An Interview with Jason Graff

  If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?  I’d like to make Anita Brookner a really good shepherd’s pie.
 
 What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears?
Having to give it up one day and find respectable work. Happily, I think I’m slowly making myself completely unemployable in almost every other field.
 
Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character?
Renata Adler’s writing is so hot and sophisticated and human.
 
What books are on your nightstand?
Right now Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton and Someone Not Really Her Mother by Harriet Scott Chessman are both on my shelf as I type this. Though I’m nearly finished with each one so the answer will likely be different when you are reading this.
 
Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?
I am always interested in people and how they go about their days, how they fill the time and what that says about them; especially people engaged in non-traditional pursuits.
 
Favorite punctuation mark? Why? 
Boring, I know but I love a period. It marks the end of one idea and the beginning of the next.
 
What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did?
I don’t think there was one I didn’t read at all. I skimmed and or didn’t finish many, many of them.
 
What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements?
My work computer from my last 9-5 on which most of this book was composed.
 
Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go.
To escape from bigger problems.
 
If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write?
No one really knows how to do this. We’re all making it up as we go.

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The author of numerous published short stories as well as the novella In the Service of the Boyar (Strange Fictions Press, 2016), Jason Graff loves both reading and producing writing that has a strong, clear voice and conveys a deep connection to the characters. In high school, his passion for the written word was well and truly ignited when he took a sucker punch for writing his crush a poem. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Bowling Green State University and later, his MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College. The intense nature of that program allowed him to be mentored by a diverse group of talented writers which included: Sarah Schulman, Richard Panek, Darcey Steinke, and Rachel Pollack.

Jason currently lives in Richardson, Texas with his wife, son, and their cat. He is currently working on a science fiction novel about the beginning of the end of the universe and another about a romancing con-man. You can follow him on Twitter at @JasonGraff1 , on Facebook at Author Jason Graff and/or visit his website: www.jasongraff.wordpress.com.
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