All Things Left Wild – Author Interview

Interview with James Wade

Author of All Things Left Wild

 

Why did you choose to write in your particular genre?

I’ve written snappy, comedic pieces to read at bars; I’ve written hardboiled noir; I’ve written political pieces about the Texas legislature, presidential campaigns, etc. That’s all fine and well, but in the end, I always return to life and death. Whether it’s set in the past, like All Things Left Wild, or the present, like my second novel, River, Sing Out, the characters and the stories change, but the wonderment of existence, and the reckoning with mortality, are always going to be the central themes of what I write.

Cormac McCarthy once said, (paraphrasing) that writers who don’t address the issue of death are “not serious.” I can’t help but agree. There’s a place for pulp and pop and pretty things, but I prefer the dirt and the grime—I believe the darkness helps expose the light; the pain helps to heighten the joy.

 

What literary character is most like you?

Billy Parham, from McCarthy’s The Crossing and Cities of the Plain. Honorable mention to [John] Irving’s T. S. Garp from The World According to Garp.

 

Which character from your book is most or least like you?
There’s probably a little shared sentiment with all the characters, whether I’d like to admit it or not. I’d say I’m the most like Caleb, though I hold plenty of Randall’s insecurities. I’m the least like Charlotte. She’s way too good, [too] strong of a person to be anything like me.

 

What do you like to read in your free time?

Poetic fiction, historical nonfiction, philosophy textbooks, political articles, and sports features.

 

What book do you wish you could have written?

Every good book I’ve ever read has left me a little jealous—I can’t help it, but Blood Meridian is probably the greatest single example of prose in American Literature. And while I enjoy other McCarthy works more than Blood Meridian, that is certainly a novel that I know I will never be able to come close to equaling.

 

What projects are you working on at the present?

I’ve just finished the initial manuscript for my third novel, Narrow the Road. My second novel, River, Sing Out, is currently with my editor, and I’d guess we’ll finalize that later this summer.

 

What do your plans for future projects include?

I expect I’ll have each of my three novels published in consecutive years, beginning with this one—but who knows, the publishing industry is wild. My contract with my publisher is for three books, but I’ve already begun the legwork on a fourth manuscript that will hopefully be picked up in the future.