Interview Series #7: Scott Alexander Hess

Scott Alexander Hess knows a thing or two about sex...and thank god for that! His literary novel, Diary of a Sex Addict (published by JMS Books), is a dark and incredibly racy portrait of a gay man for whom sex acts as a drug, comfort, punishment, and sometimes even a sport. 

Scott is no stranger to pushing the envelope. One of the plays he's written and starred in, BJ, explored transgenderism in America and won an NYC Fringe Festival Jury Award for Excellence. He's performed one-man shows in a myriad of settings, penned screenplays, and is now hard at work on his third novel. Almost all of Scott's  creative works contain a lustful mixture of grit and glamor --- harsh realities and gruesome details coupled with exotic parties, sparkling clothes, or simply beautiful, dreamlike images. 

I first met Scott at the very start of The New School's MFA program, where we both studied Fiction. It is with great pleasure that I continue to devour the pages of his many evocative projects.

Quick Look:
Birthday: May 25
Living in: Manhattan, New York
Originally from: Saint Louis, Missouri
Website:  http://www.scottalexanderhess.com/

No-Alternative: Let's start by discussing your novel, Diary of a Sex Addict.  What is this book about, and what makes it a unique take on sex addiction?

Scott Alexander Hess: The book is a snapshot into one wild, sex-drenched, dark month in the life of a New Yorker. The blurb I wrote for the book jacket sums it up pretty well, so I’ll share that...

Witty, dark and explosively carnal, Diary of a Sex Addict chronicles a gay New Yorker’s month long descent into a circus of anonymous hook-ups as he struggles to erase the pain of a failed romance, and the routine of a soul-numbing day job. Written in prose that is at once poetic and unabashedly lewd, Diary offers a glimpse into a forbidden fringe world of longing and debauchery that ultimately reveals the narrator’s fervent search for something to fill a profound emptiness.

Diary is told from the perspective of the unnamed protagonist --- the sex addict of the title. Why did you choose first-person narration for this story? Also, do you think that, despite our addict's poor decisions and risky behaviors, he remains likeable and sympathetic to readers?

I chose first person because of its immediacy. I want the reader to feel, smell touch and experience the depravity and intensity of the story as much as possible. Along those lines, while the narrator does reprehensible, even violent things, I feel the subtle, underlying anguish that guides his decisions help make him at least relatable, if not likeable.

You mentioned that the book takes place over a mere few weeks in the life of the addict. What made you decide on this specified time frame?

I wanted one icy, sex-drenched burst in this man's life, so I chose one frigid month in December. I think sustaining this type of destructive behavior for too long could utterly exhaust the reader. I hope to take the reader on a wild ride, and to whirl him/her to a peak of perversity, before it all crashes and they ideally lay spent, post prose orgasm.

Is there ever a time when you feel you've gone too far in your work? Do you ever feel the need to hold back and restrain yourself? And do you ever worry about readers' reactions to such raw, erotic, and sometimes brutal scenes?

No, I don’t. I am blessed that my post-graduate school writer’s group (the ponies) keeps me on the beam in terms of what is working in the narrative, and how it drives the story. There are times I have made changes because an action by the narrator is so reprehensible that he could lose all sympathy with the reader. Some narrators (like Patrick Bateman in the brilliant Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho) are so incredibly drawn they can get away with this, but not often. This type of holding back though is based on allowing the reader in, not on whether such action is too extreme or erotic.

Have you ever surprised yourself through writing and editing Diary of a Sex Addict? Have you experienced a moment of personal discovery or reflection while creating this harrowing tale?

I think with everything I write I do discover more about myself. I tend to float into a netherworld when I write. I lose myself in the work, as the character. I rely a great deal on stream of conscious writing, my mentors being William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, among others.

How is Diary of a Sex Addict different from your previous novel Bergdorf Boys, which was serialized in Ganymede Journal? And how does the novel you're currently writing, Jockey, differ from them both?

Bergdorf Boys is a lighter romp, though with a few dark edges. It was my first novel, so the feat of creating the novel itself was an accomplishment. Jockey is very different --- a mainstream and poetic novel.

