Birdwatcher follows a family that is searching for answers when they’re daughter is murdered, but find that death is only half of the story. What were some sources that informed this novels development?

Rest assured this novel wasn’t inspired from an actual murder in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, or anywhere else, for that matter. Rather, inspiration for the entire story came from other sources, such as my own imagination. And maybe I shouldn’t be admitting this, but some of it was drawn from the horror films I grew up watching from my era, or those slasher films that my parents had watched in their youth. (Bonus points if you can guess which films)

I enjoyed the mystery at the heart of this story. Did you plan the mystery before writing or did it develop organically while writing?

The mystery, plot points and connections between setting and characters, I would say were both planned and unplanned, so much so that a significant portion of the Birdwatcher story evolved organically through the course of writing the novel.

What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

In Chapter 45 of Birdwatcher, Millie Dozier, the cabin cleaning lady, encounters the ghost of Abigail Wincoff. Writing Millie’s reactions to the supernatural was fun for me and meant to provide comic relief to this otherwise dark story.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

While I’m planning to write a sequel to Birdwatcher to come out in June 2024, the novel I’m currently working on, Cowgirls & Indians, is utterly different. This historical fiction novel centered on a Cherokee woman named Sequoia is set to release in May 2023 and will have a touch of spaghetti western humor. Additionally, this literary work may be by far the most challenging for me.

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