The Sudden Adventure follows a grieving man whose search for a fresh start uncovers buried treasure, a mysterious timepiece, and an unexpected journey into another world filled with danger, strange civilizations, and altered time. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

When I first came up with the idea for the book, I really had no idea where the story was going. I imagined a house with holes dug all over the yard, but I didn’t know what to do with that idea. I also pictured two men walking down a mountain, but I had no idea where they were going. Those were the only two ideas I had.

Over the next two or three months, I imagined a strange world where almost anything could happen. I wrote down every unusual idea that came to me, no matter how crazy it seemed—ideas about what might happen in that distant world and how the characters would get there. After a couple of months, I had about four pages filled with fun and unusual possibilities. From there, I arranged the ideas into a timeline and began writing the story.

Why did you choose a small-town treasure hunt as the doorway into a science-fiction adventure?

I felt that a small town would make the treasure hunt more believable. In a close-knit community, rumors about hidden treasure would travel quickly, and stories surrounding the property could be passed down for generations. In a larger town, the rumors might attract less attention or simply get lost among everything else going on.

How did you decide what dangers and creatures Alex would encounter in the other world?

I made up many of the dangers as I wrote. I would write Alex into a difficult situation, which forced me to come up with a believable way for him to escape it. At first, I introduced the mist monsters as a distraction, but then I realized they could become a major part of the story.

Blue Eyes came about because I needed a way for Alex to get off the island, while Nehi was another idea that developed as I wrote. I felt the scene needed a cute creature that would make Alex smile as he watched it, only for that moment to turn horrifying when a mist monster suddenly sucked the creature into its center.

If you could give readers one reason to take the journey with Alex, what would you tell them?

I would invite readers to take the journey with Alex and ask themselves whether they have what it takes to survive in his world. With all the dangers and obstacles he faces, would they make the same choices—and would they find a way to overcome them?

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