-----

So--*0hgravity--how are you today?

Well, thanks! You can call me Gravity ^^

Tell us a little about the groups you admin for?

Sure. Since the only group really active that I admin for is IntrinsicallyInked I’ll talk a bit about it. It’s a group looking to expose some stellar writing. Although we do decline work we don’t think is quite ready yet, we do offer critiquing and encourage members to help their fellow writers out. The admins have been pretty busy of late so we haven’t had a contest in a little while but hopefully we can get another one going soon!

Out of the pieces in your gallery, which three are YOUR personal favorites? Why did you choose them?

The first one to come to mind is CharlieI had a stalker.
I didn't know his name but I'm sure he knew mine.
I called him Charlie.
He always had a camera hanging from his twig thick neck and he cradled it in his hands; a wispy finger stroking the shutter release. His dark brown hair was a curly mess and his shirts wrinkly and thin. He had the most perfect eyebrows, sweeping and gentle. He must have the most captivating eyes, I thought every time he'd glance my way. We'd never made eye contact. Charlie preferred it that way.
He came into the bookstore once a week, not to watch me leaf through the used books or reach high to shelve the approved ones, but to actually browse them. He read the unknowns; the virgins with their unbroken spines. I imagine he liked the smell of them – aromas preserved for him alone. Charlie appreciated the books wearing dusty coats and factory perfume a decade old.
The rest of the time he spent on the outside looking in. My co-workers were tickled pink. "What a geek." "Poor guy doesn't realize you. It was my first really successful flash fiction but I choose it as one of my personal favorites because the idea for it hit me right out of the goshdarn blue and I wrote it in less than an hour – the idea was that powerful. All you writers out there know how rare a moment that is; well, it’s rare for me.

Another one of my personal favorites is also a prose piece,

Mature Content

. This piece was almost complementary to Charlie but it was a colder version of it. The idea also sort of hit me full force and I felt pretty darn proud of it. The characters, however briefly on stage, I believe, were quite complex and the plot rather interesting and fresh.

Last piece I’d say is my personal favorite is rhythmic rain and words for dead treesthis funeral-black night begins with
piano notes soft as the rain soaking
leisurely into wood thirsty for the 
warm essence of     
                         heavy 
                              
            drifting 
clouds
               clack
        drip
click
evoke dead writers with
vintage typewriters, faded
ink stamping out new stories
from old wounds the way
the poets do, old poets with
new admirers
tonight, find
immortality resides 
in water
sliding down a fogged window
leaving behind a clear trail--
the way to see out 
into the natural world waiting. alive.
listen.
to the trees breathing
sweet wooden beings--  
they rattle rain-streaked glass 
with their  oxygen-laced wind.
you.. I feel like it really captured the particular feeling and sense I had in my head. Also, I played around a bit with punctuation and I think it worked better than I thought it would. Icing on the cake, I got the ever elusive vocal connoisseur herself, disrhythmic, to do a reading of it

You do a little bit of EVERYTHING--is there one type of artwork you like more? Why or why not?

Haha, I do. Jack of all trades, master of none.

Definitely writing. I am a very visual person and for this reason you may conclude my favorite type of artwork would be some kind of visual art. The thing is, there is much more immediacy, I feel, in writing than in any other work of art. I can create the things I dream up in my head far faster through words than any other medium. If I had more dedication I would go into film but unfortunately I don’t have the time or energy to go traipsing around looking for the perfect location or person. I can just as easily sit in one inspiring spot and write up something that matches my vision almost exactly. I think that sort of artistry plays more to my introversion as well.

   

If you had to choose between being known for your writing, or your visual art, which would you pick?

Writing. 

white coffin collar boneI traced her collarbone with my thumb, dipping into the valley it formed – deep enough to hold her bird soul.
“What are you doing?” She asked because we were in the middle of conversation when my eyes had wandered from her fern-green eyes, over her sunset red and rounded cheeks, slowly down her birch-tree neck. My hand impulsively finished the wandering, right along a branch, her sweet, exposed collarbone.
“I’m…sorry,” I lowered my hand. The last bit of hope in my heart crept into my mind like a child searching for comfort in his mother’s arms. My mind embraced the tiny hope born from her not moving away at my unprovoked caress.
We had been talking so candidly and she was whispering about her wishes and her "silly" wants and how I was the last person she should be speaking so intimately with so maybe I panicked. Maybe what I saw nestling feathered in her collarbone wasn’t her soul hiding away to die but only a shadow and maybe, eve   Taste the Crush of a Sunset's Dying BlushShe collected butterflies alive as cherished memories. 
A whisperer of the delicate things, velvet-winged creatures hadn’t a chance against her gentle murmur.  Nothing forced, she let them perch upon a lazily held finger as she flipped page after page detailing each down to wandering antenna.
“You, darlin’, are a white-dotted Cattleheart,” she breathed its name soft as spells. Thin, black legs pawed at her skin in recognition. 
“I have seen you before, lovely?” Dark shadows, outlined by red and white polka-dot seams, fell and rose like a sweet, slow nod.
She smiled as it fluttered off her finger to a nearby bed of white flowers landing –  a black cloak draped over a mound of snow.
Returning her attention to the butterfly book, her eyes lit bright.
“Hey there Pipevine Swallowtail.” She sighed to her newest guest, “are you carrying my dreams? did you swallow my heartwishes last night? Wait…” She   impression IIin the waiting room
she hushes her arrhythmia
with a soft press of her hand
to her rising descending rising 
descending chest.
her finger strokes the flower petal
pink pattern of her summer blouse 
a carefree voice chirps, "I love your top."
blinking rainy eyes, she chokes "thanks,"
and swallows the weight of the
feigned gratitude thick on her tongue.

