Southern Starr Publishing Southern Starr Publishing creates family-friendly books, comics, and faith-inspired stories with imagination, strong values, and cross-media creativity.
At Southern Starr Publishing, we believe in celebrating the voices that bring unique stories to life. Our Author Spotlight is a space where we shine a light on the talented authors who are making waves with their captivating tales, thought-provoking insights, and unforgettable characters.
Frequently, we will highlight a different author from our community of writers, giving you a deeper look into their creative journeys, inspirations, and the works that have touched hearts around the world. Whether you’re a long-time fan or discovering a new voice, this page is your go-to for inspiration, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and a personal connection to the stories that move us.
What inspired you to become an author, and how did your journey begin?
The beginning of my poetic ”journey” is obscured by the mists of time. Best I can remember is a 4th-grade English class, my teacher reading Keats’ “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”; the poem stunned me. I knew then I wanted to write poetry. Off and on, over the next 20 years, I’d write a poem, mostly to impress some female classmate or garner attention because my family moved a lot and I felt like a stranger in each new school. In 1970, while struggling to finish my 500 plus page PhD dissertation on 18th-Century peasant poets, I took a break from this soul-killing exercise in expository prose and wrote a short poem. I submitted it to a small magazine in Houston, and it was accepted. From then on, in the back of my PhD-addled mind, I knew what I wanted to do—-write poetry. The University of Arizona creative writing program was booming at the time, featuring readings by exciting, nationally-feted poets and run by such luminaries as Steve Orlen and Jon Anderson. I didn’t want an MFA. I wanted to be an outlier, free to forge my own path while taking advantage of the Creative Writing Industry’s rich offerings. I sat in on poetry workshops and recited at open mics. I’ve been blessed by a small but enthusiastic cadre of local fans.
What’s the hardest part about being an author, and how do you overcome it?
The hardest part is writer’s block. Since being a good poet is essential to my self-esteem, when I haven’t written anything for weeks, I begin losing my self-regard. The best way to handle this is to re-read my old poems to find something that can be improved.
I usually find something to engage with. Also, I go back to my favorite poets and read their old and new work. That often kicks in my creative juices.
Why did you choose your particular publishing path (indie or traditional), and what do you enjoy most about it?
I don’t self-publish. Isn’t it embarrassing to admit you can’t find any publisher who likes your work enough to publish it? I don’t consider self- and vanity as Indie publishing. Small presses are, for me, a respectable kind of Indie publishing. A good editor, like my most recent one, Jordan Jones of Coyote Arts in Albuquerque, is a treasure and a necessity. I don’t trust my own ego to be a reliable judge of my work. Being button-holed by a self-published author desperate to sell a book is one of my most dreaded experiences.
What key lessons have you learned throughout your publishing journey that you wish you knew when you first started?
None, really. Just to keep plugging away despite rejections. There really is no accounting for tastes! And keep in mind the thrill of creating something is the actual reward for composing poems, not seeing them in print.
Can you tell us about your most recent book, and what can readers expect from it?
The best answer is this review in the Arizona Daily Star, southern Arizona’s major newspaper:
About Jefferson Carter
Jefferson Carter’s work has appeared in journals like Barrow Street and Rattle. Chax Press (Tucson) published his ninth collection, Get Serious: New and Selected Poems, a Southwest Best Book of 2013. Free Hugs, his thirteenth collection, is now available from Coyote Arts (NM). For more information, visit jeffersoncarterverse.com Carter has lived in Tucson, AZ, since 1953 and taught composition and poetry writing full-time for 30 years at Pima Community College.
Free Hugs: Selected and New Poems
The thirteenth book by Jefferson Carter, Free Hugs collects poems from his four most recent books, Get Serious, Diphtheria Festival, Birkenstock Blues, and Yesternow, and adds to this selection over twenty new poems. Carter’s poetry is direct, clear, accessible, often wise, and always funny.
“Poems of passionate response, to the world, to inner life, to feeling itself. Whether complaint or celebration, Carter’s poems offer us the full reach from personal to universal in a heartbeat.”
—Alberto Ríos, Arizona’s First Poet Laureate
Carter’s humor shields “the heart of a romantic, replete with a compassionate response to, and acknowledgement of duhkha. At times, the poet he most reminds me of is Billy Collins, but a more mordant, twisted, even punk Collins.”
—Frank Jude Boccio, author of Mindfulness Yoga
Buy “Free Hugs: Selected and New Poems” Today! Click Here
