Vacancy follows a widowed teacher, a mother trapped in an abusive relationship, and the people around them as tragedy, misunderstanding, and compassion collide in a struggling Texas Panhandle town. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

In 2005, two articles on the front page of a major newspaper’s Metro section jumped out. One story was joyful, the other horrific, and the characters in each were unrelated. But I was inspired to meld them together into one novel, to explore the complexities of each situation. I chose the Texas Panhandle setting for its small-town environment, where scenarios of second chances, and tragedies nobody saw coming, were believable.

Helen’s concern for Jillie is compassionate but also complicated by grief, regret, and longing. What interested you about exploring the line between helping someone and imposing your own needs on them?

It’s human nature to want to help people in trouble, and often that “help” comes in the form of advice and worse. I’ve seen well-intentioned people try to make up for what they lack, by forcing what they need on a more troubled person, in the guise of help. I like to explore what motivates people to do what they do, and that theme is an especially ripe one to untangle.

Hartless and the Jack of Diamonds motel feel almost like characters themselves. What did the Texas Panhandle setting allow you to express about isolation, hardship, and renewal?

The Texas Panhandle has a wide span of treeless land broken by cactus, mesquite, tumbleweeds, and an endless sky. That can make you feel very small. In-between towns, you’ll travel for miles on cracked two-lane roads and be lucky to see another pickup pass by. Again, that can make you feel very alone. That kind of terrain implies isolation and hardship just by its geographical features and distances. And then you’ll be rewarded with the most glorious, colorful sunsets, that go on forever, that can make you feel reborn.

The novel offers hope without suggesting that grief, abuse, or trauma can simply be erased. What did you most want readers to understand about forgiveness, accountability, and rebuilding a life?

People who suffer abuse and trauma don’t let go of it easily, and may be affected by it still, years later. Like the characters in Vacancy, in real life people learn there’s no way out, it’s just a long irregular journey where moving forward, despite the pain, is the only place to go.

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