Ask the Author: Jason P. Reed
Answered Questions (10)
Jason P. Reed
I'm not sure I do. Maybe it's a chicken and egg situation. I think I write to see what form the inspiration is going to take. Not the other way around. The muse only shows up if you write steady. Everyday. Maybe some writers can wait for inspiration, but not me. I sit down to write because this is the path I chose, and so I'm obligated to put something on the plot everyday.
If that sounds a lot like work it's because writing, and even inspiration, is work. But the rewards are totally rad.
I'm working on my third book now. It's going to be called The Asian Cajun, about a Cajun boy who marries a Chinese girl in order to open a fusion restaurant in Lafayette. I don't know what's going to happen with their marriage, or whether their Cajun/Chinese restaurant idea will work. And that's what's cool about the process. The characters do unexpected, interesting shit . . . not because I force them to, but because I force myself to sit down at the keyboard every morning, in part just to see what happens.
It's almost like I have a reciprocal arrangement with the muse. If I write everyday, she agrees to throw me a piece of inspiration every now and then. I guess in that respect I'm no different than any other man. I'll keep coming back and I'll be on my best behavior if there's even a chance I'll get some.
If that sounds a lot like work it's because writing, and even inspiration, is work. But the rewards are totally rad.
I'm working on my third book now. It's going to be called The Asian Cajun, about a Cajun boy who marries a Chinese girl in order to open a fusion restaurant in Lafayette. I don't know what's going to happen with their marriage, or whether their Cajun/Chinese restaurant idea will work. And that's what's cool about the process. The characters do unexpected, interesting shit . . . not because I force them to, but because I force myself to sit down at the keyboard every morning, in part just to see what happens.
It's almost like I have a reciprocal arrangement with the muse. If I write everyday, she agrees to throw me a piece of inspiration every now and then. I guess in that respect I'm no different than any other man. I'll keep coming back and I'll be on my best behavior if there's even a chance I'll get some.
Jason P. Reed
Simple. When people read your stuff and like it. That's a downright orgasmic feeling.
I started writing because . . . well, I don't know, exactly. I just had a need to do it. I have to write.
But that's where the readers come in. See, I might have to write--and maybe they have to read--but they don't have to read me. That's a choice. Of all the cool books out there that people can pick up, anyone who reads one of mine is a special person indeed. A karmic friend for life.
I'm telling you . . . it's the biggest kick ever, to spend a year at your computer conjuring a story out of thin air, just because . . . and then to put that thing out in the world and have someone else discover it and see those characters you created, dancing along the pages of their mind. Having their own experience with characters you brought to life. Honestly. That's just the coolest fucking thing you ever experienced. I don't need to be the next T.C. Boyle. I could spend the rest of my life writing for the handful of readers and followers I have right now.
I started writing because . . . well, I don't know, exactly. I just had a need to do it. I have to write.
But that's where the readers come in. See, I might have to write--and maybe they have to read--but they don't have to read me. That's a choice. Of all the cool books out there that people can pick up, anyone who reads one of mine is a special person indeed. A karmic friend for life.
I'm telling you . . . it's the biggest kick ever, to spend a year at your computer conjuring a story out of thin air, just because . . . and then to put that thing out in the world and have someone else discover it and see those characters you created, dancing along the pages of their mind. Having their own experience with characters you brought to life. Honestly. That's just the coolest fucking thing you ever experienced. I don't need to be the next T.C. Boyle. I could spend the rest of my life writing for the handful of readers and followers I have right now.
Jason P. Reed
More than 20 years on, the thing that still don't understand is what prompted me to radically change the course of my life in 1998, when I decided to join the Peace Corps. I was still too green to know what I was getting into. All I knew was college was over and I'd only managed to travel as far as Texas, barely four hours from where I'd spent my whole life in South-Louisiana. Something cosmic made me sit at the internet cafe on a series of afternoons, working through my application to join an organization I was only vaguely aware of. I don't really understand why I applied, or why they accepted me. But it was the start of something grand, a personal renaissance.
Now that I think about it, I took another cosmic turn a couple years ago when I decided to quit drinking and get serious about writing books for a living. I don't know where that came from either. God? A primordial sense of self-preservation? Just dumb-ass luck?
