The Orphan follows a man in his forties who has avoided dealing with his past and allows it to taint his present life till his conscience takes on a life of its own. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?

The inspiration for the set-up of the story was my desire to show how we can easily ignore where our conscious may be trying to lead us when it comes to the choices we make, only to become victims of our own deceit. Having been exposed to characters like the protagonist in ‘The Orphan’, in particular during my time with a former employer based in a predominantly agricultural sector of the state, I simply responded to an impulse one day, and felt it was fitting to create the mythical ‘Cabbage Patch Festival Sponsorship’ as the basis from which the story would evolve. The idea of ‘the out-of-body entity’ was an attempt to show how dramatic our alienation from sound thinking can truly become. The inference was that the success or failure of the Festival would depend largely on how well Omar could finally put in perspective the things that happened to him in his past, if ever he was going to move forward. 

Omar is not a likable person, but throughout the novel, readers learn the circumstances that led him to become who he is. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

Some of the driving ideals surrounding the development of Omar’s character were, the apparent absence of enough positive reinforcement for him as a kid trying to function with his respiratory deformity, and ultimately feeling like he wasn’t as good as the other boys his age. It set the stage for what would cause him to become timid and afraid, and he didn’t value himself enough to believe that he never deserved the mental or physical abuse that was doled out to him; He never realized he already possessed the strength to overcome it. He had become so comfortable with ignoring the warning signs surrounding his self-esteem, it had become routine to blame someone else for his troubles. Also, after having overcome his respiratory birth defect, he was still plagued by feelings of inadequacy as a young adult when he turned to alcohol to escape his troubles, and clung to his self-pity with repeated claims of deceit by his uncle Seth. His troubles were compounded when he was afraid he had lost himself  following his violent attack on the guy that bullied him, and the permanent injuries the man had sustained. The unexpected daydreams into his past haunted him, and dramatic intervention was needed for Omar just as ‘The Orphan’ makes its appearance to help him set things right.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Some themes that were important for me to explore were:  In the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter-5, verse 7 in the King James Bible, the Apostle Paul is speaking to the people of Corinth, which reads, ‘For we walk by Faith not by sight.’..  As a person of faith, I’m a firm believer that we all are born with a conscience that may start as a ‘clean slate’, but forces that tend to corrupt it as we develop, just makes its work harder at trying to keep us morally centered. When we’re taught, and continually embrace, the virtues of things such as the value of friendship, honesty about one’s feelings, humility, hard work, a healthy self image, and the power of forgiveness, it truly does become an exercise of faith when we can stay the course believing that our challenges won’t have the last word concerning our destiny. I also wanted to illustrate that growing in stature is like a team sport; it means trusting others in your life to help guide you along the way, to a place of contentment.

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

The next book I’m working on will be entitled, ‘Wages of Sacrifice’…It is the first sequel to the 3^rd story (novella) in my first book, and the protagonist is the same character. I’m about three chapters from completing the manuscript but it isn’t as long as this book. The genre is similar to ‘The Orphan’, but the story should prove to be more intriguing. I cannot give a projection at this time as to when it may be available to readers.

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