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"Bad luck, it falls on people every day. It's one of the only certain truths. It's always on deck, it's always just waiting. The worst thing, the thing that scares me the most is that you never know who or when it's going to hit. But I knew then, that morning, when I saw the kid's frozen arms in the back of the car that bad luck had found my brother and me."

That's a gloomy passage from Willy Vlautin's novel, a hybrid of the American road trip book and the dark currents of pulp fiction. Vlautin wrote The Motel Life in between gigs with his rock band, Richmond Fontaine, bringing lonesome country music influences to his grim story of alcoholism and accidents.

He's our special guest this week, explaining how music influenced his writing and how his lyrical storytelling style evolved.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.

Jason Boog:
Your book depends on oral storytelling--the lead character is always telling other characters these fantastical adventure stories. How did you shape these tall-tales and how do you make it sound so good when it is read out-loud? Who are the writers/storytellers who influenced this side of your writing?

Willy Vlautin: 
Well, thanks for saying it sounds good read out loud. Continue reading...

You know usually I'm too embarrassed to read them out loud as I'm working on them but I always hope they'll have a rhythm to them.

Rhythm is an interesting thing in prose. I first starting figuring it out listening to books on tape. You start hearing a rhythm in the way the sentences are put together. William Kennedy is the best at that.

As far as the adventure stories, hell, I just love writing that sort of story. I hate to say it but when I get drunk I end up talking like that, telling those sort of crazy stories. I can drive my friends mad, but half the time I live in those sorts of stories in my head and when I've had a few they come out.

As far as writer's who have influenced this in me, I'd really have to say Barry Hannah. He wrote a book of stories called Airships. It's always been a big inspiration. That and movies like Slap Shot, Repo Man, Used Cars. I live inside those movies half my waking hours.