We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Read on and check out the Second Chances reprints special for "Salt to Salt" from Erica Goss.

Or you can let them read to you!



What was the inspiration for the piece published in the issue?
The inspiration for “Salt to Salt” was a beach vacation in 2013. I was walking along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, near the town of Santa Cruz, California, when a white Nike sports shoe rolled out of the surf, the exact size and make that my dad wore. My dad had been dead a little over two years at that point, and the shoe felt like a message from him.

What is your #1 advice for other writers?
My #1 advice for writers is to read. Read everything you can. Read critically. Read for pleasure. Read outside your genre, read in different languages (even if you have to learn a new language!), read books meant for children, read graphic novels, read technical manuals, just read all of it. Wander the shelves of your local library. Haunt a favorite bookstore. When you read, you feed your brain the food it needs to keep creating. Reading is fertilizer for your mind. Keep it well-fed.

What is your creative process? Do you plan pieces out or let them happen as they come?
My creative process is a combination of inspiration and hard work. I’m never sure where the next idea will come from, so I try to keep myself open to as many possibilities as I can. When all else fails, I read. Looking at visual art is also an important part of my creative process, as is writing in poetic forms. I think it’s vital to always have something in the works, but I also believe that sometimes you need to wait. That’s the hardest part for me. When I’m working on a poem or an essay, I have to trust the process, meaning that I need to let my ideas form at the speed they dictate. There is no rushing this.