My Favorite Cigar
Michael Farris Smith • Novelist • My Father The Judge Toro
Michael Farris Smith likes to smoke under the shade trees outside his favorite cigar lounge. The acclaimed Mississippi author says cigars help fuel his artistry.
The 55-year-old writer recounts working on a new novel. “I’d get to the cigar shop in the mid-morning, sit there with my laptop and light one up. Smoking cigars rewarded me in a creative way. They kept me energized.”
A powerful voice in Southern fiction, Smith’s dark, literary novels have drawn favorable comparisons to the works of Cormac McCarthy. His short fiction has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has also penned the screenplays for two films based on his books: Desperation Road, starring Garrett Hedlund and Mel Gibson, and Rumble Through the Dark, featuring Aaron Eckhart and Bella Thorne.
Smith enjoys Fuentes and My Fathers, preferring to puff on toro-sized cigars while he types his thrillers. “My Father The Judge Toro and Le Bijou Toro are two of my favorites right now. I like toros the best,” he says. “When I’m writing I like to work for an hour or an hour-and-a-half, then take a break. They fit perfectly with my rhythm of creating.”
Smith’s latest novel, Lay Your Armor Down, hits bookstores May 27th.
