You're sitting outside in a crowded place, peoplewatching. What's going through your head?
I'm generally either working on the laptop or reading if I'm by myself at a coffee bar but will constantly look round for inspiration. Anything can give me an idea and I can note down appearances or locations for future use. As an ex journalist I've quite a good visual memory so can recall places in a fair degree of detail.

Who was the first author or artist to broaden your worldview?
Difficult to narrow it down to one. The first book I read at about six was Gulliver's Travels and the Alice books have always been a great inspiration - especially when I was about 11 and read Martin Gardner's annotated version. However the books I devoured as a young child were Angus McVicar's stories of space which were popular when I was growing up.

Who do you think is the most misunderstood historical figure?
I would have to say Alfred Jarry. He is mostly known for Ubu Roi but was much more than that. Writer, fencer, cyclist, and wit with a justified reputation as an eccentric. He carried a bull nose revolver which he would regularly discharge endangering life and which was inherited by Picasso.

Describe your perfect sandwich.
I'm famous among family and friends for eating anything. Any sandwich will do as long as it doesn't come from a supermarket or service station.

What do you want people to take away from your work?
I want people to firstly enjoy it, but also to make them think. I tend to put in details and references that amuse me, but also try to find some social message about the things I care about. Every writer's ideal reader is themselves and I'm no different - writing things I would like to read.

How long does it take you to close the gap between the work as you imagine it and the real, finished piece?
I write quite quickly - back to that journalist training - but think about the story for days or weeks beforehand to get it right in my head. The longer gestation, the more depth of detail and tone it will have. On the other hand when I asked friends and family for suggestions of genre, lead character and location for stories during lockdown I would write them in one or two days and that also works for me. The current story was based on an idea of Holmes meeting Miss Marple but the prompt of making the lead someone else enabled me to write it in just a few hours.

What does your perfect day look like?
Spending time with my wife, dog and broader family. Wherever I am if I have the people I love around me that's a perfect day.

What's the last book you didn't finish reading, and why did you put it down?
I rarely don't finish a book - however bad it is. I will happily read reference books cover to cover. The last book I didn't finish was Infinite Jest - not because it wasn't good, but because it needed a larger investment of time than I was willing to give it.

Name a book/author/artist that you feel deserves more recognition.
Apart from Jarry, I would nominate Avram Davidson. Not the easiest read because of his discursive and allusive style, but such a great writer.

What surprising reactions have you gotten to your work?
I'm always surprised when people like it. Especially enough to buy it.

Name a favorite film or other visual work that has influenced the way you shape a story.
My wife tells me my style is very visual (especially when I have the length to indulge it) and I describe action well. That definitely comes from watching films and TV. My favourite film is probably The Princess Bride as it includes humour, action, romance, and a quite bookish framing device. I loved the book.

Have you had to make tradeoffs in order to have time for creativity in your life?
I have, yeah. The older I've gotten, I've realized that time and energy are not renewable. I hate that it's true, and I wish it wasn't? But then once I had this deafening realization a few years ago, it made me look at both what I wanted to do with my life and where I had my compass pointed. I had launched my company three years earlier—something I'd wanted to do for so long—and then once I had it, and was seeing real success I realized it wasn't what I really wanted. And I'd realized that if I'd ever wanted to allow myself to be a writer, to tap into my creative monster, I had to devote more time and energy than I'd realized. So after some deep thought and talking with close friends and family, I decided to end my company, disengage from much of my prior professional life, and carve out new room for my writing and creative projects. And it's not been easy. But it's been rewarding. I feel more whole, a lot more vulnerable too. And while that trade-off is weird, it's also mostly wonderful too.

Who was the first author or artist to broaden your worldview?
Alice Walker. Prior to reading The Color Purple in 8th grade, I didn't realize writing could be that raw and real and painful and visual and that you could play with time and space so liberally. That book broke my brain in half. I realized I could do, write, craft anything I wanted. I've read everything Alice Walker has ever written and every time, every book or poem, I witness the bleeding edge between greatness and madness. Not just that she's mad, but that she's able to tell stories from deep places of light and deep places of darkness with earnesty and artistry, while still making the chaos grounded, and making the boring bombastic. A few years ago I had the chance to meet her and the moment I was in her presence I burst into tears. I couldn't speak, I didn't know what to do with my hands or face. My poor husband was behind me, holding me up and telling her, "He has always loved your work, he loves you." and she just took my hand and smiled, thanked me, and then began to dance with me to the jazz band playing in the background. I will never forget that day.

