Welcome to our autumn series Fall into Poetry. Here where I live, it’s not quite Fall, but I’m desperate for it, and this series is one way I can feed that devouring desperation. This season, we have poets who also write fiction, and that informs the direction of our episodes. While we writers may weave multiple strands into these episodes, the tapestry created depicts creative writing at its best ~ formed of many, many threads in a variety of writing styles, black-and-white nonfiction, the red-hot colors of the mystery genre, the blues and purples of speculative fiction, the glorious greens that run through all of our writing. Our very first interview is with Joan Leotta, whose first publication occurred at 14 with a poem. Life offered many opportunities for writing, and she’s woven the diverse threads into a glorious tapestry melding desire and passion with duty and obligation. Let’s begin our interview with Joan Leotta. Bio: Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. She’s a multiple nominee for Pushcart and Best of the Net. Her poetry, essays, and stories have appeared in many journals in the US and abroad. She performs folktale programs on stage, radio, television, and zoom,  often highlighting heritage, food, family, and strong women, and offers the one-woman show, “Meet Louisa May Alcott, Civil War Nurse, and Writer”.  TIMINGS 00:40 Welcome and Introduction 02:20 Interview Topics: Poetry helping Fiction, Value of Each Word / Conciseness / Form, Haiku / Tanka / Haibun poetic forms, her novels and children’s books & rights reversion, backburner items, performance of writing, ideas & more ideas, her poetry background and her various types of writing 31:19 Closing Total Run Time: = 32:21 Links Joan’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/joanleotta Two Mini-Chapbooks are available free to download from Origami Press:  https://www.origamipoems.com/poets/257-joan-leotta  Morning by Morning and Dancing Under the Moon Feathers on Stone” poetry chapbook available from me and at https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/feathers-on-stone-joan-leotta/ Languid Lusciousness with Lemon from Finishing Line Press https://www.amazon.com/Languid-Lusciousness-Lemon-Joan-Leotta/dp/1635341450/ Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/ Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away. Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  . Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com. If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)