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1. What do you do when you aren't writing?
When I'm not writing, I have a full-time job in legal services and a house full of animals. My wife and I have a 2-month-old newborn, as well as a dog, 2 cats, and a couple of chickens in the yard. We love to cook, grow food, go camping, hiking, fishing, and enjoy anything outdoors.
2. Why did you decide to tackle a book?
I have had a dream of being a writer since I was nineteen, and I quietly walked around with the dream for 10 years, waiting (and making excuses) for the right moment to sit down and get serious. Additionally, I have always wanted to align myself with a career that intersects what I love, what I'm good at, what I can be paid for, and what is helpful/needed in the world. Writing always felt like a dream where these four points could overlap, and I could focus my time to something meaningful/powerful.
3. Let's talk about your book Truth and Evil. Can you give a quick synopsis for those that haven't heard of it?
Truth and Evil is about a German soldier marching through Russia during the height of WW2. At the opening of the story, he commits a heinous crime and is killed moments after. Suddenly, he finds himself standing before God and begins to realize the gravity of his mistake. However, instead of condemning the young man's soul, God sends him back to earth on a harrowing journey to relive the moment and face off against evil until he can understand the nature of truth, sacredness of life, and change the course of history.
4. Why WW2?
I chose WW2 for this story because it has a broad appeal and is familiar to everyone alive today. It is the best-known example and needed the least context to begin the story; however, the same evils, ideologies, and pathologies that fueled this story were not unique to WW2, as much as they are a human vulnerability that all societies are largely susceptible to.
5. You warn readers that this is exceptionally dark. How did writing a book that was so dark affect you?
This was an extremely dark and difficult book to write. An author cannot really develop a character they cannot understand, so I had to dive into each character of this story and see the world through their eyes, pretending it was me. This was not fun to do. However, I knew where the story was heading and the resolution or paradise waiting on the other side of hell. That made the walk through it a bit easier.
6. What did you want readers to learn from it?
I want readers to learn a great deal from this story; however, I do not yet fully understand all of it. I want readers to see themselves in the all the characters, even if it's painful, because we are all capable of committing great evil if we do not know ourselves, are not paying attention, are not speaking the truth, and if we place the wrong things at the pinnacle of our lives. There is a whole lot to unpack in this short story, but this is one of the more obvious and central messages.
7. Looking back now, was there anything you would change about the book, the writing process, or the publishing?
Writing a great book is like cooking a great meal; you can never really tell when it's finished or what subtle additions could make it better. If you continue to work it, you always run the risk of taking it too far and overcooking, over-salting, and adding the wrong flavors. I am still working on this novelette; however, I cannot tell if I am making it better or worse at any moment now, so I am trying to take a less-is-more approach. Additionally, as I continue to develop as an author, I always think about my earlier works with feelings of nausea and an overwhelming desire to "fix" them. Perhaps in 10 more years I will have similar feelings about this story.
8. What's next for you?
I would love to continue writing, and I have a whole mess of books floating around in my mind that I cannot wait to write; however, I do have a newborn at home, and I am committed to marketing my current books before I start writing anything new. These days, I only have an hour or two available per day to write or market, and I need to spend that time effectively and with my family in mind.
I like to end with lighter questions.
9. Which authors do you read in your spare time?
When I read, I prefer the old stuff. I have always been a "late adopter" so I rarely embrace the new things until I hear enough buzz about them from trusted sources. This is true for new phones and computers, but also what I read. My bookshelves have a lot of classical literature, but also Carl Jung, Hemmingway, Orwell, and books on philosophy.
10. Would you rather live in the downtown area of a big city or a completely rural area with few neighbors?
I recently bought a house with half of an acre, sort of in the country, and I am currently working on growing a "food forest" where I use bonsai tree pruning techniques to grow miniature peach trees, apples, plums, grapes, blueberries, all the vegetables, and enjoy pasture-raised eggs from my hens. My home is a bit of a writing sanctuary where I can eat well and draw inspiration from the beauty and miraculous qualities of the nature world. However, I'm sure if I lived in a city, I would have plenty of great ideas for new crime novels and mysteries, and I would meet peculiar people who would inspire peculiar characters in future books.
11. What are you most thankful for?
I have a whole lot to be thankful for. Most nights, I give thanks for the life I've been given and the people I share it with—my beautiful wife, our healthy son, my amazing family, and the great friends we've met along the way. I am grateful to have the opportunity to write and live in a place where I can write what I want to and have hope that it may actually succeed as a career. I do not wish to take this for granted.
12. How much time do you spend on social media each day?
I only check social media in the morning then I delete the apps for the day and walk away. While they are essential for marketing and a good way to see what friends and family have been up to lately, social media generally leans toward being unhealthy and it is far too easy to spend hours scrolling when I would much rather be writing, exercising, getting a little sun, building something out of wood, cleaning my house, or cooking a nice meal for my family to enjoy.
