Today we’d like to introduce you to John Yamrus

Hi John, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I’m 73 now. The son of a coal miner dad and a factory worker mom. I’m married. I love dogs, baseball and enjoying doing pretty much anything other than faking a conversation or doing interviews, which is pretty much the same thing.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

If you’re talking about my writing “career”, that’s a tough answer…mostly because there’s so many different ways to answer it. It’s like holding a diamond in your hand and rolling it around and saying look at this…and this…and this. I mean, what’s tough about being a writer? Other than there being very little money in the job. It’s not like I’m roofing houses in the hot sun or swinging a hammer all day…I’m a writer, for god’s sake, what’s so hard about that?

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I guess that as much as I’m “known”, I’m known for my poetry. Over the course of my more than 50 years as a working writer, I’ve published 40 books (not counting books of mine that have appeared in translation) and most of them are poetry. I’ve also published a children’s book…a couple memoirs…the most recent of which is called THE STREET, which is about what it was like for me growing up less than wealthy in a Pennsylvania coal mining town in the late 1950s…it’s a pretty good book. I’m proud of that one. I’ve also published 2 REALLY bad novels. The only thing they ever did for me was show me I’m not a novelist…I’m not a long distance runner. I’m a sprinter. Poetry seems to be my lane and for the most part, it’s worked out. At least it’s kept me semi-solvent, partially sane and constantly busy. The newest book, published by Anxiety Press is called PRESENT TENSE. I like that title…and I like the book, too.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?

I don’t know if it’s surprising about me, but it’s surprising about being a writer, in that the way I approach this whole writer thing is I’ve never been one who sits around talking about “inspiration”…about waiting for inspiration. The way I look at it, inspiration is a cop-out…a crutch for the uninspired who look at it (at waiting for “inspiration”) as a way to put off actually sitting down and doing the work…because, believe me, it IS work and it’s gotta be treated like any other kind of work and it’s got to be treated professionally and with respect.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.yamrus
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=john+yamrus&i=stripbooks&crid=2OY6HI2W6L1L5&sprefix=john+yamrus%2Cstripbooks%2C578&ref=nb_sb_noss_1