Ghosts in the Glades follows a young boy with a growth hormone deficiency who, after moving to a new town, befriends a man at the center of missing children’s mystery. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I like to pull little things from life into my stories to make the characters a bit more complex and believable. I heavily based the main character on my nephew who does have a growth hormone deficiency. The struggles that I have watched him overcome and his grit and strength have completely left me enamored and in awe of his grace and the way he moves through the world. He has never let his body define him, even when other people in his life have tried to categorize him and put him in a box. He absolutely shattered their preconceived image of who they thought he was. But there’s also a darker side to that, an evil that starts in some people as a small seed and their darkness lashes out at people who they think they can control. The transference of that darkness is what I find exhilarating, the questioning of can a good and kind soul be coerced or forced to the darkness? How much can a person take before they want revenge?

What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?

I tried to convey what was instilled in me all of my life, that family is family. Family is who you defend and protect. Can friends be considered family? Of course they can. Can you fully trust your family? Well… you should be able to..

How do you balance story development with shocking plot twists? Or can they be the same thing?

I think that a well-developed story should be able to stand on its own even without the plot twist. Are the characters fleshed out enough? Do the readers love them or despise them? I think that when I write, I have the general idea of what I want to transpire, but the great twists build themselves along the way. I am a HUGE fan of plot twists when I am reading, and I want to give the reader that same experience. To me, a plot twist is just the icing on the cake, but the story has to be strong enough to break your heart or make you invested enough to feel something on its own, even without the addition of a great twist.

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

After a long wait, this book, Ghosts in the Glades, will be in preorder October 12th and will release in November 2024. It’s already won the Killer Nashville Claymore Award for Best Southern Gothic in 2024 and Maxy Award for Best Thriller, also in 2024.

I am currently working on three additional books, stories from all walks of life. One is about a boy grappling with the shady death of his father and goes on a camping expedition with his father’s best friend. Another is about a young guy who grew up in the seedy underbelly of Chicago, spending his days at the house of a local madam, and the twisted path that his life journey’s down, and another is loosely based on the story of how I lost my finger… and then twisted into a good old fashioned murder mystery of course. So, stay tuned! I should have another ready to release in 2025.

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