Patrick O'Neil, On Reading

"I write like a speedfreak. I just keep going until my fingers bleed. Then I crash out and sleep for three days straight. I read like a junkie. I get a book. I get all calm, thinking I'm good for a while. Then I read it straight through until there's no more. Two hours later I'm Jonesing again for another. I gotta have more books. I mean really, I don't think you understand. I need to read or I don't write. I always plan on stashing a book, but it never works out. Then I'm scamming 'em from friends and hustling my local used bookstore. Come on man, I'll pay ya the twenty I owe you next week. Just give me the damn thing now!"

{Patrick O'Neil writes nonfiction most editors don't want. He has been known for intimidating literary journals and a few have fallen for it and printed his work. His junkie memoir, Opacity has yet to find a home. He teaches English comp to students whose idea of literature is a text message. Visit his blog: Full Blue Moon Dementia.}