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Author Spotlight: Braeden Michaels
Braeden Michaels won 3rd prize in Prose Poetry in the Northwind Writing Award 2024 for his poem “Once Upon A Rain, She Bloomed.” It is an honor to feature his Q&A here on Raw Earth Ink as part of our promotion of truly exceptional authors.
Q & A
Candice: Braeden, firstly thank you so much for your beautiful submission. What stood out to all six judges of the prose-poetry award was the enduring strength of your storytelling and the vividness of Once Upon a Rain, She Bloomed. What inspired this story to be written?
Braeden: The poem is the epilogue of my most recent book Once Upon a Rain, She Bloomed. The idea of the book and the ending the book with this epilogue was understanding that you need to love yourself first. Often, we try to find people to make ourselves feel complete. Sometimes we try so hard to please others and not make ourselves happy in the process, but not realizing it. At some point we discover that we needed to meet this person to learn and grow as an individual. Often difficult times make us grow the most. The rain is symbolic of her tears.
CD: The gorgeous title alone hooked me. I have read a lot of your work and you consistently knock it out of the park. Raw Earth Ink and The Northwind Writing Award are very lucky to attract writers of your caliber and we deeply appreciate the effort you put into every single piece. How do you keep your work so sharp and finely written? What’s your secret?
Braeden: A lot of is just read, read, read! I am a fan of old poetry. I use a lot of symbolism and don’t want too much to be forward and direct. I want each line to have depth to pull the reader in. I take a lot of pride in language, word choice and titles. I will massage a piece until I am satisfied.
CD: With lines like: “I lie in my bed of careless decisions.” It’s impossible not to see you as a natural wordsmith. Have you always been able to crank out killer lines like that?
Braeden: I do feel it is natural, but I read and write daily. I have more patience in my craft and may spend a few days on a poem realizing this is going into a book. I want to make sure the entire book is cohesive.
CD: Does it annoy you when you read sub-par work that everyone seems to think is excellent? What do you think that’s about?
Braeden: I find it fascinating what pieces readers do comment on. In my head, I think I do have poems that I think are good, great or just nailed it. Sometimes the ones that are just good may get a reaction that I did not expect. I don’t have control of how people respond but always it’s encouraging.
CD: Was it challenging to write such a short prose-poetry piece, given it’s both poetic but also very much prose, and you tackle many things within less than a page worth of text?
Braeden: I am an introverted individual and need to be mentally challenged. Writing serves me so many different purposes but yes, I love the challenge.
CD: The story has several themes, it also feels like a song at times, or an ode to something, and there’s basically a lot happening with a killer opening line and equally powerful and impactful closing line. The language is gorgeous. How important is language in exploring the themes you write about?
Braeden: The language to me is critical. It is how I separate myself as an author. The language for me is the key ingredient.
CD: We all thought it was remarkable you could write so much in less than one page. When did you begin to write in the prose-poetry genre? How does it distinguish itself for you as a genre? Why are you comfortable with it?
Braeden: Honestly, I have a fear of writing prose pierces that are too long. I don’t want to bore the reader. I have always written more verse poetry but have dabbled in prose a little bit. When I won 1st place last year, it was an eye-opener. I am becoming more comfortable with it because I love the challenge of telling a story. Winning the award taught me so much about myself. This makes me more passionate about what I am doing.
CD: There’s a ton of beauty to Once Upon a Rain, She Bloomed. If you had to say, what is the key message for you in this?
Braeden: Pain and heartache will make you stronger. We all are flowers, and our tears make us look inward.
CD: Are there some quieter sub-texts here? Share any you want to.
Braeden: This is my trademark. Just the title alone is a subtext. I think you or anyone could read this poem multiple times and find them. It would be no fun if I gave you examples.
CD: Who are your influences in the genre of prose-poetry if any? If they are not in that genre are there some elsewhere, such as the natural world, or a painter, muse, or other, please explain.
Braeden: I have influences of poetry but not specifically for prose poetry. The last few poetry books I bought were of Charles Bukowski What matters most is how well you walk through fire and collected poems of Frank O’Hara. I love the Beat Generation poets, Ginsberg, and Kerouac. I have a good collection of poetry that I read. There are thousands of poets out there, well-known and hidden gems. One of the books I really enjoyed was by REI author G.M. Manzi, The Fog of the Midnight Hours. I cannot stress enough about reading and writing, they go hand in hand to be a successful writer.
CD: Did you find your writing changed over time and if so, how do you see that happening and what were the influencing factors to cause that shift/change?
Braeden: I think in our last interview I mentioned I used to write from a personal place but felt I was done doing that. It felt repetitive. To separate myself from others, to be a pioneer, is trying to crawl inside of others and write from their point of view. Once Upon A Rain, She Bloomed is from a woman’s point of view. Poetry is generally written from a personal place, and I bring something unique to the poetry community.
CD: As a writer, was there a time when you were unable to write and how did that affect you?
Braeden: I always find it interesting for those who writer’s block and or just unable to write. I have not really experienced this. There is inspiration every year. I tend to think we over think things and are aiming for perfection. Aim for growth not perfection.
CD: Please share any other aspects to your piece Once Upon a Rain, She Bloomed and what brought you to submit it to the Northwind Writing Award, that you believe readers would benefit from knowing about?
Braeden: I submitted four pieces, two free verse and two of prose. I intentionally selected pieces that felt distinctive from each other. In my book Once Upon A Rain, She Bloomed, each poem starts out with “Once Upon A…” as if each poem is a scene, memory, an event in this person’s life. I thought the entire book would be very relatable to any woman.
Author bio: Braeden Michaels is a two-time poetry award-winning winning author living in beautiful Georgia with his family and his own unique creativity. Within his analytical mind dwell the many passages and corners of a world built by observation, investigative perception, and penetrating rationale. He’s been published in several anthologies as well as his own books of poetry, written in the method of Deconstructive Literature, in which he pulls apart nuances within human nature then organizes and restores it in poetic style. You can read more from him on his website.
To read The 2024 Northwind Treasury, including Braeden’s winning piece, you can purchase it in paperback on Lulu, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon, or as an eBook on Kindle. To see the list of contents and winners, visit our winner’s page.
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