Author Ray Reece ~ Interviewed

Journalist and award-winning environmentalist Ray Reece offers readers a confrontational world in Abigail in Gangland, a story populated by a dangerous Hispanic gang and one very racist, very senile old woman. Stuck in the middle? Her nephew Luke, who has returned home to "Dover-Fort Wade," Texas after 30 years as an artist in Manhattan. His mission? To take care of his aunt Abigail, win the heart of the woman he loves (who is, coincidentally enough, an ex-con), and try not to get killed.


Currently a columnist for The Budapest Sun in Hungary, and author of The Sun Betrayed: A Report on the Corporate Seizure of U.S. Solar Energy Development, Reece is known for his hard-hitting investigations of corporate takeovers, suburban sprawl, and social and political injustice. All of these issues converge in his third fiction work, Abigail in Gangland, an unapologetic portrait of a decaying suburban neighborhood.


What is your current project? Tell us about it.

My current project is the promotion of my new novel, Abigail in Gangland. By way of an overview, I can hardly do better than to quote the comment by Kirkpatrick Sale, the author of Conquest of Paradise, on the back cover: “A sprawling Texas brawl of a novel, richly detailed, funny and provocative. Celebrates the rebel life—in the spirit of Burroughs and Kerouac—while bluntly confronting the Anglo-Hispanic cultural divide in America today. Sure to be rated R for steamy love scenes, violence and pot. But don’t wait for the movie.”

I have referred to the book as “a neo-beat novel of mixed-blood romance in a big-city Texas barrio.” The principal characters include Luke Thrasher, 50, a love-hungry artist in New York who returns to Texas after 32 years to care for his demented old aunt, Abigail Thrasher. Who, also quoting from the back cover, “stands on her porch and hurls invectives at a gang across the street called the Latin Blades.”

Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

I've been lucky in that regard. My first book, The Sun Betrayed, was accepted by the first publisher who saw it, South End Press in Boston. My new novel, Abigail in Gangland, was likewise accepted by the first publisher who saw it, La Ventana Kiadó in Budapest, Hungary. To my surprise, La Ventana opted to have the book translated and published first in Hungarian. It has sold remarkably well, so La Ventana is now the publisher of the North American Edition.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

Not doubts so much, but constant surprise at how difficult it is to write something of real quality. I'm also perennially torn by the conflict between my desire to write, a private act, and my need to be active politically, which naturally forces me out of my studio. I mediate this to some extent through my work as a journalist, writing primarily on political and geopolitical subjects.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication? Or to narrow it down further what’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

With regard to my current novel, Abigail in Gangland, one mistake I made was moving to Europe before I had completed the manuscript. After I finished it, still in Europe, in Italy and Hungary, I was compelled to try to find an agent online, which I now deem virtually impossible. It was just luck, serendipity, which took me to La Ventana Budapest, the publisher I mentioned above.

What’s the best or worst advice (or both) you’ve heard on writing/publication?

The best advice was something I read many years ago by Sinclair Lewis. He said, essentially, that in order to write a book you have to keep your butt planted in a chair. I also recall having read and/or being told that great writing is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent relentless toil, a willingness to work like a mule.

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

Everything is grist for my mill. Life experience, reading, observations of human behavior, history both past and in the making, news/analysis, art, conversation, dreams and fantasies.

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

I've gotten "the look" a number of times from people to whom I've attempted to explain my current novel, Abigail in Gangland. They seem a bit stunned by some of the characters and plot elements, particularly the romance between Luke, the middle-class male protagonist, and Raquel Acevedo, a Mexican woman whose son belongs to a gang that is violently hostile to Luke and his daffy old racist aunt Abigail.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

Plays of Shakespeare, On the Road by Kerouac, The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, Light in August by Faulkner, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, An American Tragedy by Dreiser, Selected Poems by Dylan Thomas, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain, Leaves of Grass by Whitman, The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin, Human Scale by Kirkpatrick Sale, Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Others too numerous to list.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

I'm proud of most of my writing, certainly including Abigail in Gangland. Of my shorter non-fiction compositions, I continue to be very pleased with an autobiographical essay titled "Almost No Aplogies: The Desecration of the Violet Crown." It was published as a chapter in a book, No Apologies, released in 1991 by Eakin Press. The essay can be found under "Journalism and Political Writing" on rayreece.net

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Dean Koontz was recently on Novel Journey. He mentioned his take on the concept on “the writer’s sacred duty.” What comes to your mind at the mention of “the writer’s sacred duty?”

That would be the writer's duty to seek and tell the truth. There is also a duty, in my view, to make good on one's gift of talent as a writer, not to waste it or fritter it away through laziness or sloppy work.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

In the current period, I have been endlessly exasperated by the imperative to find and sell myself to a literary agent as a prerogative to having my work considered by publishers. Many of the agents with whom I've tried to communicate have proven to be cold and arrogant, perhaps due to their monopoly lock on the portal to publishers.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I want to weave a perfect memoir from all the threads of my life, my passions and my work. It would be global in scope, examining the particulars of my existence in the context of a world that has changed fundamentally, and much for the worse, in the decades since I was born. The book would predict apocalypse, perhaps the extinction of Homo sapiens, as a function of the flaws inherent in the species, manifested by a tragic egocentrism, insecurity and stupidity. All of which traits I carry myself, of course.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

As with probably most writers, my favorite part is the writing itself, the first-draft excitement and flow of adrenaline. Among my less favorite parts are research, rewriting and the task of explaining what I'm doing to other people, particularly agents.

What aspect of writing was the most difficult for you to grasp/conquer? How did you overcome it?

The most difficult aspect for me to grasp was the absolute necessity for economy in writing. I haven't overcome it. Even now I use too many adverbs and kindred pufferies that have to be excised later.

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

After a period of incubation and making notes, perhaps augmented by research, I try to write an opening that sings. If it sings, I'm on my way. Sometimes, as with Abigail in Gangland, I write an opening in a burst of inspiration with no forethought and no clear sense of where it will take me. This is like setting off on a voyage across the ocean without a compass. It can be terrifying.

Writing rituals. Do you have to sit somewhere specific, complete a certain number of words, leave something undone to trigger creativity for the next session?

Yes. I need to be seated, or standing, in a fixed and favorite location, like my study in Cagli, Italy. Unless I'm having a problem with the piece. Then I may lie down for a while, close my eyes, drift, perhaps even doze, inviting my muse to come around. Or I may take a walk. Or both. I also need a cup of something warm on which to sip, usually coffee, and often something on which to nibble.

Plot, seat of pants or combination?

As per the question above, my new novel is a combination of both. I started with the seat of my pants, then sketched a very rough map of the rest of the book. No outline, though. Plenty of room for surprises, which I experienced repeatedly.

What is the most difficult part of pulling together a book? Ex. Do you have saggy middles, soggy characters, soupy plots during your first drafts…if so, how do you shape it up?

For me, this has varied from work to work. When I discover something not right in what I'm working on, I stop the train and rework the passage until it’s fixed. I never continue with a first draft I know to be flawed in some respect.

Have you received a particularly memorable reader response?

One woman in Szeged, Hungary, a university student, told me recently that she has read the Hungarian edition of my novel, Szórakozz a nenikédell! (Go play with your aunt!), no less than five times. She has promised to explain her affection for the book, but we haven’t had a chance to do that yet.

Parting words?

Don’t wait for the movie, though there will surely be one. And thanks for your interest in my work.