Solitary Confinement: James Reasoner

Name: James Reasoner

Where do you write? Can you write when traveling?

I have an office in a building separate from the house where I do most of my work. Sometimes, though, I work with a laptop in my recliner, just depends on how I feel and what else is going on. I’ve written many outlines while traveling, and if I’m staying in one place for a while, rather than driving a lot every day, I can turn out pages on the current project without much trouble.

Can you work with music or the tv on?

Music, sometimes, especially classic film scores or other instrumentals. The TV, never.

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

Something to drink, usually either water or root beer
My outline and related notes
Enough light; I don’t like writing in a dim room
An occasional snack
A nap (helps the thought processes, you know)

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?

I don’t recall that ever happening. I’ve had lots of ideas while driving, but I can remember them until I get somewhere I can write them down without endangering myself and everybody else on the road.

James Reasoner has been a professional author for more than thirty years and has written many novels, including the cult classic private eye novel TEXAS WIND and the critically-acclaimed DUST DEVILS.