Ask the Author: Owen Thomas
Answered Questions (6)
Owen Thomas
Usually, writer's block means that I am not sufficiently relaxed and that I am either trying to hard to force the creative process or I am focused on other things. Fresh air helps. Walking helps. A little vino helps. I try to back off and start again with a different attitude and a more relaxed vibe. Writer's block has a close cousin in insomnia. The harder you try, the less effective you will be.
Owen Thomas
It gives me a strange kind of permission to look a little deeper into the world and the people around me. Suddenly there is a purpose to that exercise beyond simply forming opinions and tucking them away. That new purpose is to express what it all means -- or what I think it means -- in a way that is, hopefully, both informative and entertaining. I enjoy looking at the world through a writer's eyes.
What... you thought I was going to say something about working in pajamas?
What... you thought I was going to say something about working in pajamas?
Owen Thomas
Don't focus on the commerce. Seriously. Put it out of your mind. Focus on nurturing that creative spark. Write from a place of genuine enthusiasm about the thing you are writing. Everything else is secondary.
Oh, also, kill your television.
Oh, also, kill your television.
Owen Thomas
I am currently working on two novels, one literary and one a humorous romp. I am currently shopping for agents/publishers for a collection of short stories and novellas called "Signs of Passing: Letters from Winchester County" which recently won the Pacific Book Awards for Short Fiction. I am about half way through a second collection of short fiction called "Tiny Points of Life." In the meantime, I am an active blogger of creative fiction and photography, all of which can be found on my author website at http://www.owenthomasfiction.com. Oh, and in my spare time I manage a medium-sized law firm and a full-time law practice in Anchorage, Alaska.
Owen Thomas
I have found that inspiration is not something that I can really go looking for. It tends to find me when I am not especially focused on the need to be inspired. When it comes, it tends to come from the smallest of places. I wrote an entire book once on the strength of a melodic strain in a song that would not let me go and a Pablo Neruda poem. My advice is to relax and to be open to the beauty and depth in the simplest of things in the world around you.
Owen Thomas
I set out to write "The Lion Trees" ten years ago. If there was a particular event that struck the creative match, then I have forgotten it. I do remember being very intrigued with the psychological premise that is at the heart of all of the braided narratives that comprise this novel, which is that we all cling doggedly to a subconscious understanding of who we are and what we are really worth in the world. We will do just about anything to confirm that belief about ourselves, even if it is not actually true and even if our efforts to confirm and reinforce that self-identity are ultimately harmful.
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