The Sycamore Centennial Parade follows a trio of small-town men who find themselves in charge of promoting their town’s centennial celebration, leading to a series of comical mishaps and adventures. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

When I was a kid, all of the old B&W comedy films found new life filling empty television space. We watched W.C. Fields, Abbott & Costello, the Marx Brothers, and the Bowery Boys constantly. All of those films contained characters that were societal anomalies, indifferent to how dysfunctional they appeared to everyone else.

In The Sycamore Centennial Parade, I tried to create a story that generated that same ambiance. A tale about people with good hearts but not quite well-behaved.  

What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?

I liked Poodle. I liked his innocence. I thought of him as a 300 lb. 10-year-old. Very simple. Not stupid, just uncomplicated. Always playing around and easily distracted.

Raoul was the most challenging character to create. I wanted him to teeter along the edge of ‘disliked’ but never actually lose his balance. Like Jericho, I see him as an overall good person, he just has crappy, self-absorbed social skills.

I found this novel to be a cutting piece of satire. What is one thing that you hope readers take away from your novel?

Every time an insurance company busts a scam, they add a clause to everyone’s contract, just to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Sometimes the volume of rules and laws in life seem to mirror that same ‘guilty by association’ concept. And the absurdity of requirements can, on a less than good day, border on overwhelming. But if you don’t comply, you’re the problem.

Learn to see it for what it is. Find humor in the unnecessary, nonsensical dogma. You can’t change it. And it’s not going away on its own. But you can always laugh at it.

What story are you currently in the middle of writing?

I’m currently sketching an outline for a piece with the working title of The Nude Eel. It’s about a formerly wealthy family coming to terms with the depression of the 1930’s. The family matriarch left stipulations in her will for anyone interested in getting what is left of the family fortune. Needless to say, none of her survivors are happy. But all of them are desperate.

Some humor. (people are always people) But darker and more serious than the first book.

Author Links: GoodReads | Website