Describe your creative space.

I have an office/library space in my home where I do most of my work, along with a place in the living room where after my morning meditation I work on poetry business, social networking, website, revisions and other tasks.

What kind of materials do you use?

I use my laptop mainly, but if I’m at a café or at work and get struck by something, I will certainly grab a pen and paper to keep the ideas fresh and hostage so to speak.

What is your routine for writing?

Early morning after my 4:00 am twenty minute meditation sit, I work on drafts in progress, do multiple submissions, answer emails from editors, read new books of poets I love, and mainly dig in for three hours before my work at the office begins.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for 25 years.

When did you start writing?

I began writing poetry in 1993.

Who is your intended, or ideal, audience?

I don’t really have a specific audience in mind, unless it is folks who are drawn to work that deals with the politics of intimacy, sexuality, the body, religious and sexual trauma or all of the above.

Who do you write for?

Myself and the world.

What inspires you to write?

My own interior life/mediation experience/other poetry/ and everything I open my mind and heart to in the hope I can always translate that experience back to the world in a fresh and different poetic form

If you are blocked, what do you do?

I have no experience of that. I have Asperger’s syndrome, and a radically obsessive mind that I calmly and fiercely turn to poetry. It’s the same as breathing.

What other things do you do besides writing?

I work out, play guitar and enjoy being a Grandfather and husband.

What is your favorite part of the creative process?

The pure joy of being powerless over what I call having, “the affliction.”

What is your advice to aspiring writers?

Read poetry. Listen to poetry. Find a community of poets and humble yourself to be mentored and loved through the trials and tribulations of poetry’s flames.

Check out Daniel’s work in Volume 5, Issue 1.