Busted Flat follows a veteran of the Afghanistan wars with PTSD who takes in a homeless, orphaned teenager, and together, they travel the U.S., surviving by stealth and theft. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I’m not sure if there was a specific inspiration – a specific flashpoint that ignited the story. I’ll see or hear something that stays in my head and rolls around until my subconscious molds it into shape and sends it up to me to consider as a possibility. For some time, I have been thinking about how this sort of potentially violent, lawless underclass is more proof of the decline of American society thanks to unfettered capitalism. I’d written one or two of the chapter flash stories as standalone work and they were published and so I had the idea to write a novella told in flash fiction.

What was your inspiration for the characters and their relationship?

Once I was sold on the idea of a flash fiction novella structure, I liked the growing contrast between the two – Hap and Shiner. They come from different worlds and are different generations, but there is a crossroads where they come together as fellow lost travelers at the margins of society.

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

The plight of the homeless stands out. In this case, they are willfully homeless. I made Shiner a veteran because I wanted to explore the life of someone summoned to war and then left damaged on his own. America gives lip service to veterans – “Thanks for your service.” – but largely turns a blind eye once they are back.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?

Earlier in 2024, my novella Donovan’s Revolution came out. It’s set during the 1980s revolution in Haiti. In January my novella Night Hawks will be released. It’s the story of how four people’s paths in a small town keep crossing and their lives become intertwined.

I just finished writing a new novel, I Just Don’t Get Karaoke, and another novella, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. I’m shopping them to publishers.

And I recently reached a milestone – 50 published short stories.

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