All of my work deals with people who are a bit on the fringe (sex addicts, or a jockey who by trade must be small and weigh under 120 pounds all of his working life). And there is always a sense of the sensual in my work --- in Jockey, it is the boy’s gut level relationship with a horse. So that ties the work together on some level. But I can vary greatly in the use of language and topic. The rhythm of the book, the tone and language are determined by the narrator’s voice and the flavor of the book (erratic sex addict in Manhattan vs. a 12-year-old boy in rural Arkansas in 1918).

With novels, screenplays, plays and stories under your belt, plus Jockey halfway done, you're quite prolific! What is your writing process usually like? How do you get into the right mindset?

I don’t wait for a mindset, because if I did I’d talk myself out of writing. I set time to write, I sit down, I write. Discipline is key and I trust that what needs to flow will flow.

You are also a gifted performer. Has singing, acting, and performing in drag enhanced or inspired your writing life?

I think my experience as an actor has helped when it comes to really getting into the head of a character in a novel. . .and living his life.

How do you think being gay in New York has influenced and informed your creative projects?

Well, I was gay in Missouri when I popped out, so….I don’t really think much about my sexual preference in relation to my creativity.

What was some of the most helpful advice --- writing or otherwise --- you have ever received? And do have any advice for aspiring writers and artists?

Sit down and write. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could write. At one point someone said to me “sit down and do it,” which was incredibly simple and incredibly helpful. I also really was inspired and kicked in the ass by two life changing and amazing books: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and Julia Cameron’s The Artist's Way.

Which books, films, and places have inspired your work the most?

Travel is incredibly inspiring and cracks open my brain. I loved Egypt and Rome. Films are a constant inspiration. I’m currently re-watching two amazing films: Brian DePalma’s Dressed to Kill and Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky. To write, I read. Constantly. My mentors are McCarthy, Faulkner, Alan Hollinghurst, Jean Genet, and many more.

How do you plan to celebrate the release of Diary of a Sex Addict, and what are you most looking forward to with the book launch?

I want everyone who reads this interview to come to the book launch party at NYC Therapy Lounge. It’s going to be truly outlandish. All details are at www.scottalexanderhess.com and you can also read an excerpt of my novel and reserve a copy of the book. The ebook is out in September, the print in October. 

Click here to purchase Diary of a Sex Addict

(photos courtesy of Scott Hess)

Interview Series #5: Anastasia Werner Guadron

Anastasia Werner Guadron has lived a life of words --- meaningful ones, carefully chosen. She is dedicated to poetry and pursuing creative endeavors, and she travels in search of inspiration. Currently enrolled in Lesley University's MFA Program, she can be found reading her work at various venues around the country and leading a creative writing workshop through Emerging Voices. One of her poems, "Vital Sassoon," was published in The Dirty Napkin. She is also the owner of Mightier than the Sword, LLC and the vegetarian food blog The Gourmet Vegetarian, which has been up and running for several years. Anastasia and I attended the same high school, where she directed the Writers and Poets Society and created the Celebration of the Arts, both of which I dutifully took over after she graduated and attended Hunter College in NYC. I have always admired Anastasia and am very pleased to probe deeper into her passions.

Quick Look

Birthdate: July 25, 1983
Living in: Brooklyn, New York
Originally from: Port Chester, New York
Website: http://thegourmetvegetarian.com

No-Alternative: Let's talk first about your poetry --- why is this your preferred method of self-expression? What does poetry mean to you? 

Anastasia Werner Guadron: I'm in love with the deconstruction of things. Like how little kids take apart household objects or Tonka Trucks or cut their Barbie's hair only to become electricians or mechanics or hairstylists. I've been obsessed with the depackaging of what we see:  how the pizza in the microwave is more than dinner. It's a metaphor for Mondays...a first date gone wrong...a new beginning. My means of expressing such obsessions is through poetry. 

What led you on the path to pursuing an MFA in Poetry, and can you talk about this experience, too?

I waited 5 years after graduating from undergrad. I lived a little. Moved out of the Bronx...into Brooklyn...to New Jersey. Tried on a few hats but still wrote. My work began to brim within itself. I was unfamiliar with new(er) poets. I craved community and education through experienced poets. 

Now, I'm in my fourth semester and feel forever grateful to the experience of the MFA. My person/My work has transformed in the way I create, construct, deconstruct and listen. 

What is your personal process when constructing a poem? How much of it is stream-of-conscious? I know you have a thing for old typewriters (and also for fixing and painting them) --- do you prefer to start writing on a typewriter, and if so, why? 

