Amazon.com: How did you begin writing? Did you intend to become an author, or do you have a specific reason or reasons for writing each book?      I've been writing ever since I can remember. Writing is probably the only thing that I've done in my life with any degree of consistency. I can't speak for others, but I don't think that writing is something one chooses to do—one writes because one has to—as Nietzsche put it, to get rid of one's ideas. What drives a certain artist to create, if you will, is some over-riding obsession.      Artists are always very obsessive people. I wrote “On An(archy) and Schizoanalyis” when I was studying philosophy in graduate school. I became interested in contemporary French criticism and philosophy, and one thing or the other led me to the work of Deleuze and Guattari. So I wanted to write something about Anti-Oedipus, I wanted to write about them, because I liked their radical politics very much. Then some time later I came across Severo Sarduy. By that time, however, I had already grown quite tired and critical of post-structuralist French criticism, so the book “Severo Sarduy and the Religion of the Text” was a product of that. I was also interested in Sarduy because we were both Cuban-born, and neither of us fit into what Americans like to call ‘Hispanic’ or ‘Latino’ literature.      Then some years ago, at the height of a terrible depression; the result of a separation, divorce, and a series of other things, I came across the paintings of Edward Hopper, and of course, I connected with them immediately. They pretty much expressed much of how I felt and what I was going through, so I wrote a series of prose poems based on some of my favorite Hopper paintings, entitled “The Lining of Our Souls”. Ironically enough, if it hadn't been for Hopper and the music of Leonard Cohen I may not have made it through those very dark times. “The Lining of Our Souls” and “The Odyssey”—a book of experimental fiction—are the two things that I have written that I still like. “The Odyssey” is unfortunately out of print. What authors do you like to read? What book or books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?      I like the French writers very much. I like Henri Michaux, I like Baudelaire, I like Rimabud, Artaud, etc. I also like some of my contemporaries like Pynchon, Ian McEwen, Rikki Ducornet, and my friend and wonderful writer, Eric Darton–whose novel “Free City” has received wonderful reviews. As far as influence, I 'd say that my master—and I mean that in a very Japanese way—has always been Beckett. It was Beckett who taught me how to write, and Beckett who showed me the infinite possibilities of literature. I was totally devastated after his death. I don't know why, I never knew him, I never met him.

But I owe him so much. In fact, we all owe him so very much. Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard (typewriter or computer)? Do you have a favorite location or time of day (or night) for writing? What do you do to avoid—or seek!—distractions?      I work a full time job as a librarian in a university in New York, so my time for writing has really diminished quite a bit over the years. However, I still put in a good two hours a day. I write long hand then transcribe to the computer, so that my first typing is also my first edit. Distractions, yes, that's the problem with the post-modern world—too many distractions. The only way to avoid them is to let the answering machine answer the calls and turn off the telephone. I'm beginning to think that it may not be a bad idea to move to a place like Lawrence, Kansas, like Burroughs. There are far too many distractions in New York, and so many of them one can easily ‘culturally’ justify–it's frightening. Do you meet your readers at book signings, conventions, or similar events? Do you interact with your readers electronically through e-mail or other online forums?      I've interacted very little with my readers on e-mail. Most of my interaction with my readers and other writers has been at actual live readings. When and how did you get started on the Net? Do you read any newsgroups such as rec.arts.books and rec.arts.sf.written, mailing lists, or other on-line forums? Do you use the Net for research—or is it just another time sink? Are you able to communicate with other writers or people you work with over the Net?      I'm a librarian by profession, so I'm always around computers and the Net and all that, but I see computers as tools (much like a pencil or a typewriter) and the Net as a helpful resource, but that's it. I don't fetishize it. Fetish belongs to the realm of sex or Marxian criticism. I'm presently working on a book (“The Divine Duty of Servants”) on Bruno Schulz the Polish writer who was shot by the Nazis. It's a series of non-fiction prose poems based on Schulz's fetish oriented drawings. And that's where fetish belongs. On a more direct note, “The Electric Comedy” scheduled to be published this May by Autonomedia/Semiotext(e) deals with the insidiousness of the electronic universe. Included in “The Electric Comedy” are some blank pages for the reader to either continue OR begin their own ‘Comedy’ or ‘commedia’—which they'll be able to e-mail to me, if they so desire. So you see, I have this love/hate relationship with the Net and the electronic means of communication.