Interview about Mirror Poems and Reflections Book

Last week, Caroline Gill kindly nominated me to talk about my second poetry collection as part of a blog meme called The Next Big Thing. Caroline also provided the foreword for my book, and has been an expert poetry consultant since the early days of the Folding Mirror form; so thanks to Caroline for nominating me, her advice and poetry.

Caroline and John Dotson have a new poetry chapbook called The Holy Place available, and I’m pleased to say that I just received my copy. From first read it looks full of interesting and evocative poems about subjects I like; such as wondering about life and existence from nature on our planet to the vastness of space.

For The Next Big Thing I answer a set of questions below, before I nominate five other writers to take part next week. Here are the questions and answers:

What is the title of your new book?

242 Mirror Poems and Reflections.

Where did the idea for the book come from?

I’d written about 100 Folding Mirror poems, so I thought I had near enough a poetry collection. I’d self-published a comedy-fantasy book (Werewolf of Oz) on Amazon Kindle earlier in the year, so I thought I would self-publish a poetry collection too.

I also had lots of old thoughts and poems written down, so I thought I could use them as reflections for the mirror aspect of the Folding Mirror poems.

Then I thought I’d have the numbers in the title mirroring too, with two identical numbers either side of a middle one, as two halves of poetry mirror either side of a folding middle line in FM poems. The next number to the amount of poems I had that worked like that was 121, with 242 also working when the reflections were included.

So I then created another twenty or so poems, until I had 121, and mirrored them with thoughts and poems that reflected them somehow.

What genre does your book fall under?

It is a poetry collection.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I have a Folding Mirror poem that mentions Johnny Depp and Sam Riley playing a couple of my favourite characters in the Dead Man and On The Road movies; William Blake and Jack Kerouac; so that’d do.

Holly Valance has featured in a Werewolf of Oz poem, so she could be the leading lady. Debbie Harry, Brigitte Bardot and Britt Eklund suit mirrors and reflections.

California’s first wild wolf since 1924, OR7, can play the Greenygrey parts if it tires of wandering and takes advantage of its celebrity status in Hollywood.

Will your book be self published or published by an agency?

This one was self-published on Amazon Kindle and in book form on Amazon CreateSpace, after my first collection was published by Chipmunka.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The poems cover three years, and were previewed here on fmpoetry. The poems were written and published here when they were written, so they were not in subject order.

I sorted the 121 poems into seven chapters: personal-psychological (containing thirty-four poems and thirty-four reflections), social (19-19), culture (15-15), literary (12-12), nature (30-30), travel (6-6) and space (5-5).

That took about a month, and then placing reflections with each poem took another month. So it took about two months to have a first draft.

Final editing and assembling took about another month, so about three months in all.

What other books would you compare 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections to within the genre?

I’ve read collections by Jack Kerouac and Jim Morrison in the past, and Norman Bissett’s Painting the Bridge more recently.

Whether mine is comparable is probably not for me to say.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve been writing Folding Mirror poems for a few years now, so it was poets like Kerouac and Morrison originally; along with the lyrics of rock music I’d been listening to since the 1980s.

More recently, it’s been the people who have posted poetry on the fmpoetry site; as well as people who visit, read and comment. I also read a lot of great poetry on other poets’ sites, and many are inspiring.

What else about the book might pique a reader’s interest?

The Folding Mirror poems have been previewed on this site, so if readers like them then hopefully they might buy or rent the book. Especially as there are 121 extra thoughts and poems in the book that are mostly unpublished elsewhere at the present time.

The Folding Mirror is a new and unique form, and readers who have an interest in new poetry forms might be interested. Especially if they like haiku and palindrome poetry.

The poems also delve deep into the (ADHD and bipolarity?) mind of a middle-aged world-travelled PhD graduate with a love for nature; who was inspired by the 1960s/1970s counter-culture, 1980s rock music and 1990s rave and dance. So hopefully it’ll have some interest for people of the same age, or with an interest in those periods of modern cultural history.

The books have also been priced at the cheapest tariffs possible across the UK, USA and EU on Amazon. The main reason for publishing the book was to make the poems available in a structured form, at a low cost, and with extra poems and thoughts to provide more value for money.

Not denying there was some vanity though, or still some lingering hopes and ambitions for superstardom and riches in the future… without sacrificing any artistic integrity of course…

My Five Nominees for next week are:

Ruth Kozak
David Robinson
Lorraine Mace
KJP Garcia
Tony McMahon

Thanks again to Caroline for nominating me, and I look forward to reading the answers from Ruth, David, Lorraine, KJP and Tony.