I would say I'm a rambler. I take my notebook out each morning and either sit at a coffee shop, on a sidewalk or a bench and just let my mind play. I try not to force myself into any subject matter because I feel like the self will create authentic topics organically. 

This doesn't mean I don't try to write about certain subjects. I still think it is beneficial to challenge myself to write about specific topics, but I think it is important to always be free-writing. 

I easily get writers block. I use the repairing of and the typing on typewriters to refresh my methods of writing. Any process can get mundane if you do it over and over again. You have to use greater physical force when writing on a typewriter and the sound of the keys create a natural rhythm. I immediately feel reconnected to the act of writing. 

How big a role does revision play in your process? And who do you turn to for helpful suggestions and critique? 

I hate the word revision so I say "play." Play is essential to the making of the poem.

Sometimes I literally cut a poem and fling the words in the air. I pick up the pieces and tape them back on the page in a new order. Even if this isn't the way the poem stays, the very act introduces me to bumps and brights that I hadn't seen before. 

My suggestions come from either my best friend (who never reads) or my best poet friend (who always reads/writes). One focuses mainly on the content: Do they understand what I'm saying? The other focuses on the nuts and bolts: What is each individual line doing? 

Who are your favorite writers? What do you admire about them?

Sandra Cisneros was the first writer who inspired me to write. Her language wasn't archaic or predictable. I was ignited by how she wandered in metaphor.

Now, I am head over heals in love with Tenaya Darlington and Richard Siken. Both of their work contains an authentic truth, a raw vulnerability alongside careful attention to craft. 

What are some common themes and subjects in your poetry, and do you ever intentionally try to stray from these?

I used to think one should stray from writing about the same topic over and over again. But if your pen is going there naturally, the obsession means something.  

I write about water quite a bit. Fluid (e)motions. Boats with broken sails. Mermaids and Moby Dick. Sometimes, I have no idea why...other times, I feel lucky to dream of shell bras and fish with wired rimmed glasses, so I just go with it. 

Let's talk now about your website, The Gourmet Vegetarian. Why did you start this site, and what purpose does it serve for you?

The website acts as another form of poetry for me. The act of creating a meal (especially when your choices are limited) invigorates me. I wanted to share this experience with others in a conversational tone. 

I cook for friends a lot and usually, they ask me questions about how the kale was cooked or what was in the carrots to make them taste like that. I realized people were curious about vegetables. The website isn't designed just for vegetarians; it's for anyone who is interested in incorporating more color to their diet. 

What are some things you've learned through the years of blogging about your vegetarianism? And do you feel like you're part of a greater community, either through blogging or through your interest in leading a healthy lifestyle?

When I first started my blog, I knew no one (NO ONE) was reading but the internet immediately feels large. So even though the realistic jerk in me believed that there was little value to writing about asparagus in thin air...the optimist spoke to the people 10 hits away from my page, who would accidentally click on my link. 

I know you're a pretty optimistic person --- do you have any personal mottos that help you when things get tough, or when you face writing rejections? And do you have any advice for new writers? 

My optimism is steeped in a dark sense of reality. My brother and I were fortunate in the struggle we witnessed (and partly experienced). I believe that we can all withstand more than we think.

New Writers: Play. Write on a sidewalk with chalk. Listen to strangers on a subway. Believe in the weirdness of the (your) everyday and be honest. 

Bonus! You've got a quite a number of (mostly hidden) tattoos. What about tattooing appeals to you, and which piece of personal art is your favorite?

Tattoos and Poetry are cousins or fraternal twin sisters. They may look slightly different and have opposite personality traits but their core is the same. All my tattoos are representations of myself. I think about them for months or years before I actually do it. Where it is placed, how it is drawn (with or without color), the day it is inked all create a wholeness...just like poetry. 

My favorite is the latitude and longitude of my father's ashes on my ribcage. It is simple in view but connects to the sailor in both of us. It breathes and expands as I do. 

(photos courtesy of a.warner.)

Interview Series Kick-Off: Amanda Miller

With today's blog post, I hereby begin a brand new No-Alternative Interview Series, which I hope to update often!

I'll be taking my music/culture journalism skills and  focusing on some very talented people I know, support, and admire. It's my goal to share and expose their art --- be it writing, photography, visual art, music, lifestyle choices, etc. Living a life full of creativity and meaning, and doing what you want regardless of societal expectation, has always been my modus operandi, and the same is true (if not more so) for those I will be spotlighting in this new Series.

