Town and Country: Voices from the Mid-Ohio Valley is a collection of short stories centered around life in a Midwestern small town. What inspired you to write this collection?

The ten stories in Town and Country were written and published in various journals over a number of years starting in 2019. So the collection developed gradually, but the stories were inspired by the locale and people where I grew up. I’ve turned the town of Parkersburg, WV, and the nearby rural communities of Lubeck, Washington, and New England Ridge into the fictional Parkeston and Locust Hill, respectively. Faulkner had his Yoknapatawpha County; Thomas Hardy had Wessex; I have Locust Hill.

Is there anything from your own life included in your stories?

Very much so. In addition to the locale, the character of Livia in “The Postmistress” is based on one of my aunts—my father’s sister. She did indeed operate the local post office from her parlor and was famous for her feisty personality. Also, the general store featured in the companion stories “Disorder” and “Penny Candy” was real, with cats in the front window and penny candy in jars. Along with my schoolmates, I waited there for the school bus to come and take us to the high school on the far side of Parkersburg.

Is there one story that stands out for you? One that was especially enjoyable to craft?

Oh yes, that would be “Penny Candy.” I intended it to contain a tribute to the people of the Mid-Ohio Valley—actually the entire collection is that. But I put the words of the tribute in the mouth of Pastor Beattie as he tries to comfort the distraught Lorna Crandall, who continues to be haunted by the ghost of her son killed in Vietnam. Pastor Beattie tells her, “There’s good people here in Locust Hill, as you yourself just said. So many angels, all in their own way. As good as any I’ve seen in this world. I can say that for certain.” And I hope the people who read Town and Country will see that too.

Can we look forward to more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?

You can, but I’m not so certain about the “soon” part. I’m working on a sci-fi-paranormal-inspirational story that requires quite a lot of research. The protagonist is a chemical engineer who replaces the deceased head of research in a chemical laboratory. The deceased chemist, famous for his invention of rejuvenating tires (i.e. regrown their treads), urges his successor from the Afterlife to turn his talents to medical discoveries rather than industrial ones. To complete the novel, I just need to come up with a plausible explanation of the Afterlife and a plausible cure for cancer. No problem! The working title is The Covalence of Love.

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In this collection of short stories, the reader encounters ordinary people struggling with a variety of extraordinary problems that threaten to change their lives: an elderly widower confronting a life of regrets, precocious children threatened with separation, a middle-aged couple facing the loss of their generations-old general store, and many others. Read Town and Country and meet the people of the Mid-Ohio Valley—people you may very well recognize from your own hometown.