Welcome back to Three by Five’s conversation with Poet Laurie Kolp. March closes out with some bonus questions about the writing community and a little randomness.
VAH: What choices have you made regards to traditional or independent publishing?
LK: Up to this point I have chosen traditional publishing (my first poetry book, Upon the Blue Couch, was published by Winter Goose Publishing). I am a perfectionist and I worry that I’ll mess something up if I try to do it myself.
VAH: What part does social media play in your writing career?
LK: I think it’s very important in getting your name out there and building an online presence is crucial in this day and age.
VAH: Do you belong to writing or author organizations and what benefit have you found in doing so?
LK: Yes. I’m President of Texas Gulf Coast Writers and am actively involved in the Poetry Society of Texas. I think it’s important for support, critique and fellowship.
VAH: Do you have any favorite online sites or blogs that you find useful or interesting? I love Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides, The Found Poetry Review blog, and Diane Lockward’s monthly newsletters.
VAH: Let’s have a little fun. If you had a super power, what would it be and why?
LK: I wish I had the power to spread love throughout the world because then we could all live in peace.
VAH: What is a little known fact about you that will amaze and/or amuse?
LK: One time in junior high I was on my way to a slumber party. My parents stopped at a 7-11 so I could run in and buy candy while they waited for me in the car. When I came out of the store, they watched me get into the wrong car. I must have been in la-la land!
VAH: Three random, non-writing facts about you?
LK: I received a nursing scholarship to the nursing program at the college in my hometown, but wanted so badly to attend Texas A&M University, which didn’t have nursing at the time, that I ditched it after a year and transferred. That first year at A&M, I thought I should choose a degree that would make a lot of money (as if degrees were menu items) so declared business only to nearly fail Economics and Accounting. So I went into teaching. I did this because my sister was a teacher. My mom and grandmother were piano teachers. I knew it wasn’t what I was meant to do though. It wasn’t until I began writing seriously in 2006 that I knew my purpose.
VAH: Favorite quote and why?
LK: I am nobody, who are you? Emily Dickinson… I just love this quote because I can relate to it on many levels.
Thank you Laurie Kolp for participating with Three by Five, the author (and other interesting people) interview series. New interviews publish on days that end in 3 (and sometimes that start with three!)
Enjoy a sampling of her work:
Poems published at Verse Virtual.
What Sunday School Taught Him at Deep Water Literary Journal
Mother, In the Raw at Amarillo Bay
Whirls of Brokenness at Black Heart Magazine
Time Warp at City Lit Rag .
Forbidden Fruit at the Blue Fifth Review.
Social media –
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Upon the Blue Couch is a compelling collection of diverse poems certain to intrigue the reader with its courageous look into one woman’s turbulent journey through adulthood. With a comfortable blue couch as the common thread throughout the years, we are shown all the highs and lows of life while some things remain a constant source of peace. This blue couch, if only it could talk, may just reveal the secrets to happiness based on the experiences it has unwittingly been a part of.![FINAL BlueCouch_FlatForeBooks[1]](https://vickihudson.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/final-bluecouch_flatforebooks1.jpg)
Three by Five interviews publish on days that end in 3!
Vicki Hudson 