An Interview With Alex McGlothlin, Author Of Bright Futures

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Alex McGlothlin is the author behind Bright Futures, a tender and introspective novel following David Hall, a college graduate who sets out to his girlfriend’s lake house in Appalachia, aiming to pen the world’s next great American novel. However, as his intensity for writing increases, the distance between him and his girlfriend widens, sending David into a shocking spiral. To celebrate the release of Bright Futures, What We Reading sat down with Alex to discuss everything from writing without an outline to his love for J.D. Salinger!

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Talk to us about Bright Futures. What is it about, and how was the process of writing it?

Bright Futures is about a recent college graduate who, rather than taking a more conservative path, has decided to forego additional schooling or a career path to focus on writing his first novel. Following graduation, he takes off with his girlfriend to Southwest Virginia to spend the summer with her in a space he thinks he can write his first novel. He struggles with his story’s direction at first, which I think is thematic of the “coming of age” elements of the novel. I think things get easier once we have a clear vision of what it is we want. Things get even easier once we know how to solve the problem and all that’s left is execution. 

The protagonist spends a lot of time early in the story looking for an idea for his novel, which may leave the readers wondering whether he’s really working or just out goofing off. For me, the goofing off was really the catalyst for the novel, and all the friendships the protagonist makes and the stories he hears along the way. His girlfriend certainly thinks he’s goofing off, and that causes some friction between them. The protagonist has several aborted ideas along the way before he finally chooses his subject. 

The process of writing Bright Futures was fine. I’ve written several novels and I enjoy all the stages, from ideating on the concept, to outlining, writing first drafts and making revisions. I actually wrote the first draft without an outline, which is different for me, because I typically always start with an outline that details what I’m trying to accomplish with each chapter. I think starting without an outline was an experiment for me, and I did ultimately go back and outline the novel once I had a first draft, so I had a good blueprint for making revisions. I think it’s important to experiment though, to keep the process from getting too rigid. 

What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?

With this novel, my main goal was to provide a few hours of entertainment. I’m from Appalachia, and I think there are a lot of negative stereotypes associated with the region, so you also see me gratuitously talking the place up. I’m not denying Appalachia has it issues, as anywhere does, but it’s a beautiful place, filled with kind people and lots of fun. Particularly if you like the outdoors. 

What do you think makes you stand out as an author?

I try to write original stories. From a marketplace perspective, I think I overreach sometimes, and for some future works I have in the hopper, I’m trying to hug closer to genre conventions from the outset. 

I think when I first started writing, that dialogue and plot were my strengths, and I’ve worked hard to try to sharpen my prose, character arcs, description and narrative.

What would you say has been your biggest success so far?

I think that would depend on how we define “success.” Probably that, after 20 years, I’m still writing. I really just love the writing process. It’s kind of a form of constructive daydreaming for me. I haven’t had much in the way of commercial success, but who knows, maybe I’ll get there.

If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?

That’s a loaded question. I annually re-read Catcher and the Rye and The Stranger and I love those books, but I would probably have to pick a mystery thriller like The Da Vinci Code because once you know the plot twists, a book doesn’t quite hit the same way on a re-read. One of my favorite movies is The Game, directed by David Fincher, and I would love to go back and watch that one again for the first time. 

What’s one tip you would give your younger self if you had the opportunity?

I would have studied the craft earlier. In the early days, I was under the spell of Jack Kerouac and the idea of just letting the writing follow its own course, but there are so many great books and courses on the craft of writing. I have a couple of bookshelves of those books now and I think they’ve really helped elevate my writing. Building Great Sentences by Brooks Landon, in particular, is a great book on writing that I would recommend to anyone. I would have also built up a network of other writers, locked in a mentor and submitted more short stories to literary magazines. 

And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing? I hope it holds more writing!

I have two kids now and I stay pretty busy with my legal practice, so I hope I have the discipline to continue carving out time to write. The next novel I’m working on, Spearhead, is a crime thriller and I’d really like to get a good agent to try to help me place it in that market. 

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