More specifically, The Missing is "Writers Who Run: An Interview with Ben Tanzer, Author of The Missing,” which you may read here. You may also read some excerpt below. Cool? Quite so, I'd say.
~
How does running affect your writing? Are you thinking about your stories while you’re running or does running serve as a space to cleanse your mind?
Can we say both? Both and, and, and, and. I've been writing about half as long as I've been running. I don't think I understood what running was to me when I was younger. But it was definitely more of a palate cleanser.
As I started writing, I was like, oh, running really allows you to slough off all the stuff — stuff meaning the day, the fights you get into, the tensions, the deadlines you miss, or the deadlines you meet, whatever it is. It has immensely benefited the writing.
I wrote a book, [“Orphans”], my one foray into science fiction. I had this idea that I wanted to write something sort of like Willy Loman inspired, you know. I wanted to write about someone in a situation that involved work and the conflict between work and family. I had this idea, I couldn’t quite tease it out. And then I went for a really late run along the lakefront [in Chicago], and I looked up and I started thinking about “The Martian Chronicles,” one of the books I was obsessed with as a kid. I thought, wow, could you write “Death of a Salesman” meets “Martian Chronicles.” And that’s why it became a science fiction book, not because I wanted to write science fiction. But I was looking up into the sky and I thought, what if this guy sells real estate on Mars?
So that's how it works for me. I don't even intend it. But since I do both, they play off each other nonstop.
I’ve heard you mention in other interviews, too, that you hope running plays a part in the longevity of your writing career.
That’s come to me later in life. I was always conscious of taking care of myself. That always seemed invaluable. Then I got older and it seemed like it had double meaning. Like, yeah, you should, and maybe you'll not just extend your life, which would be great, but it would be a better life. But I realized, especially as I started teaching more and talking to more writers and this book was coming out, “The Missing,” I thought, “oh, you’re actually more effective as a writer when you’re taking better care of yourself.”
So, less drinking, more sleeping, running, all of these things make you have a more sound mind and body. And I have a million things where I'm not sound. I have arthritis. I started losing my hearing a couple years ago, which came out of nowhere. So, I'm not an awesome physical specimen. I would love to be. But I'm focused on every day being as good as it can be.
Now I also realize, if it doesn't make me a better writer, it certainly elevates the practice. And I'm very interested in the practice of it.