Starmen takes readers on a journey to 1875 where Apache witches are found to fly and an incredible hot air balloon introduces mayhem into one young anthropologist’s life. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Writing this book came as therapy for spinal stenosis surgery on my neck in 2019 and 2022. It was during the COVID lockdown and started to prevent losing my mind to dementia. Another part of it was watching lecture series from the Great Courses to further engage my mind. I was suffering a lot of pain from the surgery and therapy. Watching, reading, and researching all kept my mind busy and helped suppress the pain by generating endorphins and growing white matter in my brain. Some of the great courses material, such as quantum mechanics, string theory, the Transcendentalist movement, Native American history and many others helped shape the narrative but I also did a lot of online research. I also had already heavily researched that era for my American Civil War espionage novels. So I had a deep base of knowledge to draw on. The addition of James George Frazer was a way to attack the narrative from a different angle.

I find your characters to be incredibly vibrant. Did any of your characters’ development occur organically throughout the story?

Well many are based on real people and their lives are well documented. The Pinkertons are very important to the history of that era. Allan Pinkerton’s memoirs have a lot of operational detail. They are part of history and every once in a while you draw an Ace. There is a picture of 18-year-old William Pinkerton II and his wife Mary in El Paso in 1875. That’s a factual anchor in many ways. They were there. The rest of what he did and said is entirely made up. I began my career in Theatre. When you study Method Acting and Improvisation, you learn to invent things on the fly. When you are post-surgical and can’t do much else, you have a lot of time to think about your story and how all the parts fit together. Some characters appear as if by magic to solve a plot problem, and others to provide context and background. Once they are there, you may find other uses for them elsewhere. It’s all organic and theatrical.

What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

All of them. But it’s not just the writing but the rewriting. My first drafts are usually horrible. They need a lot of work, and of course, since I’m dyslexic, I need an editor. Leigh is an important part of all this. When you self-publish it really does have to look professional.

Can fans expect to see more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?

Of course. This is my profession.