Tag: poetry

‘Music Is Important to My Writing’

Published on by B Sudharsan2 Comments

INTERVIEW

Author Mark Everglade began writing as a child; he would often rewrite X-Men comics and what today people term fan-fiction. Soon after turning ten, his tiny hands flurried across the typewriter while alternating Metallica and Schubert on the tape player as each scene required a different tone, and thus, different music to accompany it. Speaking with Global Despatch, Mark said he began writing soundtracks to go with his stories. ‘The music and the writing fed off one another,’ he stated. Nonetheless, as technology began modernising, the author became more intrigued by its possibilities, shortcomings, omens, and false promises and began exploring the cyberpunk works of Gibson, Stephenson, and others. Working a daytime job, Mark takes care of his family. Surprisingly, he has almost never watched TV; however, he may only see a movie or one TV show a year, preferring reading and the arts over watching television.

SPECIAL & EXCLUSIVE

No Cypher for This Cyberthriller

B Sudharsan: It is a pleasure having you with us, Mark. To begin with, could you tell us about your published works? How did they happen? Also, what is your latest book about?

Mark Everglade: I publish through two traditional publishers. My latest novel, Inertia, is about a young woman, Ash, and her father; they are trying to solve the global warming crisis in space. Hacking government servers, they uncover a conspiracy to alter the planet’s rotation in order to control its economy and cast half the world back into complete darkness. Ash’s life is put at stake when she uncovers sensitive, classified data, so she must solicit help from her father, Severum. The trouble is that he does not know she exists, so while the book is a cyberthriller, it is also about their relationship.

B Sudharsan: Well, that does sound ‘thrilling’ to say the least. A lot of planning must have gone into writing the book, or… are you a pantser?

Mark Everglade: At first, I did not plot at all, but for every hour of planning, you save about 10 hours later on, so it is definitely worth doing a ten-hour outline.

‘Creativity Knows No Time or Place’

B Sudharsan: I cannot agree more. Do you derive inspiration from any authors? 

Mark Everglade: My favourite authors are Iain M. Banks, Charles Dickens, Haruki Murakami, and Catherynne Valente. All four understand culture and character and merge the two so that others can see the intersection with poetic prose. 

B Sudharsan: Time I told you Murakami would remain one of my most favoured writers. And that brings me to my next question: Do you, like the Japanese author, follow a rigorous schedule, or do you write when you feel the need to pen down your thoughts?

Mark Everglade: The creative process does not know your place or time and does not conform to your schedule. I make notes throughout the day; I am always writing a line here and there. Writing, therefore, is simply weaving those individual threads, those passing moments in life, together until a cohesive narrative emerges.

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Dealing With the In-Betweens

B Sudharsan: In that case, was becoming an author a conscious decision?

Mark Everglade: Yes. After the 9/11 incident in America, movies and books radically changed. Any publication with characters that were ‘shades of grey’ was immediately a failure. Americans wanted an absolute bad guy and an absolute good guy, so art adapted to its audience. Unfortunately, this ‘good guy bad guy’ mentality has become so strong and polarising in our rhetoric that I decided we needed literature to unite and mobilise the masses from the ground up. So, I wrote books with characters who were all shades of grey from various walks of life, books like Song of Kitaba. Nowhere is the shade of grey protagonist more valued than in the dystopian sub-genre cyberpunk, where anti-heroes roam the pages. 

B Sudharsan: Fascinating! How do you juggle writing and other tasks, by the way? What are your hobbies and interests besides writing?

Mark Everglade: I am a musician first and foremost, and music is important to my writing. When I need to write with a certain rhythm, I turn on Red Hot Chili Peppers. When I need to write a lamentable scene, I turn on the indie metal band Soen. My first book, Hemispheres, is actually named after a Rush album.

B Sudharsan: Wow! Tell us a bit about your works in progress. Do you plan on becoming a full-fledged author?

Mark Everglade: I am working on the third and final novel in the Gliese Trilogy, tentatively named Hydrosphere. It will be released in three years and is similar to the Kevin Costner movie Waterworld, but set in space with tons of cybernetic technology.

‘We Write Since We Have To’

B Sudharsan: And is there anything you wish to tell the budding authors who lose motivation if a few of their works do not do well?

Mark Everglade: If you are doing this hobby for the money, then do not. Even the bestsellers who are hitting number one in numerous Amazon categories are not making even a month’s bills after paying advertising, retail, and royalty fees. If you write, write for your own creative expression with a message that will make the world a better place and inspire others. Authors write because we have to; the act is a fountain of emotion that must be expressed and a labour of love.

B Sudharsan: If there is one thing that you would like to change in this world, what would that be?

Mark Everglade: Inequality. For instance, at Disney World, a custodian would have to work 2,000 years to make as much as the C.E.O. made in one year. The level of poverty that so-called ‘first world’ nations allow is a blight upon the potential of our species. The current system allows for the wealthy to exist in a predatory relationship with people whose income is below the poverty threshold, exploiting them to their own ends.

If you write, write for your own creative expression with a message that will make the world a better place and inspire others. Authors write because we have to; the act is a fountain of emotion that must be expressed and a labour of love.