- - -

To kick off the series, I am overjoyed to share an interview conducted with a very good friend, and a very good writer, named Amanda Miller. 

She recently completed her memoir, One Breath, Then Another, after earning an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from The New School (which is where we met!). A chapter from the memoir has already been published in Underwired Magazine and another will appear in a book-length anthology by Telling Our Stories Press.

Amanda also holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is the co-creator and performer of Please Don’t Let Me Die Alone, a theater piece that has been presented twice at New York’s Tank Theater. She's a member of the interactive, improv performance company Playing With Reality, and of an all-girl long form improv comedy group called Tom, Dick and Harry. Amanda is also a yoga instructor and a nationally certified massage therapist.

Quick Look:
Birthday: September 2, 1983
Living in: Brooklyn, New York
Originally from: San Diego, California
Website: http://onebreaththenanother.com/

No-Alternative: How did you come to write your first memoir, One Breath, Then Another? What parts of your life does this book encompass, and is any of it gleaned from journals or other writings?

Amanda Miller: I started writing pieces of the memoir during my first year in the MFA program at The New School, back in 2004-2005. My father passed away in 2001 from lung cancer and I had been plagued for a long time by the self-hating self-destructive tendencies I had inherited from him, so my first bits of this book had to do with our parallel issues, as well as his death and the effect it had on me. I had written several journal entries on these matters, as well as a solo show that I performed in college, so I referenced these materials for inspiration. But at the time, I had no idea that what I was writing would actually be part of a full-fledged book.

In Spring of 2005 I had a mental breakdown and wrote several journal entries about this experience that would later also become a part of the book. My breakdown turned out to be so severe that I had to take a leave of absence from the MFA program. I returned to The New School in Fall 2008 and worked on more pieces as well as editing and expanding earlier material. I still didn’t know all these pieces would eventually join together to become a book. For a long time, I thought they would just be a series of related personal essays. But then I realized I was writing bits that fit a linear chronology so it made sense to join them together.

This book encompasses parts of my life from age three all the way to twenty-six. The last third, which takes place in India (a trip I took in the Fall of 2009), is almost entirely derived from journals. When I planned this trip, I knew it would take up a substantial amount of the book, so I was prepared to record my experiences there daily. Parts of the rest of the book did come from journalistic bits or other shorter pieces of writing that I expanded. In general when I write, I usually create longer works by merging things together.

Can you discuss some of the themes in One Breath, Then Another --- did these themes sort of find you while you were writing, or have you always been aware of them, even before starting this project?

The overarching theme is that, as human beings, our greatest enemies are often ourselves and if we don’t work to overcome the negativity running our minds, we will cheat ourselves out of a meaningful existence. I watched my father commit a slow suicide as a result of his own self-destructive mind, which scared me. He was a heavy smoker with food issues and he starved himself until he was skeletal. I, in turn, developed a severe case of anorexia that led to hospitalization. Nearly a year after I recovered, he died of lung cancer. His death propelled me on a vigorous mission to live my life to the absolute fullest, thereby defying that what happened to him could ever happen to me. I fled San Diego to pursue acting and writing in Manhattan, but I was pushing myself so hard that I crumbled under all the self-induced pressure, had a mental breakdown and had to move home. Eventually I found massage therapy and became a yoga teacher, and discovered that easing the pain of others was a powerful way to find my own healing.

The book is essentially about learning how to get out of our own ways and support each other so we can make the most of the time we have. These are themes that were dominant in my consciousness as I was putting this book together, but they were deepened and explored more fully through the process of writing and editing.

What was the most painful part about writing this memoir? And what was the most enjoyable?

The most painful part was reliving my anorexia, my dad’s illness and death, and my breakdown. I had intense visceral emotional memories as I recounted these experiences and I cried a lot. But ultimately I found the process of writing the memoir cathartic and empowering, and that was most enjoyable.

Do you have any particular writing habits --- good or bad? Do you find that a certain setting, schedule, or personal attitude helps the words and thoughts flow?

When I was writing the memoir I had much more disciplined writing habits than I do now. I wrote every morning in my apartment for at least an hour first thing after coffee and breakfast. Now that I am not working on such a big project, but rather shorter things like essays and short stories, I am more erratic as far as a schedule. I try to engage with my writing at some point in the day at least four days a week, but I would like to try to get back on a more regular schedule. I think that is the best way to be most productive.

