Dying to Meet the Newcomer follows the aging residents of a tight-knit mountain community who encounter an oddly ageless newcomer that pushes them to confront grief, secrets, and their fear of growing old. What first sparked the idea for this story?

I am now seventy-three years old. A little over ten years ago, relatives, dear friends and neighbors, in their sixties, seventies, and eighties began to announce they’d been diagnosed with certain maladies. In several cases they were diseases which are quite rare. A person  my husband and I had hiked with only a year-and-a-half before, was diagnosed with a disease so horrible, it is nicknamed “the suicide disease.”

Only a few years before that, people I typically only visited with once a year at the annual holiday party decided to form a neighborhood-wide women’s book club. Everyone was welcomed. Over the months and years, we revealed ourselves in deep and meaningful ways through our discussions of the books we read together. Acquaintances became dear friends. As I marvelled at the number of people I cared about who were suddenly suffering pain, disability, and death, it also struck me how much comfort we in the book club seemed to be taking from our now intimate friendships. I wanted to explore this.

It also feels to me that there are few novels which examine the complexities of aging. There are a number of excellent memoirs. And many novels address older protagonists looking back at what they did when they were young (especially their experiences during World War II). But I wanted to be a part of telling the frank, painful, and important story of aging today in America. How the only way through it is through it. And how that experience can be made bearable.

Sen is both ordinary and symbolic. How did you develop him, and is he meant to be read literally, metaphorically, or both?

The character, Sen, is meant to be read literally. The story is an account of what he did as he interacted with his new neighbors in Mountain Ridge Village. But the reader is meant to wonder who, or what, this mysterious man really is. The ending, however, is intended to be taken metaphorically. There is a broader meaning to all that has happened, and even Sen’s antagonist, Ann, understands this.

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

First of all, I wanted to isolate the issue of old age. Therefore, I wrote the story so that the characters faced no issues of poverty, lack of education, racial disharmony, or prejudice based on sexuality. Characters include a gay couple, a Black couple, an Hispanic couple, and an elderly single woman. So many things help the elderly endure: humor, positivity, valued hobbies, and learning in every form. But deep social connection (even for introverts, like me) seems to be that which is most helpful in facing the inevitable pain and loss that comes with growing old.

Did writing this book change how you think about friendship or aging?

I’ve been thinking about these issues for quite some time. Writing the book reminded me that, if, as I believe, friendships are essential, then I have to make an effort. I need to keep in contact with dear friends who move away. Just “showing up” is actually a large part of making and maintaining meaningful friendships.

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