Carousel Grift by David Lane Williams is a laugh-out-loud tale of family feuds, ghostly meddling, and magical second chances as a single mom battles her scheming daughter, her late father’s spectral antics, and the possibility of love while running a quirky Texas amusement park.

Describe the book in one sentence.

Carousel Grift is a dark-ish comedy about an amusement park owner who is too distracted from debating her dead patriarch and struggling with her famous televangelist daughter over control of the property to see that her soulmate has spent years wondering if she’ll ever get his name right.

What led you to write it?

There were three significant events happening in my life when I first began this story twelve years ago. I was a detective in a Special Investigations Unit where most of the victims of violence and stalking were women and children. I knew that I wanted to honor the resilience and courage of those people who were working to escape the mayhem and live in peace, and that was the original seed for the project.

At the same time, we had a carnival troupe that wintered in our city. Those carnies were often hysterical and always eccentric (a few were downright sinister, but that’s a different story).

Also, around that time, I’d become a single parent to two teenagers, so the worries of a single dad sending his kids off on first dates, first time driving alone, and engaging with new friend groups were simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. 

All three factors were foundational to this novel, which could have been told in a maudlin fashion, but I realized early on that this story would resonate so much more deeply if it were told in a darkly comic way. We face our fears and heal with humor, and this seemed like the best way to tell this story.

Which authors or books most influenced your voice and why?

Larry McMurtry has always been a source of inspiration. The guy wrote Lonesome Dove, as well as The Last Picture Show and Texasville. His ability to blend action and adventure with real human drama and humor has always struck me as next-level in terms of range and overall writing ability.

Of late, I’m drawn to Shelby Van Pelt (Remarkably Bright Creatures) for her palette of quirk and poignancy, as well as Matt Haig for his ability to make a reader laugh out loud and then choke back a sob in less than one chapter.

How do you organize your writing day—do you have rituals or routines?

I try, I really do try to write early in the morning. I teach criminology at a university, work with rescue horses, help out with my grandkids, and hike daily, so sometimes the order of things gets shuffled. The only hard and fast ritual is to read the last passage of what I wrote the day before, put my fingers on home row, and quit burning daylight.

What does your research process look like (for historical settings, technical details, etc.)?

I have written two historical novels set in 1629 and 1918 New Mexico, both of which required a lot of research. In both instances, the first kernel of the idea was born in a museum. That set off a two-to-three-month process of research for each story. Some of that research was done by visiting more museums, talking to curators, and doing my best to lay eyes on at least some primary sources along the way. Research is my favorite part of the historical fiction game. It’s like getting paid (eventually) to go on a treasure hunt.

Which character in your book was the most fun (or challenging) to write, and what made them so?

Errol is the most fun and funniest character in the story to me. He’s every good old boy I ever met playing baseball growing up in Texas or visiting my rancher grandaddy and talking to his cowboys in the bunkhouse. He has never ended a word with the letter G, and he’s on a lifetime mission to quit cursing. Errol is a generous sharer of advice and philosophy…he means well.

What themes or questions are you most interested in exploring through your work?

The overarching theme in Carousel Grift is forgiveness, both for those who have caused us pain and for ourselves. We humans are the best in the species business at blaming ourselves, and it’s been my experience and observation that we can have a better life if we just learn what we need to learn from past mistakes and get on with the joy and adventure parts.

Is there any one thing that especially frustrates you about the writing process?

I’m always in house-of-cards mode with grammar, and good editors know it. I was a literature major for my first college degree. Subsequently, I’m hardwired for metaphor, but my grammar skills never got much beyond eighth grade. Alas.

What’s the toughest hurdle you’ve faced during your writing career, and how did you overcome it?

I had a big old tussle with throat cancer nine years ago. That one set me back, and it was a struggle just to sit up and type one paragraph a day there for a while. This is a happy ending story, though. The cancer is dead; I am not, and the nouns and verbs kept coming even during (most) of the darker days.

Any advice for novice writers?

Learn different types of writing. Study screenwriting and stage plays, dive into a bit of poetry, and get a few short stories under your belt. Novelists benefit from learning how other storytelling forms are fashioned.

What do you hope readers take away from your book?

I hope they’ll come away with a sense of hope, a gentle tug to forgive old wrongs, and a renewed sense that we can all learn from our mistakes without carrying a bag of life regret slung over our shoulders.

What’s next?

I’m working on the third book in a detective series featuring fictionalized versions of cases I investigated when I was still on the job. I have a “full” request out on the first of that series, so cross your fingers for me. And, as I mentioned, I’ve written two historical novels, which I’ll start shopping to agents after Carousel Grift launches. As Willy Wonka would say, “So much time and so little to do…strike that…reverse it.” (Editor’s note: Wonka was hallucinating on Lickable Wallpaper and Fizzy Lifting Drinks at the time.)

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