Douglas Bales On Books And Writing

Douglas Bales is author of “Maximum Taxi.” He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This interview has been edited lightly.

Would you tell me a little bit about your new book? When did you come up with the idea of writing it?

“Maximum Taxi” is a fictionalized account of the time that I spent as a cabbie in Chattanooga (from 2013 to 2016).

I’d always written, mostly poems, short stories, and song lyrics, but the idea for the novel occurred to me after about six months on the job. All of the strange people you meet from every walk of life and the weird situations and conversations. It just seemed like automatic content that needed to be documented.

How would you describe the current state of the cab business in Chattanooga?

I have no idea. I haven’t been in that scene for about seven years. When I’m downtown it seems like you see more Ubers and Lyfts than taxi cabs, which I allude to towards the end of the novel.

How long did it take to write? Do you have a writing routine?

It was actually spread out over several years. I started keeping notes and doing rough outlines and drafts in a notebook in the cab, between fares. I’m also a musician (drums and vocals), and in 2016 I was lucky enough to be part of a group…