My teacher Jonathan Ames said the best thing a writer can do is devote an hour to sit at the computer, without the pressure of producing a certain amount or quality of writing. I would like to make that hour start happening more regularly on a near daily basis. Also, I would like to emphasize the importance of relieving myself of these pressures. Writing is a long process and involves a great deal of revision, so when faced with a blank page, the best thing I can do is get my ideas out without censoring myself, remembering that I can edit and shape it all later. I find I work best in the morning and usually best in a private setting with instrumental music playing low in the background.

Has writing so openly changed you, or your self-awareness, in any way? Can the act of writing about a situation make that situation easier, or make you more accepting of it?

Writing so openly has absolutely changed my self-awareness and general openness toward others. When I first finished the book I was most nervous about family and relatives reading it (particularly the parts about sex and masturbation). Writing about painful things from the past has definitely made it easier for me to accept them and let them go. I was driven to write this memoir so I could reflect on difficult experiences and gain important perspective to be able to live an empowered life, and I hope it will inspire others to do the same.

In addition to writing, you also act, teach yoga, and work as a massage therapist. Do you ever feel that you shape-shift and become a slightly different person when performing these separate roles? Or are they not really so separate?

I don’t think I become a different person when performing these different roles. I just access different parts of myself, which I find really fulfilling. They are all related practices, in that they all involve human connection and aim to access the deeper parts of consciousness to facilitate a cathartic experience. These interests all grew out of each other and continue to inform each other.

Can you discuss your two-man show, Please Don't Let Me Die Alone? How did this develop, and does it also serve as a form of "nonfiction" for you?

This is a darkly comedic theater piece I wrote with my collaborator, Shawn Shafner, about love and dating in New York City. It’s about neighbors Susan and George who brave psychos, stalkers and sex addicts through speed dating, online dating, and matchmaking services only to find the love might be right next door. It draws out the humor and pathos associated with love and dating, particularly exploring desperation and vulnerability.

Susan and George discover that they have a genuine connection, but because they are neighbors they assume it won’t work out and things will end up awkward and uncomfortable, so they make things more awkward and uncomfortable by looking elsewhere for something that already exists and cannot be replicated. The piece exposes the ways that while people claim to be seeking true connection, they are often afraid of the vulnerability it brings, so when they find it, they often avoid it and create a lot of suffering for themselves in the process. (Again, there’s that theme that our worst enemies are often ourselves.)

Shawn and I met in college at NYU in 2002 where we performed improv and studied experimental theater together. We have always had great rapport as friends and improvisers so we wanted to make performance pieces together. Initially we thought we were writing sketch comedy, but realized it was becoming more of a play. We like to think of it as a sketchy play. It does serve as a form of nonfiction, in that I draw heavily from real experiences I have had with love and dating.

What do you hope people who read your writing, catch your performances, or experience your yoga classes or massage sessions come away with?

My goal with everything I do is always healing and empowerment. At minimum, I hope to give people positive memorable experiences and at maximum, transformative ones.

And finally, what have been some of your strangest acting experiences?

I would say my strangest acting experiences have more to do with actor training than any actual performance. At NYU, I studied for a year in the Experimental Theatre Wing, the philosophy of which was based primarily on the teachings of Polish Theater director, Jerzy Grotowski. He spawned a whole new approach to acting, believing that memory is in the muscle and movement connects the body with impulse. I had several strange experiences there, but one in particular stands out…

There was an exercise we practiced one day in class called plastiques, which begin with physical isolations and lead into a sort of current of impulses in the body. My teacher turned off all the lights in the studio and covered all the windows with black curtains. There were about fourteen of us in the class and we were all given our own space in the room in which to practice the exercise. We started lying on our backs and our teacher gave us a phrase to initiate our first physical impulse. “Get away from me” was the phrase. We were instructed to go deeply into the emotions that the phrase and its resulting movement inspired. We were given permission to make as much sound as we felt necessary, as long as it was organic, not forced. So the dark room was filled with thrashing, screaming, crying people under some sort of attack via their imaginations. I imagined I was being raped. That night when I got home, I was distraught and teary. When my roommate asked me what was wrong, I said I had been raped by my imagination.

Please visit Amanda's website: http://onebreaththenanother.com/