Ask the Author: Alan King
Answered Questions (7)
Alan King
I don't have a favorite fictional couple. I like Easy Rawlins from Walter Mosley's mystery series. In some books, he's a single dad raising his adopted children, Jesus and Feather. The fact that he's able to be a dad and still be a detective shows the level of support he had from friends in the community. It's a great way of illustrating the saying, "It takes a village."
Alan King
My most recent book took me three years to write and four years to get it published. My poems are inspired from events in my life and pop culture. When I'm writing poems, I don't think about the collection as a whole. I'm living in the moment when I write. When I feel I have enough poems, I lay them out and see how they speak to one another. I look at the sections in my book as huddles, where different conversations take place. The poems in the first section are having a different conversation from those in other sections. The best way to think of my collections and their sections are as various discussions you might overhear while walking past the booths in a crowded restaurant.
Alan King
I get inspired from reading other writers. I'm also inspired by current events and from conversations I have with my writer friends and non-writers. People watching is another good exercise that helps get my juices going.
Alan King
Last year, I got certified as a videographer. So, with those skills, I'm working with a film crew on the trailer for the opening poem, "Hulk," in POINT BLANK. Stay tuned for that. We start shooting in Dec.!
Alan King
Aspiring writers should read everything, and when I say "everything," I mean read outside of your genre as well. I'm a poet, essayist and journalist. I love reading sci-fi and mysteries.
Within your own genre, read the writers you love and those you can't stand. The ones you love will show you new possibilities for your work. The ones you can't stand will show you what not to do.
Within your own genre, read the writers you love and those you can't stand. The ones you love will show you new possibilities for your work. The ones you can't stand will show you what not to do.
Alan King
As a visiting writing for Pen Faulkner's Writers-in-Schools program, the best part of being an author is visiting high school class rooms to discuss my work. Usually when I arrive, the students have already read the book and have it dog-eared and the margins marked with questions. I enjoy the exchange.
One class did a visual interpretation of my poems in watercooler paints. That was cool.
One class did a visual interpretation of my poems in watercooler paints. That was cool.
Alan King
If I feel it coming on, I know it's time for me to go into my sponge mode. That's when I stop writing and take that time to read, look at art or do anything else that gets my juices going. I collect quotes and revisit them for inspiration.
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