AG Devitt (www.agdevitt.com)

Word Association

1. Editor Knife wounds

2. Chicken Protein

3. Education Cinderblocks

4. Conferences Gin

5. MySpace Prostitution

6. Shakespeare Sex and death

7. Jellyfish The Boston Aquarium

8. Scary Dead leaves

9. Frank An overweight cop

10. Pencil Bureaucracy

Regular

1. What do you like best about writing flash fiction for your website, www.agdevitt.com? For the longest time I refused to acknowledge that I was any kind of an artist. I'd insist that I was a writer and that there was a difference. But the flash I do on agdevitt.com is...well...I do it for me. Not because I like to. There are much more pleasurable ways to spend those hours. But I guess I need to. Because if I don't, I tend to get a bit darker than usual. It's the same with working out. I need to do both activities to maintain the delicate balance of my mind. The flash allows me to do whatever work it is that writers "need" to do and then be done with it. I always feel dirty afterwards, like I need a shower.

In terms of the medium of flash fiction, it allows me to create these very small moments with characters I find interesting who perhaps could not sustain a longer plotline. And it allows me to try out concepts or scenes for longer projects and gauge the audience's reaction. It's an outlet. I'll keep doing it as long as it works.

2. What's your favorite word and why? I've always liked the word "nefarious," but I never use it. I'll paraphrase Churchill: The old words are best, and the short old words are best of all."

3. Having published comic books and short stories and gotten a master's degree in creative writing, is there anything that still surprises you about the writing business? Nothing surprises me anymore. With the proliferation of print on demand, and every Frank, Bob, and Larry having a blog, there is so much crap to wade through. Not that there wasn't crap before, but at least there was a filter between the producers and the consumers. Now you see a book on Amazon and it is entirely possible that it never went through any kind of editing or quality control at all. I'm not certain how I feel about this, because as a writer I want to be read by as many people as possible, but at the same time with so many voices barking at once, it's hard to pay attention to or even find the subtle whispers.

Viral style marketing pisses me off. If you have to trick people into reading you...well, chuck you, Farley.

4. How is teaching writing different from actually writing? Teaching is wonderful, but it has a potential downside for a writer. It's wonderful in the sense that I get to meet some very talented people and maybe give them a hand or two. That I can perhaps encourage and enable the next Neil Gaiman or Don Pendleton. But it takes a lot of creativity to be a good teacher. So by the end of the day, I've given so much of my creative energy to my students that sometimes there is very little left for myself. I feel drained sometimes. Sick sometimes. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

5. We hear you're very involved in martial arts. Can you tell us a little about that? My sensei had his own style, but it's too much effort to explain that to someone who asks me what belt I am. I tell people I practice Muay Thai, but it's not exactly Muay Thai. My sensei is Japanese, and his father owned a chain of karate schools in Japan. My sensei turned away from karate because he didn't want to walk in his father's shadow. So what I do is a combination of Thai kickboxing and old samurai techniques (koryu). And a mix of things I've picked up along the way. I've trained with MMA fighters, judo champions, tae kwon do masters. It sounds so pompous to say, but I assure you they've all kicked my ass.

6. Do you have a writing routine? I try to. In the summers, which I have off due to the teaching gig, I try to write from 8 AM until about noon or so. This is not set in stone, nor is all that time spent actually writing. I get up. I make coffee. I watch the birds out in my yard. I play with my cat. I'll say "fuck it" and turn on the TV. I'll work out. I write while I work out. I can't think sitting still. I have to be moving. My mind is inseparable from my body. For my mind to be at its most active, my body needs to be, too.

7. What advice would you give an unpublished writer? I'll steal this from Robert Heinlein, but it is the only advice that's worth a damn. Write. Finish what you write. Start writing something else.

And if you want to be published, you kind of have to send it to somebody. But that's up to you.

8. If you were a red jelly bean, what flavor would you be and why? You'd have to ask someone who's tasted me...

9. What question do you wish we would have asked you? "How much would you like to be paid for this interview?"

10. Is there anything else you can share with our writing community? As misanthropic as I am, a writer needs an audience. The people who write to me and comment on my work...I may not always reply, but I'm glad you are out there. Feedback is crucial to a writer at any level. Even if you can't stand the feedback, it will drive you to push yourself harder just to prove them wrong.

Also, eat yogurt every day. It's good for you.

