James Wade lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and daughter. His debut novel, All Things Left Wild, won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Historical Novel and the MPIBA’s Reading the West Award for Best Debut Fiction. His second novel, River, Sing Out, was released in the summer of 2021. James is also a winner of the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest, and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest.
Prior to his fiction career, James spent five years as a journalist in East Texas, served as a legislative director at the Texas State Capitol, and worked as a lobbyist on behalf of water conservation in Texas.
This is a great episode where we talk about James’s improbable launch into the world of fiction, his background as a journalist, and his writing process. We also talk quite a bit about the origins of his two novels and plans for future books. James is a terrific, new author and an admirable conversationalist. I think you’ll enjoy this discussion as much as I did. As always, thanks for reading and listening.
“Every writer is a reader.”
James’s books:
- All Things Left Wild – 2020
- River, Sing Out – 2021
Other books mentioned in this episode:
- Provinces of Night by William Gay
- When These Mountains Burn by David Joy
- Cormac McCarthy’s Literary Evolution: Editors, Agents, and the Crafting of a Prolific American Author by Daniel King
- All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
- Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
- Lufkin Daily News
Other people mentioned in this episode:
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