MARK EVERGLADE

‘Don’t Think Literary Success Is Defined by Sales’

Published on by B Sudharsan1 Comment

INTERVIEW

Author David C. McLean first wrote as a child. He, however, stopped writing in his early teens. ‘I did not write any more until 1994,’ the Englishman says, beginning his exclusive interaction with Global Despatch. ‘I then appeared in four print zines in the United Kingdom but stopped submitting since I did not like paying international postage. Later, after writing less seriously for a few years, I submitted electronically and appeared in more than 600 different online and print publications over the next few years,’ the author, who lives in Somerset, the UK, shares.

On Goddess, Sexuality, Philosophy

The magazine Whistling Shade offered to do a book of poems after receiving one of the author’s submissions. Says the sexagenarian, who pursued his BA (History) from Oxford University and MA (Philosophy) from Stockholm, ‘I acquiesced to the offer, and over the next few years, there were three full-lenCThs and many chapbooks that I no longer count. I regard my oeuvre as starting with the first book from Oneiros Books; it was in 2013. After this, I stopped submitting over the next few years. The older online work I did is on my blog.’

David’s latest book is a collection of poetry. To be precise, it deals with the woman it was written for, Emma. ‘It also considers goddess, sexuality, and philosophy,’ states the author, adding that philosophy predominantly influences him. The book’s themes, nonetheless, are the conflict between intensity, sensory pleasures, and their incommensurability with representation. ‘I draw inspiration from both Lyotard and Deleuze for this. There is a posthuman tendency in the writing, a more equitable system of evaluating the impact of human behaviours on the planet as a whole,’ he tells us. ‘But basically, it is about love, fire, and intensity. I want to express, or at least show the way to hearing what can only be expressed by an inarticulate cry, a scream,’ he adds.

Letting the ‘Plot’ Out

Having written three novels, the author, who also speaks Swedish fluently, convincingly says he would not consider himself a plotter. ‘My works are pretty much antinovels with no focus on plot. Long prose poems with aphorisms, diatribes, and ramblings. Apart from the many poetry books, I have written a Posthuman Poetry Manifesto, which is the closest to philosophy I have published.’  

Asked if he favours any authors, David tells us that while he likes the works of Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Trakl, Larkin, and Auden, he has hugely been inspired by poet Tanya Rakh. ‘I often plunder her work for epigraphs,’ he states. So far as prose is concerned, Davis says the writings of Gertrude Stein, Artaud, Sterne, and Rabelais inspire him. ‘They are capacious; there is room in their writings,’ he says.

Deleuze and Guattari, Lyotard, Derrida, and Heidegger are philosophical writers that David mostly reads. ‘They write articles about posthumanism. I often also listen to popular music for inspiration. ‘Roky Ericksson, The Sisters of Mercy, and The Gun Club are only a few of the many I adore,’ he lets us know.

‘Goddess Is Love; She Knows Best’

Relying on inspiration, David says he tends to write every day. ‘But not very long. I will often read something I use as an epigraph and then write a poem more or less connected to it,’ he shares. Conceding that becoming an author was a conscious decision, he says he feels that the Goddess he believes in wants him to write certain things and to try to evolve and ascend. ‘I believe that it is not for me, or by my choice, that I write, but the Goddess is love, and She knows best,’ he quips. 

And does he have any advice for authors who tend to lose motivation after a few of their works fail to garner an audience? ‘I do not think that literary success is measured by sales. Just say what you want to say as well as you can. Let that be enough,’ David says in response to the question.

Last but not least, if there is one thing that he would like to change in this world, what would that be? ‘Stopping humans from destroying the Earth should be a priority,’ says the writer. ‘Also, we had better be motivated by something other than profit,’ he pronounces, signing off.   

PS: David C. McLean blogs at https://posthumouspoems.blogspot.com.

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Revere Your Guru

Published on by B Sudharsan1 Comment

BALLADE

BEFORE YOU READ | What you are to read is a ballade, a verse form comprising three stanzas of eight lines each along with a four-versed envoy. The same one-line refrain at the end of each stanza and the envoy is a vital characteristic of a ballade.

Like the Sun that shines, radiating bright light,
A guru disseminates thoughts lofty and nice.
Using his power, directness, and mystical might,
Pulls you out of every single and dangerous vice.
Get closer to your guru, feel the spiritual highs,
Elevations that could get you to the worlds beyond.
But if you utter untruths or say blatant lies,
A guru will not deride you, nor will he break the bond.

If your thoughts dovetail with his, it will be a worthy sight,
And if he makes you his mate, you shall create new ties.
Oh! Only he can raise you to what is called the spiritual site,
And tell you how to survive without maize, wheat, or rice!
Sages and seers in India have always had this piece of advice:
Revere your guru, pay heed to him, with him correspond.
But if you still have feelings that cause you to entice,
A guru will not deride you, nor will he break the bond.

Take refuge in your guru, do what is rightfully right;
And shun each object referred to as fool’s device.
Become calm, unnoticeable, omnipresent, and light,
Chewing over the fact that everyone, including you, dies.
Your guru will also ensure that you get rid of bad ties,
To your queries he will be more than elated to respond.
But if you still cast aspersions or willfully fail to arise,
A guru will not deride you, nor will he break the bond.

Ask your guru if a world exists over those vast blue skies;
You will soon be turned into a contented spiritual vagabond.
But if you still make it a point to distrust and criticise,
A guru will not deride you, nor will he break the bond.