TEXAS WIND BY JAMES REASONER

Interviewed by Allan Guthrie

JAMES REASONER has been a professional writer for more than twenty-five years, authoring dozens of novels in a variety of genres and over a hundred short stories. He is best known for the mystery novel Texas Wind, which has achieved legendary status as a collectible paperback.  For several years early in his career, he wrote the Mike Shayne novellas in MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE under the famous pseudonym Brett Halliday.  Under his own name in recent years he has written a ten-book series of historical novels set during the Civil War and several historical novels about World War II.  He lives in Texas with his wife, award-winning mystery novelist L.J. Washburn.

Allan Guthrie spoke to him about Texas Wind.

Allan: For the benefit of those who haven't heard of it, what's Texas Wind about?

James: Despite its Western-sounding title, Texas Wind is a mystery novel set in Fort Worth. As far as I know, it's the first novel to utilize that setting. It's the story of a private detective named Cody who becomes involved in a kidnapping and several murders. Originally published in 1980 by a small paperback house called Manor Books, Texas Wind received very limited distribution, but it met with an enthusiastic response from those readers who found a copy. Since then, it has remained out of print. The original--and so far, only--edition has become quite collectible because of its scarcity and because it's been cited in several books and articles as one of the best PI novels of its era.

Allan: Sounds like the experience with Manor Books wasn't altogether positive. How does a young writer deal with a setback like that?

James: In my case, I had other irons in the fire, so I was able to move on without much trouble. By the time Texas Wind was published in October 1980, my wife and I had sold a proposal for a historical novel (The Emerald Land, Fawcett Gold Medal, 1983, under the pseudonym Livia James), so we had to get it written. Also, I was still writing the Mike Shayne stories in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, so the monthly deadline there didn't allow me much time to brood about things. Still, it did bother me that I had a book out, but no one could buy it except in very limited areas. It bothered me even more that Manor never paid me the advance they owed me, but that's a whole other side of the business.

Allan: I bet. It must be hugely frustrating when you see it selling on Ebay for up to $200, of which you don't get a penny! Let's backtrack for a moment. It's late 1978 and you decide it's time to write a PI novel, little knowing it will be heralded as one of the best of its time. You give up your day job, cut the phone lines and lock yourself in your study. Right?

James: To quote John Wayne, not hardly. I was working at the time as the manager of a shop that sold and repaired televisions and appliances. I ran the office and did a little of the repair work. Nearly all of my writing was done on the office desk during odd moments. The first draft of Texas Wind was written in longhand, in a spiral notebook, in between answering the phone, loading and unloading TV sets, and replacing horizontal output tubes. (That's how long ago it was. TVs had tubes!)

Allan: With all those distractions it must have taken a long time to finish.

James: According to my records, the first draft of Texas Wind was begun on November 7, 1978, and completed on February 14, 1979. I don't have a record of the date Manor accepted it, but I believe it was sometime during the fall of '79. And the book was published in October 1980.

Allan: Just over three months while working full time? That's pretty fast writing.

James: I've always been blessed with the ability to write fast. Over the course of my career, I've averaged about 2500 words per day. When I was younger I could write 15,000 in a day if I had to. Now a really good day would be around 7500 words.

Allan: Would you care to share your secret?

James: I don't know that there's any secret to writing so much. I think most writers have a set of parameters in which they can work comfortably, and while those parameters can be stretched on occasion, nobody can keep up what's an unnaturally fast pace for them indefinitely. The real trick to producing a lot of pages may be to just keep at it day after day, whatever the pace is.

Allan: I'm intrigued, particularly since you write so quickly, as to your opinion on outlining. There appear to be two schools of thought, one which states that before starting a novel you must write a detailed outline, the other that you should dive in and go where the mood takes you. What's your experience?

James: I've written almost every way you can think of, from no outline at all to highly detailed 60-page outlines that were almost condensed versions of the books. I only wrote those long outlines because the editor insisted on them. I didn't like them and gradually worked them down to around 20 pages. I prefer an outline of around 4 or 5 pages, with just enough detail so that I don't go too far astray from the story. Though I have to admit there's something challenging, and fun, about starting a book with no idea where it's going to go.

Allan: What about Texas Wind? Did you know where it was headed?

James: I really have to go by memory here. I know I had an outline, but I don't think it was very detailed, maybe just a page or two.

Allan: I like Texas Wind's protagonist, Cody. He won me over with the irresistible combination of taking a beating pretty well and having strong opinions about plastic longhorns. I know he's appeared in a few short stories, but have you considered bringing him back for a second novel?

James: I thought about it. I even started a second Cody novel but gave it up when it just didn't work out. Maybe someday, although by now he'd have to be pretty old.

Allan: Twenty-three years down the line, do you still enjoy writing as much?

James: It's a different sort of enjoyment, but I still get a great deal of satisfaction out of the work. And I still get a kick of seeing a new book on the stands. Writing is what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Allan: Have you found that writing gets progressively easier?

James: The nuts-and-bolts part of it gets easier. Finding the energy and inspiration is harder at times.

Allan: It's rumoured that at last Texas Wind might be reprinted. Is there any truth in this?

James: After several near-misses over the years, I feel safe in saying that Texas Wind will be back in print later this year. I don't know any of the details yet, such as publication date or price, but it will be available from a new small press publisher called The Book Place. They'll be reprinting primarily pulp-related material, but they want to do a new edition of Texas Wind as well.

Allan: I don't suppose there'd be any chance of printing an excerpt in Noir Originals?

James: The first scene is just under 2500 words, around 9 pages in manuscript. Would that be about what you had in mind?

Allan: It most certainly would...

Click here to read the opening of James Reasoner's Texas Wind.

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