#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Trevor Harrison

Trevor Harrison is my guest today for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: time alone

Things that hamper your writing: distractions

Words that describe you: thoughtful, rational

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: arrogant (sometimes)

Something you’re really good at: card games
Something you’re really bad at: electronic games

Favorite music or song: Wide ranging – classic rock, blues, jazz, some country

Music that drives you crazy: hip-hop

Things to say to an author: Focus on the details
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: This scene/person just doesn’t seem believable.

Favorite places you’ve been: Greece
Places you never want to go to again: not easy to say; have liked pretty much everywhere I’ve been

Favorite books (or genre): politics, history. poetry
Books you wouldn’t buy: Harlequin novels

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: wrote the music for one of my poems and sang it

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: wrote a journal article only to have the journal fold after the paper was accepted

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: being robbed

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: being in a fight

About Trevor

Trevor W. Harrison is a retired political sociologist at the University of Lethbridge. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of fourteen previous books, including three books of poetry. His recent and fifteenth book, Safarnameh: A Traveller’s Journey Along the Hippie Trail, is both a personal memoir and a critical examination of the circumstances around which so many westerners made the overland trip to India during the 1960s and 1970s.

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Goodreads: Books by Trevor Harrison (Author of Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields) | Goodreads

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Trevor Harrison

I’d like to welcome Trevor Harrison to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Thinking. Thinking is the hardest work anyone can ever do, which is why a lot of people ignore it.

Easiest thing about being a writer: The fact that ideas – some good, some bad – come to you when you least expect them.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Time to allow my mind to travel from one storyline to another

Things that hamper your writing: Mundane tasks that distract me from thinking

Words that describe you: humorous, rational, nostalgic

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: impatient (but I’m working on it). Also, as my beard whitens, I look increasingly like Colonel Saunders

Something you’re really good at: Cribbage and most other board games; racquetball at one time.

Something you’re really bad at: losing (but I’m also working on this), woodworking, and baseball all the time

Favorite music or song: blues, rock, and jazz

Music that drives you crazy: rap

Things to say to an author: What is your process? Who are your major influences?

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: I have a really good idea for your next novel/short story!

Favorite places you’ve been: Greece

Places you never want to go to again: No good answer as I have loved everywhere I have ever been.

Favorite books (or genre): economic and political history, poetry, and biographies

Books you wouldn’t buy: Guinness Book of Records or any other books of lists

Best thing you’ve ever done: travel

Biggest mistake: not traveling enough

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I designed our current house on draft paper before it went to a professional draftsman for final work. The final product is about 95 per cent of my original conception.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: I bought all the disassembled parts for a 1919 Studebaker with the idea of putting it together but finally had to sell all of it for lack of time and ability.

About Trevor:

Trevor W. Harrison is a retired professor of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge. He was formerly Director of Parkland Institute (2011-2021) and a member of both the Canadian political science and sociology associations. He is best known for his studies in political sociology, political economy, and public policy. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of twelve books, including Tales This Side of the Elysian Fields. A thirteenth book, Safarnameh: A Traveler’s Journey Along the Hippie Trail is scheduled for publication by Athabasca University Press in spring 2025. He is a frequent and well-known contributor to public media, including radio and television.