2004 News Archive

Questins and Answers with James Reger

James P. Reger was born and raised in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a border area during the American Civil War owing allegiances to both sides of the conflict. Sensing the dichotomy and even animosities that still existed during his youth made him particularly aware of the essential tragedy of a war between brothers, cousins, and neighbors and the slow-to-heal wounds that such divisions generate. Although he now lives and works in San Diego, where he teaches American History, his roots remain firmly planted in "Civil War country." He makes regular pilgrimages back to the battlefield parks for research and inspiration and is nearing the completion of his second Civil War historical novel.

What makes you distinctly qualified to write this book?
My fascination with the Civil War goes back to my earliest youth when my grandmother would perch me on her knee and tell me the tales and adventures of her father, my great-grandfather, who rode with the Confederate cavalry, fighting in every major engagement of the conflict. Soon, I was collecting toy soldiers of the period and enlisting schoolboy friends in "Reger's Raiders," a frolicking and frisky band of Rebel desperados. It was not long before I was reading every book I could find on the war, mesmerized by the drama of the stories. My hobby turned to serious study at West Virginia University where I graduated with a degree combining history, English, psychology, and education. Although I had careers as a social worker, musician, and counselor before settling on education, I never lost sight of my first academic love, the Civil War, nor ever stopped seriously researching it.

Why did you become a novelist instead of a writer of non-fiction?
Actually, I have already had five young adult non-fiction titles published. Three of them deal with the Civil War. Before that, I had several poems, songs, articles, and essays reach print. As for fictio, I have come to believe the most genuine way to understand events is to experience those events through the senses and emotions of those who were there or who could have been there. It takes a novel, I think, with its breadth of sensitivity and insight into the human condition to authentically plumb the depths of people and their times.

Who were the most significant influences on you as a writer?
Without doubt, the most enduring influence on me as a writer was my mother. She was highly intelligent, literate, and a classically educated woman who nourished my creativity in all artistic endeavors. Her father, my grandfather, was an author in his own right, publishing non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction. He too, imparted to me the preciousness of the written word. Writers such as Stephan Crane, Erich Maria Remarque, Cornelius Ryan, and Shelby Foote have also left indelible impressions on me with their stark and unrelenting views of war.

Why do you seem to be so fascinated with war?
First, let me say that I in no way am a proponent of warfare as a means of settling disputes. I have seen what war can do to the men who fight and the families left behind. My father was psychologically scarred by his participation in World War II and my brother was killed in Vietnam. I am thus strongly anti-war. At the same time, I am strongly pro-warrior. It serves as an inspiration to me to see just how much hardship soldiers are capable of bearing. For if common men no less frail than myself can survive and endure something as horrific as war, surely I can meet the challenges of my life.

How did you come to be a writer?
I was fortunate, as I said, to have had a mother and grandfather who instilled in me the pleasure and value of story telling, both through the written and the spoken word. My mother was also a genealogist and great lover of history. Actually, I have been writing so long that it is hard for me to remember when I started. I wrote my first play and had it produced during an elementary school Christmas pageant. During middle school, I took my obligatory through horror and science fiction, when I was not writing adolescent stories about the glory of war and protest songs in the Bob Dylan vein. In high school, I fell hopelessly in love and, or course, veered into poetry and romantic ballads. College and the Vietnam War protests hardened my sensibilities and I began, at last, to write serious short fiction, songs, and poetry. I continued mining that vein with relative degrees of publishing success until taking on my first book-length work. Six published titles later, I am still hard at work.

What advice would you give to someone hoping to become a published author?
Success in writing requires three things: talent, work and luck. It is sometimes hard to know whether or not you have the talent. Take what you have written to trusted teachers, a writing group, or a class and see what they say about it. As far as the work goes, spend at least 10 hours a week chained to your word processor. Make the work an integral, daily part of what you do and who you are. Obviously you have no control over luck but you can be assured that you will never have any luck at all if you do not first put in the required work.

Do you have a motto?
I have already mentioned the only thing that might constituted as a motto: Look to those who have endured and even triumphed over hardships far greater than your own. If they could bear the hardships, then just think what you can do.


For more information, please contact Carrie McCullough, associate publisher, at carriemccullough@bellsouth.net or (706) 738-0354.