Book Tour: The Waiting Tide, by Ryan W. Bradley
“They gave me something to focus on beyond depression”
In anticipation of The Waiting Tide, poems by Ryan W. Bradley
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: Concepcion Books, an imprint of Curbside Splendor
WHAT'S THE BOOK ABOUT: IN THE AUTHOR'S WORDS
The Waiting Tide is a love letter. An expression of passion. It is an homage to Pablo Neruda's The Captain's Verses. The poems are extensions of one another, they build on one another. They are about sex and desire and the human body. Above all they believe in the universality of these themes.
AN HONEST ACCOUNT OF PUTTING THE BOOK TOGETHER
This collection started with one poem called "The Waiting Tide." Then another poem and another and another. All with the same title. After those came more poems about the ocean, and about sex. About these things as a shelter and an escape. It was a hard time for me, I was working a soul-sucking job and I coped by reading Neruda. And these poems kept coming. They gave me something to focus on beyond depression. They were a lighthouse calling me out of the dark. They were a way to focus on the things in life that keep me going, chiefly the deep love I have for my wife, who in many ways has saved my life and continues to do so daily.
THE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS HIMSELF
NAILED MAGAZINE: What's your favorite book and why? How does it impact your own writing, or your view of others' work?
RYAN W. BRADLEY: Well, I'll focus on poetry here. The Captain's Verses is probably my favorite poetry collection. I identify with the passion in Neruda's words. He does an amazing job of connecting a passion for life and the world around him with his human passion and desire. In my own work, I try to connect desire with the human element behind the desire, the want for something and the impact that creates.
NAILED: What author would you want to be, either for their life or for their work, and why?
BRADLEY: That's tricky. None of the writers I really connect with had the best living conditions. But I think I'd go with Hemingway. His life was an adventure, but his writing is what made me want to be a writer, to be able to have such an impact with such a strong voice is to be admired and envied. And something to aspire to.
NAILED: In your writing life, how has the Internet changed your view of writers, writing, or marketing a book?
BRADLEY: Well, many of us in the small press world wouldn't be where we are without the Internet. Everything I resisted about the Internet has turned out to be really great for my writing. I didn't want to join Facebook, but I did and it has allowed me to connect with so many writers I would've never known or read. I didn't want to join Twitter, but I did and the exposure it's given my writing and my design work has been incredible. As with anything, the Internet and social media can have a negative effect, too, but I don't see the point in worrying about that. I do what I can do for myself in terms of writing, marketing, etc. But more importantly I can also support other writers I love in a way I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
NAILED: When was the last time you NAILED it?
BRADLEY: Well, we have been talking about sex and desire, so why not go there, huh? Like 36 hours ago. Oh, wait did you mean writing-wise? Well, I just turned in a manuscript to a publisher, so that was sweet.
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Ryan W. Bradley has fronted a punk band, done construction in the Arctic Circle, managed an independent children's bookstore, and now designs book covers. He is the author of a story collection, Prize Winners (Artistically Declined Press, 2011) and a poetry collection, Mile Zero (ADP, 2013). He also co-authored the collaborative poetry collection, You Are Jaguar (ADP, 2012) with David Tomaloff. His novel, Code for Failure was recently re-released by Civil Coping Mechanisms. He received his MFA from Pacific University and lives in Oregon with his wife and two sons.
Bradley appears on NAILED Magazine as part of a feature called Blog Tour Stop.