How does your approach to writing novels differ from screenplays?
There’s a shitload more words! Haha. When I wrote screenplays, my main focus was having a lot of “white space” on the page. Meaning, dialogue was what I had to fill it with. There are generally just a few action lines, and you’re not really building the entire world because, ultimately, someone else is going to be taking your words, a director, actor, crew teams, and creating what their vision is with them. When I sat down to turn my first book into a novel, I realized I was the one in complete control. I had to fill a room with the details I wanted a “scene” to look like. I no longer had to consider cost or censorship, for that matter, because the screenplays might have ended up R-rated, but the books definitely would not have passed the MPAA.
Alcoholism. Depression. Sex. What draws you to these topics? How have your experiences helped you to create the flawed characters you write about?
The advantages of being a very flawed human being have helped me write flawed characters. Having worked as a bartender for over a decade, I’ve had my own struggles that are associated with that industry, like alcoholism, depression, and the complications of sex, as well as seeing it firsthand.
Music is a big part of your stories. Do you derive inspiration from music? Does it put you in the right mood to right, or are certain songs attached to memories that provide said inspiration?
Pretty much all of that! I must have been nearing completion of Digg Dogg, like several drafts into it, when I heard Johnny Cash’s “I See a Darkness”. I knew the song, but now it had a different context for me, seeing through my character’s eyes, and it hit so hard. I had to go back in and put it in there somehow. So much of my inspiration comes when I’m just driving to and from work, or taking my kids to school, listening to music along the way allows me to just zone and see what comes into my mind, so I’ll use that song as a kind of trigger to bring it back when I get in front of my computer.
You’ve lived in a variety of U.S. cities. How have these different environments inspired your stories and characters?
I joke that I have Viking blood in my veins, that’s why I move to so many different cities, but really I’m just a kid from a town of 300 people, who wants to immerse himself in as many different places as possible. I just think traveling and experiencing new cultures and people opens up your worldview, allowing a better understanding of the human condition, and in turn being able to write about it.
How do you balance family, career, and writing? Do you have any hobbies that bring you joy?
My wife would tell you I’m not really doing a good job with that balancing act. Haha. I always kind of feel like I’m slacking in all three departments sometimes. I have three children under the age of ten. I live in a city with no family/support system in place. My wife has a full-time corporate job, while I manage a Michelin restaurant. Add to that trying to launch a writing career, and there is no such thing as a hobby for me right now. Writing is my hobby/therapy. It’s my outlet from the crazy, creating worlds with characters going through tougher times than myself puts it in perspective and brings calm to the chaos.
What do you want readers to take away after reading your novels?
I just want people to not feel alone after reading them. I try to put my emotions onto the page, and I hope they’re emotions that other people can feel too. If they feel that, then they can know there’s someone out there who understands.
What’s next for you?
I am currently focusing on my third novel. It’s set in the same universe as the previous books, but is disconnected like the other two. I have plans for an entire seven-book universe for all of them to be loosely connected, but not a series, so you don’t have to read any other books to be able to follow along. I just like to put little easter eggs for the people along for the journey to enjoy.