Is this your first novel?
Yes, Arts and Crafts is my first novel.
Are your characters based on real people or your imagination?
All of the characters are fabrications. However, I’ve met many interesting people, and often I’ve taken whatever trait or characteristic caught my attention and blended it with others plus my imagination to develop the characters in the book.
Did you do research for Arts and Crafts?
I did and that was a lot of fun. For example, I traveled to all of the places in Europe that I wrote about. It allowed me to experience the touch and feel of the environment that I put my characters in.
What do you hope that readers come away with after reading Arts and Crafts?
First and foremost, I hope that readers are entertained. Secondly, I hope they see the powerful nexus between the knowledge and experience that comes with age and the limitless capabilities of youth.
Can you tell us about the journey that led you to write your book?
I had been developing real estate and I was looking to diversify what we did, so I started to investigate other markets that we didn’t serve, senior-based housing among them. During a field visit to an assisted- living facility I found myself feeling uncomfortable as I looked at old people. I was embarrassed that I felt that way and generally confused. After thinking about it I realized that I was looking into the future–my future.
As we prepared to build our first project I was involved in interviewing a man for the position of administrator. During the interview he shared some interesting stories about the lives of residents that he had known over the years. I was fascinated and began to look at the elderly beyond their physical condition. Everyone had pasts and had accomplished many things in their long lives.
Eventually, I began to think about the possibilities of combining the wisdom that comes with age and the limitless confidence and energy of youth. I imagined a group of seniors in an elderly environment learning of an evil threat. What would happen if they had backgrounds of dealing with such things in the past, but circumstances dictated that they had to take matters into their own hands at this stage of life? What would they do? As I continued thinking about it, Arts and Crafts was born.
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I’m not naturally a nocturnal person, but a substantial part of Arts and Crafts was written between midnight and five in the morning. The absolute silence in my home at that time of the day was conducive to creative thought. There were no distractions.
I also write in the comfort of my trusted bathrobe, which provides maximum comfort. The combination of my special garb and the privacy of the middle of the night creates an aura of secrecy that sets the stage for my topic matter.
Do you plan any subsequent books?
Yes. I’m well over half way done with the sequel to Arts and Crafts. I hope to be finished with it by the end of the year and have it ready for market by the spring of 2015. Just as Sam and the boys settle back into their lives they are thrust back into action because of something in their pasts that they discover by chance.
I may include one more book to complete the trilogy that I once imagined.
After Arts and Crafts, I have a few ideas for interesting tales to tell. I’ve already begun to outline one of them. I daydream about them frequently.
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