Today we’d like to introduce you to Nolcha Fox.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I started writing as a toddler, using poop on the walls. I tried writing on my face and hair with my mother’s red lipstick. Then it was crayons on the walls (I had lots to say). I also wrote in page margins of books a foretelling of where writing would take me.

In my 20s and 30s, I wrote poetry in journals. Really awful, gaggy stuff. My poetic angst was over the top. I tossed those journals in a dumpster, and never looked back.

Finally, I stumbled into technical writing. What an education in learning how to write! Much of my career was a black hole that squashed my creative writing. After 8+ hours working at a computer, my eyes were too tired come home to stare at another screen.

I didn’t seriously write poetry until I retired. I had to wait for my hormones to move to a tropical island before I could truly write instead of emote.

I stumbled through learning to submit, and fell (headfirst) into getting my poetry books published. I just released my 12th book.

Not only do I write and get published, I am now editor of the Chewers by Masticadores literary magazine, and co-poetry editor of LatinosUSA. I love to help other writers as editors helped me.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

The road has not been smooth. It often disappeared.

My biggest emotional struggle was writing through my mother’s cancer diagnosis through her death. Those pieces are now “Cancer Isn’t Just a Constellation,” That book is closest to my heart, and it’s my only book of poetry that has a theme.

I also had to struggle with 9 years of daily migraines. Sometimes the pain was so bad, I had to stop writing for days and weeks at a time. Because of a persistent urgent care nurse, I eventually had surgery to remove a bone spur from my nose, and my weather migraines disappeared. I still occasionally get a migraine from other triggers, but it doesn’t happen often.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I specialize in short poetry (typically 10 lines or less, unless I’m writing in a form that requires more lines). My poems are rarely longer than 14 lines.

My poetry may be profound, or silly-stick humorous – often, that humor is dark.

Readers often find surprising twists in my poetry.

I don’t stick to specific themes. My poetry is all over the place. A poet friend describes my poetry as jumping out the window of a tall building, and yelling “wheeeeee!” all the way down.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?

Ultimate success is writing every day and loving what I write.

I’ve had to hit some of my poems over the head with a shovel and bury them in the backyard.

So, I’m not always successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://writingaddiction2.wordpress.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolchafox/

Image Credits

Images of front covers of some of my books. Images all available on Amazon.