We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Read on and get yourself a print edition of Contest Issue #4 for work from John Wojtowicz, Or you can let them read to you!



What was the inspiration for the piece published in the issue?
When I grow tomatoes, I always end up with more than I can even give away and I usually only use a few slices at a time. I decided I wanted to do grape tomatoes instead and while looking up varieties, I saw a picture of a Reisetomate. I was immediately intrigued and went down a rabbit hole. Later that week, I was sitting somewhere and started playing with my newfound knowledge in my dot grid notebook. I find these notebooks help me sort the ornaments before picking out the tree. Often, I take an idea along with a few lines that I am excited about from my notebook and use talk to text to get the raw material from my notebook into a Word Doc.  No, I did not grow any of these tomatoes but maybe I will in celebration of this poem finding a home with After Happy Hour Review.


What do you do in the rest of your life and how does that connect and/or conflict with your creative life?
I am a licensed clinical social worker and worked in a lot of settings mostly with disadvantaged youth. In September, I started teaching social service courses full-time at my local community college. The schedule definitely gives me more control over my time but I also have a lot more work-related reading, writing, and creating that pulls from the same reservoir. Like anything else, it’s about finding balance week by week and not guilt-tripping yourself for not meeting the unreasonable expectation you set and failed to meet. These other experiences in your life are often the grist for your writing mill and so are part of the process.


What is your #1 advice for other writers?
For me, short bursts of writing are often more productive than long pre-planned blocks of writing time (which aren’t consistently realistic for most of us). And even if they are, there’s this pressure to produce something worthwhile. I becomes like: l have time to write and a beard and I am still not Walt Whitman…maybe I should hang up my felt hat too. My advice don’t get precious about your writing conditions. Many good (and bad) poems were doodled in the car wash. I think of it like the guy who keeps a fishing pole in the back of his truck and stops out at the lake for 15 minutes on his way home from work. If he catches something great, if not, oh well, fish weren’t biting maybe next time.


We think of "after happy hour" as the time you can really let loose and be yourself. What is your after happy hour?
This has changed quite a bit over time. At one point, it would have been a good Irish pub with a nice wooden bar, tall pints, cheap food, dart board, and a jukebox. Maybe a sign that says: You Can’t Drink All Day If You Don’t Start in the Morning. At another, it would have been a music festival or going to a Grateful Dead show. These days it is driving out to some secluded bay beach that only appears at low tide and disappearing for a bit with the sandpipers and horseshoe crabs.


If you're part of a workshop group or other creative community, tell us about it! How did it form, what all do you do, and how does it help your creative process?
I struggle to show up consistently for community writing groups because my schedule doesn’t always make way for that time with my kid’s activities or, you know, I already got my sweatpants on for the night. I find I do better with a 6-8 week online workshop or a one day or weekend writing retreat. Murphy Writing of Stockton University is my home group and I would encourage any writer at any stage to look into this community. It is an absolute ego-free zone and everyone is so committed to lifting each other up which is rare in such a sprawling network of folks. I am getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about the ways they’ve lifted me up as not just a writer but as a person.