Interview with Poet Jeffrey Oliver
1. Have you always been a writer?
I started writing at eleven officially. I had a lot of darkness in me from a young age. Once I started writing I never could stop. I tried everything. I wanted to stop on many occasions but something inside of me just never allowed me to give up. It’s in our blood is what writers say. It’s definitely in mine.
2. When did you realize that maybe writing was a "thing" you could do, get published, and even sell?
I never published any of my work until 2020. I just never thought it would be good enough to be released into the world. I was always told growing up that I wasn’t good enough and would never amount to anything. Then in 2019, I decided to dig through the piles upon piles of notebooks that I filled over the years and just see what happened. The rest is history.
3. What was your first sale as a writer and how did it feel to sell your work?
The first sale I ever had was a copy of my debut poetry collection Strange Sounds. It felt incredible and nauseating at the same time. I searched for hours through works that I had written over the years to pick the ones that would fit inside the best.
4. How has writing helped you in other areas of life besides being something you could earn money from?
I would say continuous learning and growing while trying to perfect a craft that will never allow the myth of perfection to surface. I use certain tactics to revisit a darkness in my past that inspires the insanity that is written on each page.
5. What was your biggest accomplishment as a writer?
My biggest accomplishment was just last year. I was accepted into the anthology called QUALIA NOUS: Vol, 2. I have the honor to share pages with one of my biggest inspirations out here Stephen King. My 100-line Poem ‘CRAZY’ appears inside with the master of horror. You can’t get much bigger than that. I’m still mind-blown over that.
6. Who has inspired you the most in the writing field?
Jim Morrison has to be my biggest poetic influence. Every time that I start jamming to The Doors, my pen catches fire. Fiction writers that inspire me are Josh Malerman, Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, Sumiko Saulson, Lisa Wood and I can’t even count how many others.
7. What are some of the challenges you have faced as a writer and how did you overcome them?
A short answer to this one is that you don’t. You never overcome challenges because they always resurface. Think of it like a yo-yo. It just keeps coming back. It’s a battle between the heart and mind. When challenges come back you just have to do the same thing you did before. Over and over. If that makes sense.
8. What is the best writing advice you have ever received and why do you feel it is important?
Patience. Have patience. It’s a flaw that I’m working on daily.
9. What sort of writing do you do now?
I’ve written Eleven poetry collections since 2020. I am now in the process of switching to fiction fused with poetry. I’m trying to bring my unique flare into this literary world.
10. Where can we find some of your work online?
You can find 10 of my creations on Amazon from various publishers. And self-published works as well. You can find our fully illustrated collection Infinite Black: Tales From The Abyss exclusively on Lulu.
11. What advice do you have for aspiring writers thinking of getting their work published?
Keep writing. Keep dreaming. And never let anyone tell you that you can’t. Your dreams are yours and it is your right to try and reach them. Leave those naysayers in the dust and do your damn thing.
12. What are your final thoughts about being a writer?
What is a writer?
A writer is someone who loses their mind every day.
ABOUT JEFFREY:
Jeff Oliver was born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 6th, 1982. A poet by passion and father of eight beautiful children, his dedication to his family and his craft is second to none. Currently residing in Western New York State, he is a writer of intense emotions, having started composing his dark poetry at just 11 years old. His gift for transforming darkness into words shone brightly from a young age. Jeff Oliver’s poetry has an ethereal quality. When others may have been destroyed by such devastating darkness, he manages to weave lyrical justice into an otherwise unfair world.
His published works include Venomous Words, Strange Sounds, Poetic Fiction: Journals of Silent Screams, Scattered Thoughts: Volumes I, II, and III, New World Monsters, INKBLOTS: A Poet’s Perception, Drops Of Insanity, Blood and Verse, and Infinite Black: Tales from the Abyss.