Interviews

Human life is invested in epistemological difficulties—just finding your ass with both hands these days is a challenge. But I think that nature, if we involve ourselves in it, if we just spend time [deeply inhales] looking at trees, smelling rocks… I like to crawl, I like to lie down in the woods a lot, I do that a lot, which has made me famous to the animals and my neighbors too.

So when I opened that back up, all the fear and pain and terror I should have been feeling then, but didn’t, came back on me. I was catatonic. My editor called me and said, “Kim, the book’s past due, honey. Where is it?” I said, “The manuscript, the hard copy, well… it’s in my trunk, and it’s bound in twine.” I couldn’t believe it. I was carrying it around hostage. Psychology 101.

Whenever I’m writing, I have a “different brain.” As a writer, my main goal is to protect that first brain which is the first-draft-brain. And I just have to let this brain get from beginning to end. After that, I can do whatever I want with the page. That’s how I approach my work now.

First off, for me, sonnets are great for telling stories. A crown of sonnets can tell a great story. And I’m pretty much a storyteller. Secondly, folks in the 19th century loved sonnets. They dug Shakespeare, it was a familiar form. So, in a psychological or spiritual way for connecting with the people in the book, they were an avenue for making that happen.