Platoon Poem and 1960s Culture War Psychology

Hi, it’s Andy Wolfhol. I’ve bartered an even better deal with our ol’ pal Marc Latham over at fmpoetry this week, getting over twenty-four hours exclusivity for his newest Folding Mirror poem, as long as we publicise his second poetry collection: 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections.

1960s Cartoon and Counter Culture

The poem is about the Platoon film, and contains some plot detail, so spoiler alert if you want to watch the movie without knowing any of the story.

Having studied Marc’s books in some detail I know that Platoon was quite a big film for him. Born in 1965, when the Vietnam War and counter-culture was just getting started, Marc wouldn’t really remember the adult period of war and revolution, but it would always interest him.

The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

However, Marc would remember his first experiences of mass culture in  the late-1960s and early-1970s, when the liberty and colour of the hippy age movement probably influenced television shows such as Scooby Doo, The Banana Splits and H.R. Pufnstuf.

Good and Evil Duality Folk Tales and Film 

H.R. Pufnstuf (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

H.R. Pufnstuf had a good and evil fairytale theme, and it was probably one of Marc’s first visual experiences of this fiction formula. It might well have influenced his interest in Greenygrey’s Rambles three and a half decades later.

Between the early inspiration and the written product, Marc had a whole lotta other influences, both in the fictional and factual worlds. One of the most important fictional influences before Marc travelled was Oliver Stone’s  Platoon Vietnam War movie, which really struck a nerve just a year before Marc set off.

Platoon Time and Place Relevance 

Hamburger Hill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Platoon was a major film, winning Academy Awards (Oscars) for best film, best director, best sound and best editing in 1986. In The Guns N’ Roses Worker-Traveller, Marc mentioned seeing a Platoon poster in the early days of his worker-traveller life on Crete, and also went to see spin-off Vietnam War films Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill while there.

While Marc was a staunch socialist at the time, and didn’t agree with the Vietnam War, he was also a rookie adult, like the Platoon protagonist and his grunt colleagues, so he related to the American soldiers’ trials and tribulations, and hoped they’d pull through and survive.

Anyway, I Andy Wolfhol, have definitely digressed. Here’s the poem:   

Platoon (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Platoon Protagonist, Life Lessons

Good Elias Grodin
soldier of conscience
trained to kill
living for honour
remembering right
way to live and fight
shot in back
paradise lost
witnessed by
helicopter angel

rookie recruit Chris, Taylor rendered realist

heaven’s assassin
fait accompli
executioner’s song
finger on trigger
put end to war mad
regurgitating wrong
surviving on hate
killing for fun
sweet innocent child
Bad Sergeant Barnes

Cover of Platoon (Special Edition)

 

Kate Middleton and Sebastian Vettel Star in Greenygrey World

Hi, it’s Wolf Whistzer, with a greenygrey round-up of the big wide world of greenygreyness in the media. Princess Kate Middleton took some great greenygrey photos on her recent tour to south-east Asia, with a great big greenygrey creation myth moment our favourite (although it admittedly doesn’t look that greenygrey below!):

While on the International Business Times website viewing Kate Middleton’s photos I scooped some more companies using greenygrey to enhance their products @ HTC and Undertone. We don’t know anything else about those companies, with the use of greenygrey of course always free.

Brazilian Grand Prix 

Also in the southern hemisphere, the Formula 1 motor-racing season came to a thrilling greenygrey end at the Brazilian Grand Prix. There was a feast of greenygreyness thanks to the colouring of the track, some atypical grey weather, the winner’s podium and a car manufacturer.

Here’s a taste of the track from the BBC website highlights:

And the Greenygrey was there to celebrate the end of the season Grand Prix, won by Jenson Button of GB driving for McLaren-Mercedes:

Sebastian Vettel of Germany won the season’s drivers’ championship driving for our ol’ friends Red Bull, which also won the constructors’ championship.

Mercedes’s greenygreyish car; on the boundary between green and turquoise; had a respectable season, with fifth place out of twelve constructors in the championship:

Alice Springs to Alice Springs in new Werewolf of Oz

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Thanks to Baron Wolfman for a great Greenygrey glossary of greenygrey gifs from magnificent Mont-Saint-Michel, and a nice use of his initiative. We’re sure you’ve been on the edge of your seats all week waiting for the next exciting episode of the comedy-fantasy travel quest classic epic Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps epic classic quest de travel fantasy-comedy, now available at Amazon and some other leading book sellers. So without further ado, with a just added Zemanta image extra special Roo, here it is for you to view:

Alice Springs city (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

30.  ALICE SPRINGS, WE SINGS AND THE WALLAROO SYMBS

‘Come along off the path,’ advised Alice, ‘you all look plum pole-axed piqued out. The ghangiant could be along soon, and you don’t want to be around when it turns up.’

