Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long have you wanted to write fiction?
A: I started telling stories as soon as I could talk, writing them down as soon as I learned how to form words. My fifth grade teacher encouraged me to become a writer. I got sidetracked by careers first in journalism then in marketing.
Q: Are Broken and Shattered your first novels?
A: They are the seventh and eighth that I have written, the first two I've had published.
Q: What is the connection between the two books?
A: The protagonist in Broken is the antagonist in Shattered.
Q: Where did you come up with the ideas for the novels.
A: Although both books are fictional, Shattered was inspired by a real person I know. When I tried to understand how someone could have done such horrible things to him and struggled to make my antagonist three-dimensional, I ended up with an additional story.
Q: Will you write another book featuring these characters?
A: I currently have no plans to do so.
Q: Are all your books set in the Chicago area?
A: No, my next book, Playing with Dolls, is about a young man who enjoys playing with dolls and wearing girls' clothes as a child. His liberal parents, resigned that he will be gay, encourage his involvement in the gay youth culture of Eugene, Oregon where they live. On his eighteenth birthday, he has his first sexual experience with his boyfriend of six months. He hates it and seeks escape in politics and pain.
