Dallas Jones’ novel “WYONATION” was a Colorado Authors League finalist for Thriller.
Dallas Jones was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, but has called Colorado his home for more than 30 years. “WYONATION” is his second novel. A graduate of the University of Wyoming and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Jones developed technical writing skills as a business systems analyst and consultant but didn’t catch the creative writing bug until age 40. His first novel, “Meet the Boys of Casper,” a nostalgic remembrance of growing up in the 1970s, was published in 2017.
SunLit: Tell us “WYONATION”’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Dallas Jones: In 2019, Wyoming coal mines began shutting down, leaving thousands of people unemployed and putting a big dent in the state’s coffers. The long-term outlook for other fossil-fuel industries looked equally bleak. Given that prognosis, I wondered how much loss my native state could endure.
That concern morphed into several philosophical questions: Should a state be required to maintain a minimum population? Can a state be removed from the Union? If so, how? If a region is no longer a state, then what does it become? The pursuit for potential answers struck me as interesting material for a story, and I was off to the races.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Jones: When thinking about what becomes of an expelled state, I had to consider what might happen to Wyoming’s resources and its people. The novel offers several points of view.
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The excerpt I chose presents two of those viewpoints. It is a lively discussion between one of Wyoming’s U.S. senators arguing on behalf of her constituents and an environmentalist who sees a major opportunity to preserve a vast amount of land.
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Jones: The majority of the story takes place in two settings: Wyoming and Washington D.C. I grew up in Wyoming, and though I would never claim to be a cowboy or a mineral-industry professional, my dad and many of my friends were.
I drew from my interactions with them to try and paint a realistic picture of the Wyoming lifestyle. In similar fashion, I relied on my three years of residency in the Washington D.C. area to portray the political landscape of our nation’s capital.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Jones: Despite my age, I am a relatively new fiction writer. “WYONATION” is only my second novel, but I believe my writing technique improved significantly between my first and second efforts due to my participation in a writing critique group during the early stages of my draft.
“WYONATION”
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SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
Jones: The speculative notion of a potential state expulsion could have been written as either fiction or nonfiction. After I decided against nonfiction (due to a long-standing phobia about footnotes), the ultimate challenges were to 1) present a serious exploration of the politics involved in removing a state without being too wonky and 2) blend in an entertaining tale of characters caught up in conflict, intrigue, and a little romance.
SunLit: What’s the most important thing — a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book?
Jones: “WYONATION” is a political speculation about why and how a state might be removed from the Union. To the extent there is a lesson, it would be a cautionary warning about a super majority’s potential tyranny over a minority in our national government.
SunLit: What makes “WYONATION” unique?
Jones: In American history, there are instances where secession has been attempted (e.g., the Civil War) or considered as a possibility (e.g., the current situation in Oregon.) Secession is initiated by a political/geographical entity seeking to split from a larger piece, whether that larger piece is a state or an entire country.
“WYONATION” is not a story of secession, rather it’s a story of expulsion. Wyoming doesn’t want to leave the Union; it is being forced out. I had never heard about state expulsion as a possibility, so I decided to write a story about it.
Another interesting aspect is that Wyoming’s expulsion doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Other significant world events are happening concurrently, and these dynamic situations affect one another.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Jones: I’m juggling a couple of different ideas. Rather than topic, the first possibility would focus on writing style. I would like to try writing something in a first person, stream-of-consciousness mode. The second idea would be another futuristic speculation, probably something dystopian.
A few more quick questions
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Jones: Editing is straightforward and provides immediate gratification, but the completion of a first draft is far more satisfying.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Jones: During our first year of marriage, I wrote a family Christmas card detailing the trials of a new husband, my mistakes, and being sentenced to sleep outside—all tongue in cheek, of course.
SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing?
Jones: George Orwell, Ayn Rand, and Aldous Huxley
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Jones: “Write a story you would enjoy reading.” It’s my mission statement.
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Jones: I enjoy books that extract raw emotion from me, particularly stories that have me rolling on the floor in laughter on one page and then screaming in horror three pages later. Joseph Heller and John Irving are masters of this skill.
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Jones: I don’t listen to music while writing; however, music is embedded in some of my work. I’ve written a jukebox musical using the songs made famous by Three Dog Night. Also, in my first novel, “Meet the Boys of Casper”, I wrote each chapter with a particular closing song in mind, similar to what you might see in “Mad Men” or “Breaking Bad.”
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Jones: I am caught up in an endless loop of pop music between 1965 and 1985.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Jones: I’ve never really bought into the idea that I am a writer. Instead, I become obsessed with an interesting question that requires writing to answer it.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Jones: An unintended misrepresentation of a person, place, or situation.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Jones: Having a reader go out of his way to tell me he enjoyed my story.