Hard Times is centered around a young magazine writer who discovers a life marked by racist terror, mob pressure, and reinvention when he tracks down a vanished heavyweight champion. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I wanted to write a culmination of all the things African American boxers and war veterans went through in the years leading up to our greatest war. I interviewed several relatives who were in the “Great War” for their perspective, and I created Nathan as an homage to their sacrifice. I added the turmoil and adventures he went through, like the fictional story of The Odyssey, and it fit.

You portray Nathan as deeply human—flawed, driven, tender, and wounded. How did you approach balancing his mythic “King Cobra” persona with his private self?

Nathan always wanted to be something more than just a sharecropper. He saw what Black people went through in the South. He was driven to do great things.

Boxing often symbolizes struggle and survival in literature. What did the sport allow you to explore about race, power, and identity in Nathan’s life?

Boxing is a way, especially in the past, to give Black people a sense of pride over their oppressors. Equal opportunities were nonexistent, so the brutal sport allowed them to fight back the only way they knew how.

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

I’m working on a sequel to my dark Mystery novel, A Tall Dark Sin, entitled The Devil Walks In/A Tall Dark Sin 2. I’m looking for a late fall release.

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