what is your name?
tony nesca
how would you describe what you do?
well, i write novels, poems and short stories, play guitar, and lately have written a screenplay…i also had an alternative rock band in the late 80’s, early 90’s, that i played guitar with and co-wrote all the songs…nothing grand, just local bars, but we had a small, loyal and disturbed following…
what are you currently working on?
a collection of poems, short stories, articles…my last book i think…for awhile anyway…i want to record a CD, something musical next…unless i suddenly garner some great interest in my writing of course, then all bets are off man…
what has had the greatest influence on your work?
the obvious answer here is literature, BUT…i have to say that music, film and television has had an equal impact on my writing and general lifestyle…pop culture in general, i guess…rock and roll has been, and continues to be, my first and truest love…
what is the greatest misconception about you or your work?
that i’m a beat writer/poet, and that my lifestyle somehow mirrors the beat generation…except for jack kerouac, who i consider an enormous talent and one of my all-time faves, i don’t like the beat writers at all…i don’t live that way, nor do i particularly agree with their basic philosophy…i don’t want to belong to a group or a generation,, nor do i feel it’s necessary…
what do you see as the main strengths and weaknesses of the medium you work in?
i don’t see any weaknesses in writing at all, the weakness is in the exposure…as an indie writer/publisher, the avenues of recognition are few..even with the internet…to get an indie book in bookstores, to get reviews, to get any kind of national or international professional distribution is next to impossible…that damn stigma attached to indie writers is the weakness…”professionally” published writers are NOT better writers, they’re just more saleable to the masses…i hope the world in general will one day catch up to this concept…
how has technology impacted upon the work you do?
it hasn’t at all…
what is the the greatest piece of advice you would like to pass on?
laugh loud, proud and distant…
where can we find you online?
www.tonynesca.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/tnesca
and many lit-mags both online and in print…just do a google search on me…
what are you reading at the moment?
in the last 3 or 4 months i’ve read, in this order, “one hundred years of solitude” by gabriel garcia marquez, “the lord of the rings” by j.r.r. tolkien, “heart of darknes” by joseph conrad, “a moveable feast” by ernest hemingway, and “big sur and the oranges of hyeronismus bosch” by henry miller…”the lord of the rings” took up most of that time…
what are you listening to at the moment?
as i write this right now i have i have my music collection on random and the song playing is “sunglasses after dark” by the cramps…but i’m delving into jazz a lot right now, more than anything else…thelonius monk, charlie parker, louis armstrong, billy holiday…and also listening to a lot of really early kiss records, part of my adolescence man, can’t seem to drop it…
anything else we should know?
yes, that i am happily married, and intend to remain that way, and that i still drink, get high, stay up all night, sleep all day and howl madly like the canadian banshee that i am…