Sketches from the Periphery follows an American contractor as he navigates war-torn Darfur while on a peace-keeping mission in 2006. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I participated in the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in my early twenties. It was my first truly professional experience and my tenure in Darfur left an indelible mark on my character. Sudan in general and Darfur in particular are incredible places with complex histories and cultures. In the intervening years, the conflict in Darfur has been subject to significant oversimplification. What started out as an attempt to dissect the roots of the conflict and address said oversimplification evolved into the narrative presented in Sketches.

What research did you do for this novel to get it right?

To a degree, a lot of my research was based on first-hand experiences and interactions. While Alex’s character and experiences are markedly different from my own, the time and space they occupied mirror many events I was involved in. For the Central and Eastern European scenes, I am largely indebted to my Romanian wife, who provided a unique and passionate perspective.

There is a large body of literary works on Sudan written during the colonial period by British administrators. Henry Cecil Jackson, Reginald Davies, CEV Breveridge, Rudolf Slatin, A.J. Potts all left detailed memoirs and accounts of Sudan and Darfur. Despite problematic tones and themes, these works do an excellent job capturing atmospheres and cultures from a position of liminality…an outsider’s perspective that I also tried to capture with Sketches.

What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?

The two main characters in Sketches, Alex and Cassandra, were developed as kindred spirits. With Cassandra, I wanted to create a façade of didactic arrogance that masks a deeper, more emotional nature. She sees the truth and seeks to understand the “why.” Alex is rudderless, searching for a purpose that has eluded him until his path crosses with that of Cassandra. Their characters have an idealism that blinds them to the brutal nature of the world they occupy; a naïve, almost innocent, arrogance that contrasts with the ruthless pragmatism of Henri, the altruistic realism of the Boss, and single-minded drive of Captain Saleh.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I envision two follow-on works tied to Sketches from the Periphery. I am currently working on another story from Darfur which is tangentially related to Sketches. This story will focus on a minor subplot and is being told from the perspective of secondary characters. While Sketches is more introspective, the follow-on work has more intrigue and action.

Sketches ends with Alex as a decidedly different person, years have elapsed since his time with the Peacekeeping Mission. While he has moved on, the fingerprints of Darfur are still with him. I want to investigate his evolution during that elapsed time in a stand-alone book. I am currently outlining how I would like to present this story.

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