Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve made my living as an artist/illustrator but I’ve been devoted to writing since college. I became really serious in my early 30s and my first novel, Prophet: Starkiller, was published by a Canadian publisher. It was about Jason Prophet, a private detective in San Francisco, during the early days of computers. The publisher requested a sequel and I followed it up with, Prophet: Dragon Chaser, where Jason Prophet follows a killer and kidnapped victim to Japan.
My third novel, The Sun Has Wings, is about a young scientist named Melissa Joyner who discovers an unknown species of apes that are not only intelligent but can also speak. She takes one of them, a male named Yewbie, back to America and his discovery becomes a sensation. It’s really a story about our relationship to the environment and our fellow species.
My most recent book, Crazy Town, is about Ginger, a young woman who is trying to retain custody of her son, Rusty, from her wealthy mother-in-law. Near the beginning of the story Ginger offers a ride to an old cowboy named Timothy Quigley and his dog, Bumper. Quigley claims his dog is inhabited by a creature from outer space. Ginger’s not sure if he’s serious but he seems harmless and soon Quigley and his crazy ideas helps Ginger as she struggles to elude the growing number of people hot on her trail. It’s a comical chase novel but, at its core, it’s about family and the importance of self-determination.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Crazy Town has an odd origin. One day I was driving behind a truck being driven by a young woman. In the passenger seat sat an elderly man, holding onto a dog. As a challenge to myself I wondered who they were and where they were going. Pretty soon the story began to emerge. I grew up in the South and loosely based the old cowboy, Quigley, and his outlandish stories on a couple of people I knew. I began the novel while attending a writer’s workshop and it was always rewarding, when I read a chapter aloud, to hear people laughing at what I had come up with. One thing you can’t fake is laughter. The novel went through multiple rewritings over a number of years before I felt it had reached its final form.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I always start a new session of writing by reading and rewriting the scene I’ve written the day before. It saves you from staring at a blank screen and helps keep the story flowing. I also keep a notebook nearby (especially on the bedside table). Great ideas come, sometimes, in the middle of the night. You have to be ready for them. Don’t write them down and you’re likely to forget them. It’s like having a hole in your pocket and losing every coin you’re given.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” has probably had the most influence on me. I love the way she brings out the humor and the kid’s sense of wonder in her novel. I’m also a big fan of Raymond Chandler. His use of metaphors and similes may be the best in American literature. Plus he never tells a boring story. Kurt Vonnegut’s work has also been a major influence. I enjoy the way the characters in his stories begin in the normal universe and the sci-fi elements throw them off course. I try to do that in a lot of my writing too. I want the story to be based in reality but veer off from it. And, yet, never seem unreal to the reader.
What are you working on now?
I’m now working on a novel set in 1968 about a young art student whose best friend (an African-American and fellow student) is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Discouraged by the police’s disinterest in the death, the art student begins searching for the killer. Along the way his girlfriend drops him for being too fixated on his search and he soon falls for the friend’s sister. He’s white and she’s black. He’s Christian and she’s Muslim. Everyone and everything seems to be pulling them apart. When he finally discovers who killed his best friend, the killer’s identity forces his world to spiral out of control.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read great stories but don’t try to copy them. Just keep writing and your own voice will emerge.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep your protagonist in conflict and always struggling to reach his or her goal.
What are you reading now?
I’m rereading “Deliverance” by James Dickey. Its story goes beyond where most writers would end their story of adventure and considers the ramifications of a violent act.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have to keep writing. It’s like an addiction. After finishing my next novel, I want to publish a collection of my best short stories before taking on another novel.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
To Kill a Mockingbird, The World According to Garp, Slaughterhouse Five, A Tale of Two Cities and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Author Websites and Profiles
James Morrow Website
James Morrow Amazon Profile
James Morrow Author Profile on Smashwords