Please share the trailer with the entire internet (if at all possible).

If you love the song as much as I do, you can download it exclusively here on RendaDodge.com. The song is a cover of “Blackbird” by The Beatles, preformed by Wyatt Hebert. Right Click, Save As for  .mp3.

I was introduced to Caleb Krause through our mutual publication in Leaves and Flowers. I read his poems included in the first issue and was blown away by his use of words and the flow of his poetry. I’m excited to share the interview I recently had with him. Poetry is an art form I respect a lot, because it’s one of the hardest written mediums for me, personally. Caleb has a lot of good insights into the world of writing and shares them below.

You’ll also notice I’ve created an “Interviews” link at the top of the page as a place to gather all of the past interview articles. Remember, if you’re interested in participating in an interview for the blog please contact me directly at RendaDodge@gmail.com.

In personal news, I’ve finally finished the revision and cover for the 2nd edition of my novel “Inked” and sent it off to the printer today. I should see a proof in about a week, and I’ll finally be able to push the final product out to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. I’ll be sure to update the site as it becomes available. I appreciate everyone’s support so far. Now I have to prepare for the PNWA Writer’s Conference in July and get cracking on my new novel (I recently started drafting, and I’m so excited about this new project).

[Renda Dodge] First, why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?

[Caleb Krause] Sure, I’m a psychology graduate at the University of Texas at Tyler, and I am currently working on my masters for school psychology. I love writing, mostly poetry which I post on my blog and I also love art. Besides writing, I like to play music, draw, paint, and read.

[RD] How old were you when you first decided to start writing, and do you remember the first thing you wrote? Did you share it with anyone?

[CK] I started writing when I learned I could put a pencil to paper. I honestly can’t tell you what the first thing I wrote was, but my family keeps a small story I made when I was very young about some kind of biting fish, haha!

[RD] I read your poems Old Hearts and Passenger in Leaves and Flowers, and I found both very emotional in the short span of words you used. I felt like I was reading a snapshot of the moment through the feelings of the people in the poems. Where do you get your inspiration?

[CK] It depends. I would say that the style of poetry I enjoy is largely influenced by famous art forms such as Dada and surrealism. I once won a 3rd place prize in a poetry competition for a poem that I fashioned from the warranty of a Sony alarm clock. I love experimentation and challenging the popular culture poetry. As for subject matter, I tend to write about events in my life that stand out from others.

[RD] Since you have a background in both, do you often find it difficult to write poetry as opposed to prose?

[CK] It’s actually opposite of that. I find it difficult to write prose compared to poetry. I like writing with description and condensed meanings. When I do that with prose it makes for difficult, not so pleasurable reading. I do have a thing for writing dialog though. I love quick back and forth exchanges between characters.

[RD] How long does writing a single poem, from beginning to final product, usually take you?

[CK] Anywhere from 3 to 5 hours, to a few days just depending on length, subject, and energy.

[RD] How do you deal with writer’s block?

[CK] Use to I would just write about anything. I would try to think of a gross or disturbing subject and try to make it beautiful through poetry. Lately though due to time I just hold off on writing until a good block of inspiration comes.

[RD] What are your personal writing goals?

[CK] I think, if anything, I’d like to promote the more abstract forms of poetry. Despite the contributions of many great poets, the popular culture of poetry today is very one sided in style. There are a few journals that publish avant-garde, but by their nature journals tend to publish what everyone else publishes. Poetry already has such a small following when compared to other art forms. There needs to be a push for even more creativity and challenge than what we’re use to in this medium.

[RD] It sounds like you’re pretty busy with school and writing, how do you balance it all out and keep yourself on track?

[CK] Time management skills! I sometimes don’t get to write when I want to, but I try to set time out for myself away from school and work.

[RD] Why are you a writer/poet? What draws you into the craft?

[CK] I have no idea. It’s really just something I do. I love it when people take away something after reading my work, but to be honest I’d still write even if I knew no one was reading it. It’s like something in side me has to get out, and I feel anxious and awkward if it gets held in.

[RD] What kinds of books do you like to read? What are you reading currently?

[CK] I love comedies and fiction. My favorite book is Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I also like non fictional, scientific things. For instance, right now the only thing I’m recreational reading is a small stack of Discover magazines I’m trying to catch up on!

[RD] What authors/poets/artists/musicians inspire you?

[CK] The list is too long to write them all but off my head there’s artists like Warhol, Duchamp, Kahlo, Dali, Magritte. And authors like Adams, Pullman, Dante, Cummings, Hemingway, Frost to musicians like Maynard Keenan, Trent Reznor, Bono, Chino Moreno, and Kevin Graham Ogilvie.

