The Sins We Inherit follows a conflicted man trying to be a good father who thought he’d escaped his family’s criminal legacy, only to be pulled back in when his grandfather dies suddenly. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration began in a very personal place. I started writing during a difficult season of heartbreak and anxiety, and the story grew out of those emotions. What began as journaling slowly evolved into a narrative about identity, family, and the legacies we carry.

The first two chapters — the wake and funeral — are essentially real. They were some of the hardest scenes to write because they came directly from my own experience of losing my grandfather Carlo, who was such an important figure in my life. That rawness gave the story its foundation of authenticity.

Milwaukee became the natural backdrop. I grew up there, and its history and underworld culture gave the story a setting that felt authentic and rarely explored in fiction. From there, the character of Cost took shape as someone wrestling with the same questions I was asking myself: What does it mean to be a man, a father, and a son while carrying the weight of the past? That intimacy, set against the backdrop of crime and family power struggles, gave the book a cinematic quality from the start — I’ve always envisioned it as something that could live not only on the page, but on screen as prestige television or film.

What aspects of the human condition do you find particularly interesting that could make for great fiction?

I’ve always been fascinated by flawed characters who are still trying to do right, even when they fall short. The moments that stay with me — whether in books or film — aren’t usually the loud or violent ones, but the quiet scenes of love, regret, or vulnerability. Those moments reveal our contradictions: strength and fragility, pride and longing, loyalty and betrayal.

That tension is at the heart of The Sins We Inherit. It’s why I believe the story lends itself to screen adaptation — the crime and ambition create stakes, but the real drama comes from the universal struggles of family, identity, and the need to belong. That balance is what defines the best prestige dramas, and it’s what I wanted to capture here.

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

Redemption was central. The novel asks whether we can rise above the cycles we inherit, or if they define us no matter how far we run. Alongside that, I wanted to explore legacy, manhood, and the bonds of family — especially the father–daughter relationship, which became the emotional core of the story.
Ultimately, the book is about transformation. It’s about shifting the idea of strength from suppressing pain to confronting it, and finding meaning in the scars we carry. That emotional throughline is also why I believe the story is destined to resonate beyond the page — it’s rooted in the same timeless, human themes that make the great crime dramas work on film and television.

When will Book Two be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

Yes — I do see The Sins We Inherit as the beginning of a larger story. From the outset, I had a general arc for a trilogy in mind, and I’ve already outlined both Book 2 and Book 3. Each installment builds on the themes of legacy, family, and redemption, while raising new questions about power, identity, and the price of the choices we inherit.

My ambition is for this saga to stand within the mafia canon, but in a way that feels contemporary and fresh. Milwaukee remains a unique, underexplored setting, and the father–daughter relationship continues to ground the story in something universal. At its heart, the next book will push deeper into what it means to face the past, confront pride, and still fight for transformation. It’s a layered arc that I believe has all the hallmarks of prestige television: intimate, character-driven drama unfolding against a backdrop of power and consequence.

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