“What I try to focus on most during the process of writing is a sense of pleasure, especially in the early drafting stage. Sometimes I take a walk or listen to music, which helps the visions. It starts with an image or vision. I like to walk through the desert. Sometimes I’ll pick up an old rotary phone and dial a number that registers a busy signal. There’s something about the busy signal that’s rhythmic and strange and hollow. Who knows where these things come from. I fantasize that I might consider skydiving at some point with a licensed and experienced skydiver to hug me as I free fall, but skydiving can be expensive and addictive, plus there’s the matter of spending extra money on appropriate gear and getting approval if you bring a camera along. In reality there’s no way I would ever consider that because it sounds absolutely horrifying. We can dream.”
—Brandon Hobson, author of The Removed (Ecco, 2021)