[RD] If you ever feel stuck and frustrated, what do you do to keep going? Have you ever been tempted to just trash an entire poem or project, what stopped you?

[CK] Haha, I’ve trashed entire phases of poetry I’ve written! Especially my earlier work just because I was having such a problem with finding a style I enjoyed writing with. I don’t trash my poetry anymore though even if I know it’ll never see publication. I figure it may be nice for family or future family to read one day. I do get frustrated a lot, but I always know that frustration will eventually fade, and I’ll pick myself up and go at it again!

[RD] What are you working on currently?

[CK] Currently I’m slowly working on a poetic story that draws inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. The idea is to introduce elements of different forms of psychology through a fantasy, child like illustrated poem/story. It’s something I’ve been slowly working on between everything else.

[RD] That sounds really neat, I love Alice. It was one of my favorites while I was growing up. Can’t wait to read more. Thank you again Caleb.

[CK] Thank you!

Leaves and Flowers, a Literary Journal is now open for submissions. Bailey posted the new prompt recently, as well as the submission guidelines. It’s an excellent opportunity for emerging writers.

For more information on the prompt, the publication and the guidelines please visit the Leaves and Flowers Blog.

Also, if you missed it, I interviewed the editor, Bailey Shoemaker Richards right here on my blog a couple of weeks ago.

The prompt for the third issue of Leaves & Flowers is: Our perception of time shifts in relation to our age and surroundings. Write or create a piece in which time is a central element.

I met Bailey Shoemaker Richards in the wonderful world of Twitter. She was looking for writers to contribute to her new literary magazine and I jumped on board. It’s been a great experience for me. I love the publication, and I’m printed alongside many wonderful and talented writers. Below Bailey talks about publishing, editing, the journal and the hurdles she deals with in the world of self-publishing. She also shares hints for writers who are just trying to break into the short story market.

The 2nd Issue of Leaves and Flowers just came out (and includes a short story by yours truly!). It’s a great up-and-coming publication, and I always suggest that writers have several published works when approaching publishing houses and agents, it really helps your credibility.

I’ll post the next issue’s prompt right here on this blog when Bailey has it ready.

Also, don’t forget that Casz’s Martius Catalyst started today! If you missed her interview two weeks ago, here’s a link!

[Renda Dodge] So, what is “Leaves and Flowers”?

[Bailey Shoemaker Richards] Leaves & Flowers is a small literary journal. I like to think it’s unique in that it’s prompt based rather than theme based or open to any submission. What that means is that for each issue, anyone who is interested in writing something has to get in touch with me or read the Leaves & Flowers blog to find out what the prompt is before they can send something in.

[BSR] I initially started Leaves & Flowers for a class project on literary editing at Ohio University -each student had to create, find submissions for, edit and publish a literary journal by the end of the quarter. I had no idea how to go about finding people to write for me, so I just started throwing out questions and requests on Twitter, Facebook and to anyone I could get in touch with who wrote. Once I really got into working on the first issue, there was always this little voice in the back of my head going, “You’re not going to be able to let this go -it won’t be just this issue.” And it wasn’t.

[BSR] I was in Power of the Pen on both 7th and 8th grade -it’s a writing competition in Ohio. Each grade gets 3 prompts in 3 rounds to write off of, and each round is 40 minutes long. I loved writing that way. I thought it was fascinating to see how many different stories people can write even when you give them the same ideas to start with. I am still involved with Power of the Pen as an assistant to the Regional Coordinator, and I really love the idea behind the program. I needed a hook for Leaves & Flowers to really set it apart from simply being another literary journal, and I wondered if the prompted writing would work as well with adult and professional writers as it does with middle school writers -and it definitely does.

I come up with all of the prompts on my own, and I go through about 2 dozen ideas for each issue before I find one that I like.

[BSR] Writing the prompts -that’s one of the trickiest things. I want to find a prompt that is general enough that any writer can find something to say, but I don’t want to make it so specific that it prevents people from bringing their own ideas to the table. Additionally, getting the word out to find writers and artists in time for the publication is also a little tricky. I’m a busy person, and I know writers are busy too, so it can be hard to find that opening to really get a lot of people interested.

[BSR] I find them primarily through word of mouth on Twitter. People will send the prompt out once they hear about it, they’ll give it to their writers’ groups. I try to get in touch with people I know at OU who write as well, but Twitter has definitely been the best avenue for finding people who are interested in Leaves & Flowers and are willing to put in the time it takes to write something.

[BSR] I am -I’ve written several unpublished (and unpolished) novels, I had a personal essay published in The North Central Review, I blog and I write for Demand Studios and Suite101 to pay the bills. I’m a creative writing major at Ohio University, so I am definitely involved in the writing here as well.