AG Devitt (www.agdevitt.com)
Word Association
1. Editor	Knife wounds
2. Chicken	Protein
3. Education	Cinderblocks
4. Conferences	Gin
5. MySpace	Prostitution
6. Shakespeare	Sex and death
7. Jellyfish	The Boston Aquarium
8. Scary	Dead leaves
9. Frank	An overweight cop
10. Pencil	Bureaucracy
Regular
1. What do you like best about writing flash fiction for your website, www.agdevitt.com?	For the longest time I refused to acknowledge that I was any kind of an artist. I'd insist that I was a writer and that there was a difference. But the flash I do on agdevitt.com is...well...I do it for me. Not because I like to. There are much more pleasurable ways to spend those hours. But I guess I need to. Because if I don't, I tend to get a bit darker than usual. It's the same with working out. I need to do both activities to maintain the delicate balance of my mind. The flash allows me to do whatever work it is that writers "need" to do and then be done with it. I always feel dirty afterwards, like I need a shower. In terms of the medium of flash fiction, it allows me to create these very small moments with characters I find interesting who perhaps could not sustain a longer plotline. And it allows me to try out concepts or scenes for longer projects and gauge the audience's reaction. It's an outlet. I'll keep doing it as long as it works.
2. What's your favorite word and why?	I've always liked the word "nefarious," but I never use it. I'll paraphrase Churchill: The old words are best, and the short old words are best of all."
3. Having published comic books and short stories and gotten a master's degree in creative writing, is there anything that still surprises you about the writing business?	Nothing surprises me anymore. With the proliferation of print on demand, and every Frank, Bob, and Larry having a blog, there is so much crap to wade through. Not that there wasn't crap before, but at least there was a filter between the producers and the consumers. Now you see a book on Amazon and it is entirely possible that it never went through any kind of editing or quality control at all. I'm not certain how I feel about this, because as a writer I want to be read by as many people as possible, but at the same time with so many voices barking at once, it's hard to pay attention to or even find the subtle whispers. Viral style marketing pisses me off. If you have to trick people into reading you...well, chuck you, Farley.
4. How is teaching writing different from actually writing?	Teaching is wonderful, but it has a potential downside for a writer. It's wonderful in the sense that I get to meet some very talented people and maybe give them a hand or two. That I can perhaps encourage and enable the next Neil Gaiman or Don Pendleton. But it takes a lot of creativity to be a good teacher. So by the end of the day, I've given so much of my creative energy to my students that sometimes there is very little left for myself. I feel drained sometimes. Sick sometimes. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
5. We hear you're very involved in martial arts. Can you tell us a little about that?	My sensei had his own style, but it's too much effort to explain that to someone who asks me what belt I am. I tell people I practice Muay Thai, but it's not exactly Muay Thai. My sensei is Japanese, and his father owned a chain of karate schools in Japan. My sensei turned away from karate because he didn't want to walk in his father's shadow. So what I do is a combination of Thai kickboxing and old samurai techniques (koryu). And a mix of things I've picked up along the way. I've trained with MMA fighters, judo champions, tae kwon do masters. It sounds so pompous to say, but I assure you they've all kicked my ass.
6. Do you have a writing routine?	I try to. In the summers, which I have off due to the teaching gig, I try to write from 8 AM until about noon or so. This is not set in stone, nor is all that time spent actually writing. I get up. I make coffee. I watch the birds out in my yard. I play with my cat. I'll say "fuck it" and turn on the TV. I'll work out. I write while I work out. I can't think sitting still. I have to be moving. My mind is inseparable from my body. For my mind to be at its most active, my body needs to be, too.
7. What advice would you give an unpublished writer?	I'll steal this from Robert Heinlein, but it is the only advice that's worth a damn. Write. Finish what you write. Start writing something else. And if you want to be published, you kind of have to send it to somebody. But that's up to you.
8. If you were a red jelly bean, what flavor would you be and why?	You'd have to ask someone who's tasted me...
9. What question do you wish we would have asked you?	"How much would you like to be paid for this interview?"
10. Is there anything else you can share with our writing community?	As misanthropic as I am, a writer needs an audience. The people who write to me and comment on my work...I may not always reply, but I'm glad you are out there. Feedback is crucial to a writer at any level. Even if you can't stand the feedback, it will drive you to push yourself harder just to prove them wrong. Also, eat yogurt every day. It's good for you.

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