. I’m pretty sure that the answers to life, the universe, and everything can be found in his Four Quartets. I also enjoy Denise Levertov, Sylvia Plath, and Sara Teasdale.
I love all kinds of music, but when I write I listen almost exclusively to Marko Haavisto, a Finnish singer and songwriter whose art is very dear to me.

Give us some background on the piece you contributed to this issue

I wrote “Anthologia” after a late summer visit to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. During my time there I was amazed by both the natural beauty and the town’s connection to the past. It’s a magical place, a confluence—the meeting of three states, two rivers, and so many deeply important strands of American history.

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