[BSR] It’s a lot of me pulling my hair out and hurling awful words around my dorm room (sorry, neighbors!). I rarely get any pieces that require substantial work, but formatting a document to publish on CreateSpace is an immense source of frustration for me.  I try to be really meticulous about my editing process. I separate the submissions into two main categories: those that need read and those that are being published. Once they get into the “Publishing” folder, I break them down into broader categories (prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, etc.) and edit them individually. If I see any changes that I think I need the author’s feedback on, I send an edited copy to the author and ask if the changes I made are okay with them. Once I have all of my pieces edited and approved by the writers, I start playing around with the format and the order. That’s the longest part of the process -I like to put pieces in an order that showcases each individual author while providing a good segue through the entire journal. I go through probably 15 different layouts for the journal before I start seeing something I like.

[BSR] I have only had to reject a few pieces, and it was really hard for me to do. I actually called my boyfriend because I was so upset -he is very good at getting me to calm down. It’s hard to tell an author that their piece just doesn’t fit! I’ve been on both sides of that coin now, and it sucks for everyone. I always try to give concrete reasons for a rejection (i.e. the writing didn’t fit the prompt), as well as pointing out what I did like about the piece. I’ve never actually read a piece and said, “Oh, I really don’t like that writing” -I’ve been very lucky that way. Usually when I have to reject something, it’s because the writing didn’t match the prompt well enough to be included.

[BSR] Submit, submit submit. Find a place that’s open for submissions, make sure your piece fits the type of writing they’re looking for, and send it in. Send your writing out to anyone you might think would be willing to read it, because otherwise, no one will. No one is going to come looking for your writing -you have to send it out to them. Also, read constantly. Reading is the best way to improve your own writing, because it gives you a chance to read something that has been polished, revised and published by professionals or people with plenty of experience in the field. Always read your rejection letters -form rejections might not be helpful, but sometimes there will be very insightful information in them. Look at smaller, rather than larger, publishing houses. I’m hardly a publishing “house,” but I’m a really small publisher, and I can tell you that it’s much easier to give lots of feedback to people because I work with such a small number of writers.

Right now I’m reading “The Greatest Show on Earth” by Richard Dawkins -it’s a great read. He’s a very good writer, which is not always the case with scientists. I grew up devouring sci-fi and fantasy every chance I could get. I still do, but I’ve definitely broadened my horizons. I love biology books and philosophy in particular, but I am also a huge fan of anything that doesn’t suck (my motto is if it doesn’t suck, I’ll read it -doesn’t matter what it is). I am incapable of entering a bookstore without making a purchase.

[RD] I really enjoyed this interview, Bailey has a unique insight to the world of publishing and writing. She’s all over the web, and you can find her in the various places below.

Twitter – @the_author

Leaves & Flowers Issue 1
https://www.createspace.com/3408437

Leaves & Flowers Issue 2
https://www.createspace.com/3446308

Leaves & Flowers Blog
http://leavesandflowersjournal.blogspot.com/

Suite101
http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/baileyshoe

Demand Studios
http://www.demandstudios.com/Profile.mvc/Member_b5ee61bb_baileys

Cleveland Literature Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-13594-Cleveland-Literature-Examiner

Bailey’s personal blog:
http://baileythebookworm-readingcorner.blogspot.com/

Helium.com
http://www.helium.com/users/387709

Recently I noticed that I’ve been having some issues with time management, and with those issues I’ve been trying to work in several more daily activities (meditation, yoga, the gym, and journaling to be precise). So, I thought back to my days of team management and decided to make an actual list of what I wanted to accomplish in a day. I learned that I’m spending too much idle time on the computer, facebook, twitter, email, IM, and I decided I could cut that down. Still hearkening back to my first days as a lead in a busy call center, I decided to make an actual chart of how I want to be spending my time. I know it might seem a little anal and OCD to make a chart, but it helped me fit in all the activities I wanted to fit into my day.

Just a note, we here at the Dodge/Hebert household have a really screwed up schedule because Wyatt works 4pm – 1am. So, obviously I am only scheduling past when he leaves for work, and I do housework/chores/cooking usually in the mornings anyway. Also, his days off are Wed/Thurs and I left those unscheduled because every “weekend” is different. Sometimes we do nothing (my favorite), and sometimes we are running around the whole weekend doing chores/errands.

Anyway, this method has worked really well for me in the past, and I thought by sharing I might help out someone who’s time frazzled all the time (like me). I also tried to color code the thing (okay, maybe I AM a little too anal sometimes). Blues are “physical”, pinks are “fun” and purples are “mental” activities. I’m just hoping this kind of thing helps keep me on track, because I have a lot of goals I’m working towards.

Here’s a link to my personal daily schedule.