I didn’t like the sound of the ghangiant, and thought we’d had enough drama for one day. I checked the hat, and it was glowing, so we followed Alice:

Alice Springs (Photo credit: slowe6847)

Spring, spring, spring
we span,
springing sprightly we sprang.

Alice Springs Invites us to Sing

We reached a spring, and Alice took a drink. She invited us to quench our thirst too, ‘Come drink at this spring, it’ll make you sing.’ I checked the hat, and it was glowing, so I told the others it should be okay.

Werewolves of London (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The water sure did taste sweet, and the next thing we knew, Bonzo was singing Have a Drink on Me. Elle then started singing Waltzing Matilda , (the Andre Roo and Mirusia version) before Warren Zevon‘s Werewolves of London must have cornered my cerebral cortex (nailed my noggin), because a rousing rendition suddenly burst out of my mouth. Alice finished off our medley with The Jam’s A Town Called Malice.

‘Why, Alice, I haven’t heard such sweet singing since Sade stopped by the Springs,’ a voice said from behind us. I looked around to see a macropod approaching.

Waltzing Matilda (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

‘Hello Wally Mac,’ exclaimed Alice, ‘what brings a wallaroo like roo to these parts.’

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Notes

cerebral cortex – outer layer of the brain; vital for thought processing.
noggin – slang for head.
Ghan – a passenger train operating on the Adelaide-Darwin railway.
wallaroo – any of three closely related species between kangaroos and wallabies.
Have a Drink on Me (AC/DC song).
Waltzing Matilda (Australian bush ballad).
Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon song).
A Town Called Malice (The Jam song).
Sade (soul singer).

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Artwork of Nagai Hideyuki Inspires Day at Greenygrey

Hi, it’s Baron Wolfman. Greenygrey sure is pleased it hired me, as the emorfes blog is keeping the Greenygrey art world supplied with lots of great material this week. I thought I’d be off helping Andy Wolfhol create something extraordinary this morning, but instead I was called in to the office to present the extraordinary 3-D pencil drawings artwork of Nagai Hideyuki. Photos 1,2 and 4 were on the emorfes blog, while I just found the third on Nagai’s website; so well done to me for some intrepid independent research!

Greenygrey in the Morning

I’m kinda getting used to seeing the Greenygrey reach for the alarm clock on an early morning start, such as today, and this drawing sure does remind me of that sunrise extravaganza (there was a real one of those on Monday too!):

 

Once the Greenygrey is up and running its next task is to open its curtains to the world, and this next one reminds me of that special occasion:

 

A working day at the Greenygrey:

 

And finally, after a busy day in the Greenygrey world, everything returns to hush:

Long time ’til that today, and off to find Andy Wolfhol now for some extraordinary creating of our own…

New Poem and Christmas Book Marketing

We’ve got another Folding Mirror poem from Marc Latham today. Marc’s second collection of poetry, 242 Mirror Poems and Reflections, featuring 121 mirror poems and 121 other poems and thoughts is available to order on Amazon in book and kindle form, with Amazon recommending this week as the best time to order if you want to miss the Winter Solstice Christmas rush. Anyway, thanks for visiting and spending time here, and here’s the latest poem:

Freefalling (Photo credit: EvaliaMagic)

Learning to Fly, Remembering to Swim

Do what mind tells body
when drawing you to edge
and you’ll fall to oblivion.
Jumping with a parachute
isn’t normal for humanity
we must remember to pull.

sky views are new, deep diving is old

Inhale exhale keep mask clear
underwater life isn’t natural
landlubber not an amphibian.
Ancestors dived deep for sponge
weights helped divers go deeper
never beyond breathing bends danger.

Fotografía hecha en Playa del Carmen, México, en un lugar llamado Tortugas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has several books available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).

Apple Scales Reminder of Unbalanced Fruit Brandwave

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. I think Andy Wolfhol is off creating something extraordinary, because he’s nowhere to be seen. I was going to delegate this job to him, but he did such a good job introducing Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem that we’ll overlook this artistic license.

Victoria Ivanova Art of Greenygrey Balance

In fact, it was while at the fmpoetry wordpress site that I first had the idea for this job, after seeing the art of Victoria Ivanova on the emorfes wordpress site.

I was captivated at once, after seeing the greenygrey scales with a pair of apples and a mirror image on them.

Then I saw the Pear of Dorian Gray, which reminded me of an idea I’d recently had, about having a Greenygrey fruit communication brand, what with there already being apple, blackberry, orange etc.

