KMWR: I was captivated by the voice of this piece; can you speak to what it was like writing the first draft?

RPS: I don't recall the first draft. I do not think it was nearly this long, but the voice -- I distinctly remember -- shifted considerably at some point. The voice(s), I suppose I ought to say... and they took off!

KMWR: In your story, “Pop!” published in House of Arcanum, you write, “‘It could be easier,’ whimpered low through the uncut sedge hissing long against the maternal refrains cast now from the screened porch back on the yard side a the Hansoms' central acre.” This line, and so many others of yours, have such a wonderful cadence and warm mouthfeel, so-to-speak. Do you read your story aloud as you edit to produce such prose with a pulse?

RPS: MOUTHFEEL. Now, that is a word! Thanks. I almost feel like words have a 'soul.' Not an original thought of mine, mind you. (I'm not sure what Plato would make of this, cringing.) WORDS want to speak, or be heard; and just maybe, in a way not unlike sentient beings.

KMWR: What would you say are your own personal ideal writing conditions? What about unideal conditions—and do you fight to write anyway?

RPS: I have given up on questions such as these. Every opportunity -- a found moment, a lost linger of regret -- can be (both) ideal & un-. FIGHT arghhhhhhhhhhhhh. At this particular moment, as we expect a true snowstorm here in coming days, 'fight' is not on my lips; I'm not even sure about them snowballs!

KMWR: Can you tell us about what you’ve been reading lately and what you would recommend?

RPS: I have read more -- and written more -- the last two years (or so) than I believe in all my life, including formal school years. Blame some virus and all the rest... I recommend: READ WHAT INTERESTS YOU, and (occasionally) the stuff you run from. Also, see LIVE THEATER in your community. Online streaming is great, but post-Pandemic, we need something, anything, everything proximal to our campfire-narrative origins. What we hunger for-- The healing can not be overstated, in my opinion: Community of different faces in 1 room, experiencing joy or sadness, together. That can be powerful!

KMWR: Finally, is there anything you’re working on that you’d like to share?

RPS: Oh, I would miss an opportunity here if I did not call out Jan. 6th as spiritual inspiration, not only for western Christians or U.S. (North) Americans of any or no political persuasion. I have written (and am revising) two full-length stage plays, inspired by the events of the day; they are part of a trilogy, which I hope can be a salve as we move forward.

♧

A rural native of the southeastern United States, R. P. Singletary writes fiction, poetry, drama, and hybrid. His short monologue MONO fe appeared Off-Broadway this autumn as part of the Apron Strings project at AMT Theater in Hell's Kitchen. Literary works published in LITRO, The Wave - Kelp Journal, Worktown Works (U.K.), en*gendered, The Collidescope, Rathalla Review, Wicked Gay Ways, Cowboy Jamboree, Stone of Madness, and elsewhere. Affiliations include Authors Guild, Atlanta Dramatists, Dramatists Guild.

Read more at: www.rpsingletary.com