Goodreads asked Jason P. Reed:

How do you get inspired to write?

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.

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