As I’m like a conjoined pair, that has recently been separated, I’d thought of Pear. I just google searched it, and there is already a Pear Communications anyway.

So, to make up for that disappointment, I thought I’d create a new poem, which I do believe is the first full Greenygrey poetry production since Grey set the poetry world alight with its seventy solo literary nonsense classics in its now available at Amazon for Winter Solstice Christmas epic classic Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps. Enjoy!

The Pear of Dorian Gray
is not moi, Greenygrey
for we are one once again
and not a brand of communication.

More Victoria Ivanova Images.

Great art, and lots of Folding Mirror relevance.

Werewolf of Oz Winter Solstice Christmas Marketing Campaign

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Stella, Susie, Max, Baron and Andy for their posts this week; and welcome Stella and Baron to the pack. While our esteemed colleagues have been keeping you entertained, we’ve been planning our Winter Solstice Christmas marketing campaign.

Before starting, we’d like to point out that we’re not practising pagans, we’re perfect ones. No, only joking, we don’t believe in a changeable nature, but we believe in respecting it.

We also don’t believe in a monotheistic god, but respect people’s rights to worship one, as long as they’re not imposing it on others, and using it to justify war and power over others.

English: Inti Raimi, the festival of winter solstice and the beginning of the year (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Winter Solstice Christmas Marketing Campaign

As we enter the sunrise season for 9-5 workers in the northern hemisphere, with the sun rising at the perfect time for the regular risers, we started our winter solstice Christmas marketing campaign yesterday on Grey’s old Werewolf of Oz website.

Yes, do you remember that two-year feast of everything land-down-under, where ‘I’/’my other half’ blogged its historic fantasy-travel across what you know as Australia, daringly manoeuvring its way across perilous Google maps… and trying to entertain you lot with its comedy-fantasy at the same time!

Hopefully the book, priced at the lowest possible tariffs on Amazon, might make an ideal present for those trying to protect animals and environment; enjoy South Park and Monty Python-style comedy; have an interest in travel and Australia; and/or the powers of body, mind and spirit.

And here’s another thrilling episode to surely tip you over the edge into putting your paws in your pockets and purchasing our book, which we’re not likely to make any money out of, and Amazon’s not likely to pay any taxes on in the UK; but hopefully it’ll entertain you, and help me rise up the book charts… 

Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps

Oops, just seen the next episode, and it’s not an epic classic, more of a five-minute cartoon, but the significance of the emerald cork hat is emphasised, and the arrival of Alice starts off a pretty cool little sub-episode containing the great gig in the sky above Uluru/Ayer’s Rock. Here it is anyway:

29.  ALICE SPRINGS in THE DESERT

Before shooting off into the stratosphere, MiMo said ‘Bonzo and Were, beware. Hold onto your hat and keep to the dust sandy path, unless the hat glows, because when it’s safe it knows.’

Newgrange (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We continued south. It seemed hellish to the east and west, and each side seemed to be pulling us its way. I tried to shut it out and continue progressing on the path.

Poor Bonzo was singing Gimme a Bullet to Bite On, while Elle said she was worried her body wasn’t going to be strong enough to make it. I was struggling myself, and tried to think of a reunion with Green in the Greenygrey world to take my mind off the ordeal.

Alice Springs Outback Sunset (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We were finding the going particularly tough late in the day, when suddenly a woman sprang out of the red sunset and landed on the path in front of us.

She introduced herself as Alice.

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Notes

Gimme a Bullet to Bite On is an AC/DC song.

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Poem about Felix Baumgartner’s Space Jump

Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem celebrates Felix Baumgartner‘s triple world-record-breaking twenty-four mile balloon journey into space, and 9-minute (540 seconds) free fall back to Earth, during which he became the first human to break the sound barrier without a vehicle. Here it is:

Red Bull Stratos – Felix Baumgartner (Photo credit: cattias.photos)

Balloonist Baumgartner, Flying Felix

I’m going home
to the only place I’ve known
it’s twenty-four miles away
but it’s straight all the way
no bends, lights or diversions
distractions, stations or merging
just falling and spinning

breaking sound barrier, entering Earth’s atmosphere

pulling chute and landing
sunshine, horizon and sky
warm desert, friends of Earth
it’s just the way I remember
before five-forty seconds fall
from the highest a balloonist’s been
feeling so humble

Red Bull Stratos – Felix Baumgartner (Photo credit: cattias.photos)

Marc Latham’s central site is the Greenygrey (http://www.greenygrey.co.uk), and he has several books available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/author/marclatham).