The Writing Life of Edgar-Nominated Author Craig McDonald

Name: Craig McDonald

Where do you write? Can you write when traveling?

Typically in my home office, at the computer, or longhand, anywhere, with a legal pad and a ballpoint. I always write on the road and more often than not start a novel somewhere other than at home.

Can you work with music or the tv on?

I typically write to music (singer-songwriters…melodic stuff, but no classical), but I edit and revise in silence. I’ll sketch some stuff out while watching TV occasionally, or rough-out some dialogue with the TV as background noise, but nothing too serious.

What are the five things you must have when you’re working?

Good light
A good chair
Something to drink (coffee, tea, water)
Music (eight times out of ten, it’s the two Toms—Russell or Waits, though lately I’m partial to Melissa McClelland’s “Thumbelina’s One Night Stand”)
A good ink pen with a rubber grip.

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever been when struck by a flash of inspiration and started scribbling notes down for a story idea?

Not so strange, but nearly always it’s while mowing the lawn or taking a long walk…and then trying to remember whatever it was long enough to get it on paper.

Craig McDonald is an award-winning journalist, editor and fiction writer. His debut novel, Head Games, was nominated for a 2008 Edgar Award® for Best First Novel by an American Author. A graphic novel of HEAD GAMES is forthcoming from First Second.

Link to forum thread for Solitary Confinement

Read Brian Lindenmuth's review of HEAD GAMES

Read Sandra Ruttan's review of HEAD GAMES