Hell, maybe it was just boredom. Maybe I just run on 20 year cycles. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But one thing's for sure: there's no more wasting daylight for me. It's balls to the wall from here on out: writing, reading, engaging with people who dig my books. It's an honor to live like this, and I'm gonna make the most of it.
Now that I think about it, I took another cosmic turn a couple years ago when I decided to quit drinking and get serious about writing books for a living. I don't know where that came from either. God? A primordial sense of self-preservation? Just dumb-ass luck?
Hell, maybe it was just boredom. Maybe I just run on 20 year cycles. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But one thing's for sure: there's no more wasting daylight for me. It's balls to the wall from here on out: writing, reading, engaging with people who dig my books. It's an honor to live like this, and I'm gonna make the most of it.
Jason P. Reed
Simple. Sit down and write something every day. Even if it's just five minutes . . . hell, even two minutes. At least once a day, lay your hands on the keyboard and start typing something. Anything. Doesn't have to good. Doesn't have to be on point. Doesn't have to be anything. Just put your hands on the keys and "make some noise" for at least a few minutes every day.
If you make that a habit, you can pretty much take your writing wherever you want to go.
If you make that a habit, you can pretty much take your writing wherever you want to go.
Jason P. Reed
My third book is about a Cajun boy who marries a Chinese girl so they can open a fusion restaurant together in Lafayette, Louisiana. The main tension in the story is whether their marriage of convenience will work. It's still early in the first draft, so I don't really know where the characters are taking the story yet, but I'm already having fun. There's a generational theme to the story that I really hope emerges as a strong through-line.
I'm very much still learning my tradecraft and my process for writing fiction. I learned important lessons with each of the first two books, so this one--I already have the title, but I'm not ready to say it--is an opportunity to try and apply those lessons. I'm sure I'll learn some new ones, too, along the way . . . I just hope the new lessons don't contradict the old ones!
October 2022 is my target date for publishing. I'll keep you posted!
I'm very much still learning my tradecraft and my process for writing fiction. I learned important lessons with each of the first two books, so this one--I already have the title, but I'm not ready to say it--is an opportunity to try and apply those lessons. I'm sure I'll learn some new ones, too, along the way . . . I just hope the new lessons don't contradict the old ones!
October 2022 is my target date for publishing. I'll keep you posted!
Jason P. Reed
I knew I wanted to write something set within the music culture of South-Louisiana, and I was thinking about how music is like a religion. In fact, there's a great Tom Petty line about "boys who play that rock and roll". He sings "they love it, like you love Jesus." The linking of music and religion got me thinking about my own upbringing, and all the Catholic rituals that came with it. And once I had the little country cemetery in Mowata, Louisiana (a real place place, though I gave it a fake name in the book), I was off to the races. The characters just sort of sprung from that stew.
Jason P. Reed
With a timer. Seriously, the timer-app on my laptop is a huge part of my writing process. I have various custom timers set up--some of them for as little as 10 minutes. When I have a serious case of the don't-wants, I'll pick a number that's super small and achievable. Inevitably I'll end up writing for much longer. So, yeah . . . writing with a timer is a great way to keep yourself moving forward. If your fingers are on the keys and the clock is ticking, there's no room for fancy terms like "writer's block".
Jason P. Reed
A curious boy from South-Louisiana comes of age in the 1980s. But despite his curiosity, he never manages to experience the world outside the region.
Jason P. Reed
T.C. Boyle is my favorite contemporary author, by far. The man is a giant in my world. His range, intelligence, his ability to render a scene in such cranial technicolor is unlike anything I've ever encountered. So I'll pick two worlds the master has created. First, I'd travel along with Mungo Park as he explores North Africa in Water Music. Second, and way more comfortably, I'd like to visit the artist retreat T.C. Boyle creates in East is East.
Jason P. Reed
Among others, I read Fight Club, re-read Lord of the Flies, and a killer piece of southern gothic writing called Soil, by Jamie Kornegay. Also a handful of books on entrepreneurship, including Seth Godin's The Icarus Deception. Seth Godin is so insightful on creative entrepreneurship. Eventually I'll read everything he's put out.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more