A Coincidental Life follows the lives of two friends from Brooklyn who are reunited years later in San Francisco in a chance encounter. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

To say that it came to me in a dream would be a stretch of literary license. However, I did awake one night and vividly recall a bus stop meeting in San Francisco that did occur 47 years ago. I then began recalling other coincidental events that have occurred over my long lifetime. That led me to embellish and ultimately create events/situations that could/should/might have occurred. I also wanted to continue the narrative umbilical cord in Stevie Alpert’s life, the protagonist of my first novel.

What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?

The evolution in thinking/perception over one’s lifetime. Also the capricious randomness of most everyone’s life story. In A Coincidental Life my 18-year-old self asks my octogenarian self “how did you get here, old man?” My response is “I have no idea.”

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

Yes, the book’s main theme is an exploration of the randomness of being human. How much of our life do we control and how much is synchronicity, serendipity, coincidence or the whims of forces we cannot comprehend. I don’t have the answer. The reader may believe that he or she is in control of their life. I suspect you are a younger person. I felt absolutely certain of that when I was 16. Now, 65 years later, I absolutely do not. Not totally, maybe partially. But as each day passes that ‘partially’ slips down a notch or two.

Examining the complex personality of Billy Feeney was another challenge. Why would someone so intelligent, handsome, athletic and charming be so self-destructive? There are many clues in his life story but they only hint at his inner being.

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

While still working on promoting my current novel A Coincidental Life along with my publisher Atmosphere Press, for my next novel I’ve decided to break away from the day-to-day recognizable world and place my characters in a fantastical setting. I’ve always enjoyed reading about the lives of historical figures and wondering what would happen if Abe Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi met Julius Caesar or Genghis Khan? I’ve begun perusing the lives of several famous political and military leaders, dissenters, writers, and poets to find the ‘perfect’ pair to juxtapose against one another.

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