Adam Brown

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I come from a poor family. I’ve lived in poverty most of my life. I grew up on Section 8 housing, food stamps, etc. I consider myself a government baby. I have always been on the poverty line but have never considered myself really poor… as I have always had the means to survive and people to share my life with. I am a student attending college; I love to read/watch movies/anything with a story. I find exercise enjoyable. I love cats but have never owned a dog.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I started with poetry. I had all of these thoughts and emotions built up inside of me, and I just had to find an avenue to release them into. I chose to write. Date-wise, it was last year that I decided to really start writing. I now write every day.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I first considered myself a writer after I decided to sit down and compile a mess of poems I had written into a book. Before that, I don’t think I even realized that I was writing.

Why do you write?

I write to inspire. I write to enamor. I write to elicit emotion within people … and to tell a story that will better a person’s mind. I also write because it’s challenging.

What inspires you to write?

Anything can inspire me to write; from reading a book to listening to a song, or even watching a fly repeatedly bounce into a wall.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I try not to stick to one style. In poetry, I write anything from free form to different rhyming schemes, to acrostic style. I am learning new things every day. As far as fiction goes, I write mainly in first person narrative, but I am experimenting with other types.

Where do your ideas come from?

My ideas come both from my cultural conditioning and from the conditioning process. For example, I will write a poem about a tragic happening in the news, and then I will write a piece about bashing the media. I am a conflicted person, and it shows in my writing.

What do you think makes a good story?

It’s only my biased opinion, but I think anything that can build awareness in the reader is a good story. Also, anything that makes the reader reach deep into their own thoughts and emotions, making them a deeper person for reading it.

Do you work from an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

With my poetry books, I decide on a theme I want to write about, which is usually based on the feedback on certain poems that I receive from my readers. If I feel like I’m grabbing or reaching the reader(s) with a poem, I will fill an entire book with the same theme based on that particular poem. As far as my fiction writing goes, I usually start with the ending first, then the beginning, and just fill in the middle. This gives me a good idea on what the story should contain, and it also keeps me on track.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

I am writing every day now, which I couldn’t say a year ago; I’d say it means I’ve evolved. I also dream more vivid, creative dreams now that I’ve started writing. It’s as a new story or poem is always waiting in my mind to be written down.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in becoming a writer?

The most surprising thing I’ve learned about writing is how much I have yet to learn about writing.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I think every part of the process of writing, no matter what you’re writing, is challenging; and to me, that’s the point of doing it.

Have you ever hated something you wrote?

I have read some of my more angry poetry with a calm mind and have felt sympathy for that person. In ways, it has helped me grow as a person, because I treat my writing like a journal; I can go back to certain points in my life and learn what I was thinking and/or feeling.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Everyone is a writer. Whether it’s a feeling or thought you have, or just your opinion.Write it down! I think the only difference between those who are deemed writers, and those aren’t is the fact that some people just write things down, where others don’t. In my opinion, all it takes is a heart and a mind to tell a story, and everyone has those.

Which writers inspire you?

Honestly, a lot of writers inspire me. The writers who inspire me most are people you’ve never heard of because they’re alive today and are not famous. Famous writers who inspire me include Anne Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, Edgar Allan Poe, Homer, and Maya Angelou.

What are your ambitions for your writing career? 

I have no real ambitions other than gaining more readers to connect with; though one thing that is on my mind is a poetry award, I would like to win one of those someday.

What are you working on at the minute, what’s it about?

I have gotten many comments from people on my darker themed poetry telling me that they relate and also on poetry people deem as inspirational. I am working on a book that deals with my struggles as a human being, and also my determination to make it through these struggles. I am titling it, “Trials and Tribulations.” It’s still in the works, so it will be out sometime in 2016

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I have written two poetry books and one fiction novella. Honestly, I can’t pick a favorite, sorry.

Where can we buy or see them?

http://www.ctupublishinggroup.com/adam-levon-brown-.html

The Last Refuge Science Fiction Dystopian Novella – Will be available in E-book format only at all major E-book retailers November 2015

Lastly, is there anything you’d like our Section 8 Magazine readers to know about Adam Brown?

I will leave you with a quote that is set to be at the beginning of the book I’m working on, “Trials and Tribulations.” It goes like this….

… As we walk through the murky waters of struggle,

We must remember that eventually we will reach the shores of happiness

Have faith in yourself and the future and everything will work out …