the fact that we were in a great
place (I lived by the beach) because
it was nice and peaceful. He said
poetry was a way to get your feelings out. As a twelve year old who
was going through growing pains
and changes that the best advice. I
started keeping a journal and hid it
between my mattress and box
spring.
How personal is your writing?
My writing is very personal. I draw
from different experiences and observations. As a writer, you have
the ability to tell the stark truth or
to embellish reality.
Which comes first? The character's
story or the idea for the novel?
What was your life like before becoming an Author?
SP: Before I decided to self-publish, I
was (and still am) immersed in studying my craft. I attended writer’s conferences, critique groups, writing
workshops, and spent long hours
w rit ing
a nd
edit ing.
What inspired you to write your
book?
SP: My inspiration to write my first
poetry book Wrapped Up in Life with
Omniscient Eyes was from the desire
to publish my collection of poems
that I had written over a twenty year
span.
For my second poetry book Spring’s
Tepid Breath, the inspiration came
from my need for closure after my
mother’s death.
How did you start writing?
SP: When I was in 7th grade, a visiting poet came and spoke to my English class about writing poetry and
Writers World Newspaper, VOL. IX
SP: I would say the idea for the story comes first. When I am writing a
short story (or poem), I usually
have a loose outline in my head
(sometimes I have a written outline) about a particular story or
subject matter for a poem. After it
floats in my head for a while, I grab
my pen and pad and let the characters and /or poem work itself out.
What are your favorite authors/
books?
I have a laundry list of favorites but
I will try to keep it short…Maya Angelou, Lucille Clifton, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker,
Langston
Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston,
J.California Cooper, Edwidge Danticat, Bernice McFadden, and my
new discoveries-- Isabel Allende
and Paulo Coelho.
If you could have dinner with an author, dead or alive, who would it be
and why?
I would have to say Maya Angelou
hands down. I grew up reading her
autobiographies, and she was one of
my early influences. I remember being disappointed that she had to cancel an appearance at an event that
she was supposed to attend.
Alice Walker and Jane Cortez (with
whom I love) were at the event but I
mainly wanted to see Maya. With
that said… I would love to have dinner with her and her talking to me
like one of her adoptive daughters
about life.
What sparked the idea for your novel?
SP: For my poetry book, Spring’s
Tepid Breath, I needed some understanding of what was going on with
me after the death of my mother. She
died at the end of 2011.
I had
stopped writing when she fell sick
and I started back in 2012 with the
help of a Master Haiku Poetry class
taught by Sonia Sanchez. She told us
Haiku was little breaths and instead
of meditating in the morning to write
a Haiku. She gave us little composition books and told us to write a Haiku every day for a month. Most of the
Haiku and Senryu in Spring’s Tepid
Breath came from those morning Haiku Meditations. Those tiny “breaths”
sparked the idea for Spring’s Tepid
Breath.
What was your favorite part of the
book?
I love the last poem because it was
the final “breath” that was exhaled to
cleanse my spirit.
What was the hardest part to write in
the book?
The hardest part to write was the
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