Jim Daniels

“I treasure personal totems. The J. Geils Band’s album Bloodshot came out on red vinyl in 1973, and when I slide that bright record out of the sleeve, it takes me back
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In this online exclusive we ask authors to share books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired them in their writing. We see this as a place for writers to turn to for ideas that will help feed their creative process.
“I treasure personal totems. The J. Geils Band’s album Bloodshot came out on red vinyl in 1973, and when I slide that bright record out of the sleeve, it takes me back
“The raw honesty and the gritty lyricism of any song by Lucinda Williams hotwires me to the ugly beauty of hearts in conflict.
“I was ten years old before anyone figured out I needed eye glasses.
“Of all the myriad pronouncements on writing, the truest one, for me, is something the poet Robert Kelly said
“I find inspiration and solace in the wise proverbs of my ancestors, the great and noble Bulgarians.
“I am thankful to be surrounded by lovely women—my wife, my three daughters not yet grown
“Who knows what prompts a person to write? Thank the gods it’s mostly a mysterious process. When I sit down and confront the yawning white screen
“Music, of course, starting with late-1960s Bob Seger, but also the alt-country-trance music of Jesse Sykes, and Jon Dee Graham
“Here’s what I believe: The perfect writing you might do lies already waiting for you like a sculpture inside. Your job is to subtract
“I swim. I’m a kid from the mountains of Pennsylvania, so I came to swimming the scrappy way: ponds, lakes, creeks.