The Unexpected Guests follows a recently divorced woman trying to piece her life back together who reconnects with a successful author in hopes of finding a second chance at love. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

When I was partway through writing My Year of Casual Acquaintances, the first book in the South Bay Series, my critique partner suggested I eliminate the character of the narrator’s mother, Gwendolyn. I can swear I heard Gwendolyn yelling, “Bloody hell!” (She’s English.) “You’re not getting rid of me so fast!” So you might say that Gwendolyn inspired me to write a sequel, one that would have a more substantial role for her. It’s true that fictional characters sometimes take on their own lives.

Once I decided there would be a sequel, I wrote Casual Acquaintances with an open-ended finish. Some reviewers call it a cliff-hanger, but I think that may be a bit of an overstatement. Hopefully, though, there is enough suspense for readers to come back for the second installment.

What was your inspiration for the characters’ interactions and backstories?

I love stories that deal with new beginnings and second chances, especially among middle-aged and older characters. I started exploring this topic in the first book and took it a step further in Unexpected Guests—which deals not only with midlife issues but also, to a lesser extent, with the elderly condition. I think there’s a big audience for this subject, when you consider the popularity of recent works like Elizabeth Strout’s novels and also (in a different vein), the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osmon. You’re never too old for adventures and love!

I also like to explore the nature of family and the idea that the people in one’s family” are not always relatives. The three main characters in this book are not related, but their close ties to Margaret form a common bond that causes their lives to intersect in ways they never would’ve expected.

What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think makes for great fiction?

Most of us are social beings who crave interaction, but we constantly manage to screw up and sabotage our relationships, hurting the people we care about the most. Every good story needs conflict, and dysfunctional relationships are rife with conflict and drama. I also think real-life people are complex, so I like my characters to be complicated too. I find them so much more interesting than cookie-cutter heroes and villains.

I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers? 

I’ve made a lot of notes for a third book in the series; but with two books publishing so close together, I haven’t had a moment to spare for any actual writing. I am hoping things will settle down before long.

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