Do you have any irrational or unexplainable phobias?

Hmm, that’s a tough one! That I’m invisible? There are many times I question my visibility. I’m not even kidding; sometimes I will examine my hands to see if I can look through them. I can’t count how many times I’ve been sitting at a table and people will talk to everyone around me and not even once glance my way - like people will be introducing themselves and then not even look at me. So…sometimes I wonder, fear, that there is something wrong with me. I’d say that’s pretty irrational.

What are some of your literature goals--either on dA or in real life?

I think in real life I would just like to have my pieces published alongside visual art. It would be awesome to collaborate with some really talented visual artist in various mediums. Even if there was only one published, physical book, that’d be my biggest goal. On dA, it’d be cool to be one of the writers aspiring writers look up to and I just want to be that person on dA people feel comfortable conversing with on various things and asking for help or advice on their own writing.

If you could spend one day talking to an animal, which animal would you choose and what would you talk about?
Well, my favorite animal is the giraffe so I’d probably ask it if it ever gets neck pain first…or if it ever wishes it was shorter. Then, I’d probably ask what its philosophy on life is, you know? Like what does it think about when it’s munching on those leaves? Does it believe in God or does it strive for Nirvana? I’d probably ask it what it thinks of other animals. Finally, I’d ask it about music. Ask it to sing for me maybe ^^ and ask it if it likes my favorite band.

Do you have any advice for deviants just starting to find their place in the lit community?

Get involved. Comment on other artist’s work as often as possible. Favorite pieces you like or love. Join only one or two smaller groups and become an active member in those groups. What does that mean? For me, I would never post to a group unless I had left a few comments on other pieces in the group gallery; I still try to hold to that principle which is why my pieces aren’t in many groups, if any at all. Suggest pieces for a DLD or DD feature. I think these are the best ways to find a niche here and to make your presence known.

What about on dA in general?

It’s hard for writer deviants to get noticed outside of the lit community on dA but I think the same principles apply except to other media. I think collabing with visual artists is a good way to immerse yourself in the community. I’ve used quite a few photographs to inspire my writing (Charlie, for instance) and I’ve also collaborated with a digital artist to bring one of my flash fictions (The Waste World) to visual life.

If you could mix two very different, distinct flavors together and KNOW they'd work well together, which would you choose? (Try to be unique here--flavors that haven't necessarily been mixed before.)

Well I like the flavor of bananas…and I like bacon…so bananas and bacon? lol, I’m sure with the popularity bacon seems to have gained over the past few years, someone is selling bacon-flavored bananas. I’ve had bacon fudge…that was not good, haha.

Is there a skill or hobby you wish you could pick up and be immediately good at? What is it?

Craftsmanship in general. I’d like to be able to build or make my own things…furniture, guitars, hell I’d even like to be able to knit my own blankets. I think it’s so awesome when you can say, “yeah I made this.” That kind of autonomy is very appealing to me. I’m actually considering learning how to book-bind. I bound a journal in middle school that I still have. It’d go hand-in-hand with my love for writing, wouldn’t it? (:

And last question: Who are some of the deviants you look up to/hold on a pedestal? Any specific reasons why? (i.e. their artwork, their community spirit, their kindness...)

Oh god. Many.

For their artwork: your-methamphetamine, Anthony-Ryan, Concora
Their work is just so fresh and visually and emotionally appealing. I think your-methamphetamine comes up with the most unique and raw ways of expressing things. Anton and Concora are brilliant in their brevity. Concora’s work is visually stunning and Anton's work has such a down-to-earth (in the most literal sense of the word) feel to it.

For community spirit: Sammur-amat (well for kindness too, my god), Exnihilo-nihil, PoetryOD, and LadyLincoln

They’ve been so supportive of my work despite how many other things they do in the community and I’m sure they are the same with others too. They keep in touch with the little people, you know? They are such a positive presence in the community. Even though I’m sure they’ve all had their bad days, somehow they’re always smiling and working to encourage everyone in the lit community.

For kindness: I’d say intricately-ordinary and SCFrankles

I look up to both these deviants for their art work (intricately-ordinary has an intriguing mind and frankles is just this awesome mix of clever and hilarity all wrapped up in the most mind-boggling brevity). But I find them to be so supportive to fellow deviants and always there with a kind word.

Those are all tip-of-the-iceberg folks, though, and they all share the reasons for my admiration of them (they are all kind and they are all fantastic writers). If you want a full list note me and I’ll happily share more!

-----

Thank you, 0hgravity, for taking a moment to sit down and talk with us!  I really appreciate your time!

For our readers: First, I'd like to apologize for the delay in the new post!  Second, who are some of the deviants YOU look up to? Why do you admire them?

Feel free to comment and discuss, but be respectful!  If you enjoyed this article, add it to your 's to spread the word!