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In this online exclusive we ask authors to share books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired them in their writing. We see this as a place for writers to turn to for ideas that will help feed their creative process.
“Dog walks with no iPhone access force me to pay attention to San Francisco’s world-class characters, who are wonderfully weird and story provoking. I recently saw a shirtless Jesus doppelgänger playing drums while riding a beach cruiser uphill, which has already made it into my next novel.
“I have a small loft in my house where I write; I like being up high with my laptop and a few books.
“Listen to rap music. There’s a certain level of surprise, bright color, loudness, and just plain fun in artists like DOOM
“Music has infiltrated my writing in all manner of ways—most recently I’ve drawn on the ballad tradition
“I didn’t look forward to the long trek in the sun to my grandfather’s farm which was at least a two mile walk.
“I can consider many things that fill me up with writing—my sense of place and personal history, the uncountable wonderful books that have come before me, the love of language and all its sounds—but in the end I simply come to the act itself
“I read recently that if you were to add up the combined lengths of rootlets and root hairs of a single rye plant, the resulting length could stretch almost from the North to the South Pole
“What inspires me? Running. Because there’s nothing like having nothing except your own two feet, the sight of some far off point, and a hard breath to keep you going.
