Terence Kuch’s fiction, poetry, and non-fiction has been published in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Australia, France, Luxembourg, and Thailand, including Commonweal, Descant, Diagram, Dissent, Gravel, Grub Street, Luxembourg Review, Mademoiselle, The Moth, New Scientist, North American Review, Poetry Motel, Sheepshead Review, Thema, Timber Creek Review, Washington Post (editorial page, op-ed, Book World, Magazine), and elsewhere. His novel, The Seventh Effect, was praised by Kirkus Reviews. A satirical poem of his won first prize in a New York magazine competition, was praised and reprinted in the New York Times, and included in a Random House collection. His book of poems about the confrontation of ancient and modern Greece was published in 2018 by Apprentice House / Loyola University. He studied at Reed College; the Writers Center, Bethesda, Maryland; and participated in the Mid-American Review Summer Fiction Workshop. He lives in Springfield, Virginia, with a wife and several opinionated cats.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I think I started writing creatively when I was 5. About age 40, I got good at it.
Are there any writing resources, such as books or websites, you’d like to recommend?
I’ve read the New York Review of Books for years. Writers should keep up with this magazine to understand what’s current in writing and what critics tend to be thinking, and to find ideas for their own use.
What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
Highly imaginative and fantastic literary fiction, e.g. Samuel Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Henri Michaux, Franz Kafka, many others.
How do you measure success when it comes to your writing?
If others read it aloud without embarrassing me.
Do you favor the traditional route or self-publishing?
When my books have been published by traditional hard-copy publishers, they, seldom do any promotion, even though they’ve invested their own $$$ in the project. So now I mostly self-publish on Lulu. One exception was Loyola University Press / Apprentice House, where they were happy to work with me every step of the way, and even bought a cover image I found and recommended.
What do you think the publishing industry will look like twenty-five years from now?
Original publication online. If the book is a success, then paperback. If undying prose, hard copy.
Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
I outline a lot – it helps me avoid dead ends.
How do you deal with rejections?
Sometimes I think they missed understanding their own mission. Other times they were right and I need to re-think or sub elsewhere.
In your opinion, how important is a writing degree or MFA when it comes to achieving success in writing fiction?
Degree, not especially. The degree program, yes. Especially as it helps you recognize and not repeat the same old ideas, characters, styles.
Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
Well, you can find my own books on Amazon – just search “Terence Kuch”. Perhaps the best is my horror collection The Trees of Malice (Abuzz Press 2014), a paperback that to my surprise Abuzz republished in hardback just this year. It’s also available in Kindle format.
