I Was Just Sitting There Eating A Salad… is a collection of humor-laden short stories presented to readers through a cast of dynamic characters deep in the heart of small-town America. What draws you to the short story genre?

Short stories are about a way of expressing yourself without losing your audience. Sometimes, while reading a novel, I get bored with all of the extras, but with a short story, there are no extras. There is just the information needed to enjoy the story with no additional fillers. Of course, at times it does leave you wanting more.

The stories gradually build a kind of local mythology—did you map that out, or did it emerge organically?

Maybe a little of both. Some stories I wanted to connect in some way, others just fell into that groove. It is a small town, so everybody knows everybody, like the old song says.

How do you know when to stop a running joke in a narrative versus letting it run longer for effect?

I am a smart ass. I don’t know.

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

I have a sort of companion to this one called A Doggone Halloween. Not a collection of short stories, a novella, maybe. It connects to I Was Just Sitting There Eating A Salad through Vladamir, the sasquatch.

I also have Butterflies, which looks at one possibility of DNA modification. Short Stories, a book where each story speaks of death: some stories kind of poignant, others humerous. Then The Valley of Eden, a post apocalyptic story of survival.

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