Wiley Cash spoke about how writing is like “a stick of dynamite” at the Cameron Village Public Library Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Cash, a Gastonia native and bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home, spoke to the public about his journey through writing.

“I’m from a long line of storytellers,” Cash said. “That means I’m from a long line of liars.”

At 6 years old, Cash told his first story to his friend, who was in the audience, about his trip to Myrtle Beach.

While playing basketball, Cash told his best friend that his dad had buried him in the sand up to his neck and a crab was pinching his big toe. Cash said his dad had to hurry to dig him out before he lost his big toe.

“Happy stories don’t make good stories,” Cash said.

Twenty miles outside of Raleigh, Cash said his rental car ran out of gas on the interstate. He was three miles from a gas station and decided to start walking when a truck pulled over and offered him assistance.

Upon entering the gas station a few minutes later, Cash was approached by a man who apologized for not being help him since he was driving an 18-wheeler.

“North Carolina is the only place where people will apologize for not being able to pick you up on the interstate,” Cash said.

Jim Clark, a retired N.C. State professor of English, said he met Cash in 2006 when he submitted his essay to Clark — an essay that later won a prestigious award.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Cash’s graduate alma mater, is called “Ulala.” Clark said this is relevant since Cash’s novel is an “Ooh la la” novel.

Cash said he searches for himself on Google 700 to 800 times a day and most other newly published authors do the same but they’re too ashamed to admit it. 

Sherri Pekks, a pre-school teacher at Fairmont Elementary, said she was deeply moved by A Land More Kind Than Home because of the strong character development.

“I was exhausted after I finished the novel,” Pekks said. “My heart was racing, I was balling, because the ending was so intense.”

Cash spoke about his journey through character development. He pulls from people he knows, people he’s seen and characters from his favorite novels.

Cash said naming his characters is a similar process to naming a child except he develops the personality first and matches a name to it. 

A few of the main characters in his novel, Adelaide Lyle and Carson Chamblis, were given their names for a reason. Adelaide, the town midwife and moral conscience, came from Cash’s grandmother’s middle name. 

“I named the antagonist Carson Chamblis because the s’s in the name sounded sinister,” Cash said.

A Land More Kind Than Home was developed over a six-year period, according to Cash. The novel began as a project incorporated into his dissertation and then became a stand-alone novel.

To aspiring writers, Cash said his best advice to them is to read. Cash said reading actively and broadly can help people become better writers.

“Trying to write without reading is like trying to drive a car without gas,” Cash said. “It just won’t work.”

His next novel, expected to be released in November, is about a major league baseball player who kidnaps his daughters from a foster home and goes on the road with them.

“Writing, now, is like having a workshop with only one person in it, and it’s me,” Cash said.