Here are my questions:

1. What do you do when you aren't writing? 

I'm always doing some sort of project. For much of my life, that involved doing civic, social or religious volunteer work, such as youth groups, mission trips, play producing and directing, and event planning. Those activities have been curtailed by the pandemic, so I have focused instead on home projects. Most recently, I built a large shed in my backyard, raised beds for growing strawberries, and two lean-to greenhouses: one in the back yard and one on our second-floor patio deck. The patio-deck greenhouse has heating and power ventilation for year-round growing of our tropical and citrus plants. I also have a life-long fascination with model trains and am now working on the installation of multi-train elevated layouts in our family room and garage.

2. Tell us about the first story you ever wrote.

I was painfully shy and self-conscious as a youngster. I remember completing a poetry-writing assignment in grammar school, where I chose to write about motherhood. I have forgotten most of the poem, but clearly remember the beginning and the ending because of what happened as a result. 

The poem began with:

A mother is a creature so kind and so mild that into the world she brings a child,

The poem ended with: 
          A mother is a person, a mother is a saint; a mother is everything that everyone else ain't.

Just as I planned, when my nun/teacher read the last word of the poem, she burst out laughing. Immediately after, however, she instructed me to rewrite the ending because of the improper grammar. I was deflated and for many years after, I accepted the premise that good writing also meant perfect grammar rather than creativity. I  now know that good writing means bending or even breaking the rules when required. 
 

3. What advice would you give someone just starting out in writing?

Understand why you are writing, the sacrifices that may be required, and what you are willing to do in order to achieve your goal. If you are writing to become famous, are you willing to  sacrifice time with family and friends? If you are writing to make money, are you willing to take on writing tasks that are more commercial than creative? If you are writing to please yourself first, are you prepared to accept that your work may not be widely read?

4. Let's talk about your book Wounded Angels. There are a lot of deep themes in the book. Depression. Suicide. Where did the idea for the 
story come from?

Wounded Angels is based on actual people and events. I have personally witnessed or experienced most of the events in the book. Once I wrote the story, I shaped each of the thematic elements further. My hope is that people who are dealing with some of these issues will experience a catharsis with the characters and the story and, because the book is ultimately one of resilience and hope, will find support and healing in reading it. 

5. The reviewer describes the book as character-driven. Are they modeled after someone you know? If not, how did you make them so realistic?

Wounded Angels is based upon several people I have known personally who lost a significant other after many years in a close, loving relationship. In particular my mother-in-law, Charlotte, served as the model for my main character, Maureen. Much of Maureen's experience in the book is drawn from Charlotte's own experiences, which I lived through with her. It was those experiences that prompted me to write the book.

6. Do you start with an outline? Or does the story just flow from you?

I visualize the story's beginning and ending, and some of the key milestones along the way. Then I start writing. Whenever I bog down, I outline enough to get me moving again.  

7. What part of the book did you have the most fun writing? What part  was the least fun?

I most enjoyed writing the parts about the outlandish things that Doris, Maureen's friend, says and does. Doris is also based on a real person who was quite a character and was primarily responsible for Charlotte's recovery and healing. She was nowhere near as eccentric in real life as I made her out to be in the book, however.To make her more interesting, I greatly exaggerated her language and actions. In the process, she turned out to be an outsized, iconic figure and had great fun creating her in the process.

The least fun was recounting the real-life depression Charlotte suffered after losing her husband after fifty-plus years. Those passages were often painful to write and I still feel for her when I recall writing them.    

8. How has your book changed significantly from the first draft?

The first several drafts of Wounded Angels were written in the third-person omniscient point of view and read emotionally flat. I was very dissatisfied with my inability to adequately capture what Maureen was feeling. Finally, I decided that the only way to truly understand and convey what Maureen was going through was to "get into her skin," so I rewrote the entire book from Maureen's first-person point of view. When I did, I was finally able to experience and portray her authentic feelings and emotions. One of my beta readers also asked why all the seniors in the book came off as "frumpy." I realized that, although I was in my mid-sixties myself, I was describing my stereotypes of seniors rather than their true personalities. I spent one day each week for the next three years re-writing the book on site at the Bristol senior center, where much of the story takes place. In the process, I discovered how rich and full the lives of these people were and many of the behaviors and conversations I witnessed are captured in the book. 

9. What's next for you? Are there other books on the horizon?

I developed a hole in the macular level of my right eye this past year. It required surgery and has greatly diminished my vision. I have decided to take a vacation from writing while I heal until after the holidays. I had already written a couple hundred pages of a draft manuscript for Black Hell Drowning, a book about life and death in the anthracite coal mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. My father was a coal miner and died of the black lung. I started that book before either of my other novels but didn't feel ready to finish it. I revisited it shortly before my surgery and rewrote the first few chapters, which fellow authors tell me is my best work to date. It was the book that first motivated me to write and we will see what happens after the holidays. 

I like to end on some fun questions.

10. Do you have any pets? If not, what animal would you most like to have for a pet?

I have had many pets throughout the years. Moonlight, our shepherd/husky mix, was a companion and friend for many years. I also relished coming home from work, laying on the couch and having our cat, Slash, jump up on my chest, curl up there, and start purring as he napped. I also had a cockatiel, George, who sat on my shoulder and rubbed my cheek as I wrote.  

11. What's your favorite vacation spot?

My wife and I have been fortunate to travel extensively but my favorite vacation spot was probably aboard a riverboat, cruising through Europe. There was so much to see, experience, and learn. I also wrote much of my first novel, Amanda's Room, while on that cruise.   

12. What's your favorite color?

If I had to choose one, I might say blue, but for me, variety is the spice of life. My favorite palettes are the New England autumns and the gorgeous sunsets over the lake where we live.