Biography:

Mr. Michael Lee Johnson lives in Chicago, IL after spending 10 years in Edmonton, Alberta Canada during the Viet Nam era. He is a freelance writer and poet.  He is the author of:  The Lost American:  From Exile to Freedom.  http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-46091-7.
Visit his website at:  http://poetryman.mysite.com/.

Interview:

How long have you been writing?

I have been scribbling at paper since I was 16 or 17 years old.

Have you always wanted to be a published writer?

I saw an Easter bunny that was as tall as a telephone pole when I was 8 years old and an only child.
Before I understood this, I wanted to write about it, before I knew what writing was about.
What inspires you to write and do you remember the exact moment you knew you wanted to be a writer?

Like all children playing in sandboxes I had a notion.  But the first time was really sitting in a restaurant in Marion, Indiana, Marion College, I was hiding my poetry at the coffee counter when a gent asked me:  “why not share what you write, if you don’t, you are a very selfish person”-it was at this moment I reflected and wanted to be a writer of some sort.

Are there any notable authors who have influence your writing?

Yes, I was/am, heavy influenced by Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Irving Layton, and Leonard Cohen.

What would you consider some of your obstacles and how do you overcome them?

I’m not a good writer, my grammar is poor, my spelling sucks, my syntax is missing in action.  But my imagery appears to be solid, my access to spell check is close at hand, a local thesaurus helps, and an internal resource called creativity seems to bit at my nails.

Do you follow a strict writing schedule or just write when the spirit hits you?

Since, at this point, I don’t make a living with poetry, I write when the spirit of rain and cloud form my mind like shadows that do not go away.

Have you ever had writer’s block and how do you overcome it?

Yes, pending a mood, or mental blockade, I just save what I have and come back to rejuvenate another time.  I have had poems go for 15 years unnoticed, then revised or revisited; some have been rewritten with multi-versions.

How are you working to grow as an artist?

I’m obsessed.  I work long hours, and ask God to take control of my life away so I might do what is His will not mine.  But I see it as fun, thankfulness, and appreciate what has been given to me, especially small presses who poets and artist could never do without.  Just like this one, Chaotic Dreams.

Where do you see yourself as a writer ten years in the future?

Since I’m 59 now, 10 years from now I may or may not be alive.  I don’t worry about that.  I follow what I thinK is God’s plan for me and let it ride.  Questions like this are for 25 year olds looking for their first job.
I do this for legacy, self-esteem, and an appreciation of who ever gave me this limited talent.

When did this collection first present itself in your mind?  Was there anything specific or did you just know it was time?

I knew I wanted to write a book called The Lost American 35 years ago.  I thought it would take the form of a novel or personal narrative.  But years later, it turned into a book of poems and prose.  When the internet self-submissions on line came about, for me, just this year:  I knew it was time, before I fell permanently asleep.

How did you come up with the cover and title of the book?

The title was easy since it evolved over time in physical exile in Canada due to the Vietnam War; the cover of the book was my choice looking though thousands of graphics.

Did you have a specific process to select the poems included in this collection?

Yes and no.  In a rough sense chronologically, I tried to arrange poems by:  poems in exile, early love poems, and then by date, sort of.  Sometimes the chips just fell where the chips felt right to fall.  Give me a break it is only my first full volume paperback of poems in my near 60 years of breathing.

If you had to choose, what would you say is the best poem in this collection?  Why?

This is a fair question but a tiger to answer.  Each poem speaks its own time and truth.  Seldom do the paths of one poem cross over the other.  Poems evolve when the collection of experiences gather to form something new.  I think maybe I like the simple, the sober little poem, Playful the best, besides I like moths and my kitten Nikki more than life itself.  I am a simple person, with limited skills, so I tend to love Jesus and think about it a lot, and love my kitten Nikki and think of it seldom.  The two loves in my life are inside my living space.

What’s your opinion on self-publishing as opposed to traditional publishing?

Great question it is.  Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau both self-published when self-publishing was not cool-and when it meant paying for your own paper, and print costs.  Now days with traditional publishers not wanting to spend money on poetry books, in particular, self-publishing or POD-publishing on demand is the way to go.  Let the picky publishers, who are already in financial trouble, go under.  I have confidence in my work and I don’t have time at age 59, to wait for them.

If you were the average reader, what lesson would you want to take away from this book?

That life is eternal, that hope is a wisdom that springs from God.  That even in your darkest moments if you surrender your control of your life to a higher power you gain control of your own life as a result.  Enough of the lectures for one evening!

Do you have any parting words for the reader?

Yes I do.  It is imperative you support local and international small presses, without them, poets and others would be screaming in cornfields and no one would be answering.  They are a God sent, support them!  The editors work hard to edit, format, select, review, emails many hours each day.  They are like writers, and many of them are or were writers. 

Since poetry pays little, requires much, I see my personal story writing poems since 16 years of age, now 59 years old as an example of determination.   As I said in my bio most of my publishing has come in within the last year-I had/have poems dating back as far as 1967.  Now, forty years later, by poems are getting published all over the world, and most of them came from yellowed papers, wrinkled napkins and such, they wait for the hand of revival. Never give up hope and always remember a power greater than self is driving the life vehicle home.