What do you want people to take away from your work?
Oh, this is such a hard question. It depends on the piece, but I often want them to feel there are layers. I want readers to see and feel those layers, sometimes with wit, sometimes with humor, or heart or fear or pain. I want them to feel things, but also be surprised and delighted. With my story “The Cobbler of Oz,” for example, I want folks who know the book and the movie to be delighted by how I tried to playfully unify those almost-identical stories with a tale that's never been told or explored before. Who made those magical shoes? And why are they silver in the book and ruby in the movies? And yes, sure, MGM had ideas of what looked good or better on film, but from a story-driven, narrative perspective, there had to be a better story to tell. So I wrote one. And I hope readers feel there is both a mix of resolution, but also that it might beg more questions too about this Munchkin Cobbler and his beloved wife.

How long does it take you to close the gap between the work as you imagine it and the real, finished piece?
It varies. Some stories I can bang out in a day. Thousands of words. And others I toil over for years. And there is no rhyme or reason at all. It just depends on how something flows out of me or how I want the story to be told. I've written entire novels and then decided to gender-flip the main character. I've written stories in 3rd person and then re-written it into 1st. I want the story to be told in a way that makes the most sense and sometimes I'm able to do that from the start and sometimes I have to back up and re-write or edit things out entirely. And I work hard to allow myself the space and time to make that happen when it's necessary. I don't beat myself up for not seeing something sooner. And sometimes I'll write or edit a whole new treatment and then realize the original was best anyway. And that's reassuring too.

Do you have a creative routine - a ritual that helps get you in the creative zone?
Music is a huge part of my process. I will sometimes let an artist or album excite or inspire me. I also love to sometimes pick a mood like all 60's R&B or EMD atmospheric or speed metal help me push into a story or a part of a story. And sometimes when I have a great idea, but I can't seem to find the right voice or words, I'll switch up the music or artist and see if that helps. I rarely write in silence unless I'm working on getting complex dialogue right. That sometimes requires me to talk out loud and some silence is needed, but not always.

Name a book/author/artist that you feel deserves more recognition.
Douglas Coupland is famous for writing "Generation X" but he also wrote a little book called Life After God and in both of those books he really captured the voice of a generation. There are authors like Tom Robbins and Jessi Kirby who are amazing and often more well known as GenX writers, but Douglas Coupland wrote in such a straight-forward, non-ironic, witty way that really spoke to me in a way that I don't know many authors could or did otherwise. It never felt like he was showing off, but instead just allowed the words to flow in a way that felt like he was writing directly to you as the reader. It wasn't intimate, but it was authentic and real and wry too. I wish more folks picked up some of his best work again for a first-time or re-read.

What surprising reactions have you gotten to your work?
I'm a queer bi-racial author, so I'm always putting bi-racial, queer people and characters into my work. Because I exist and they should too. They're not always the main characters and their express identity or queer-storylines are not always front and center, but sometimes they are. And I'll get feedback like "So that character is trans, but there isn't any significant storyline about it..." or "Your main character is gay, but does everything they do have to stem from that all the time?" or "So they have a Native mom and a Black dad... but why?" And for me, as the writer, it all depends on the story I'm trying to tell. Sometimes the main character is the story. Sometimes the story requires a variety of characters, but their individual stories are not the story. I don't feel like I have to make every instance of a particular reader's perspective of "other" pop off the page in a way that does or doesn't make them comfortable. I'm also not looking to make readers uncomfortable. But in my storytelling, queer people and multi-racial folks exist. And that existence isn't always tied to the center of the story or naturally on display for the reader to feel like they're supposed to do anything more than just enjoy the story. I hate the idea that someone who is gay or trans or bi or bi-racial have to be given a partial "backstory" in order to validate their existence. When they need one—for the sake of the story—they get one. Otherwise, yep, they're in the story. Like anyone would be.

Name a favorite film or other visual work that has influenced the way you shape a story.
At large, I love television. I secretly wish I could be a television writer, but I worry I'm too old and unwilling to move to NYC or LA or Atlanta and start from the very bottom. But love the intersections between the written word as it's spoken, the actor, the scene, the setting, and any cut-aways. Shows like What We Do In The Shadows are great examples of how drama and comedy and effects and actors and the story and words written and spoken are combined into a complete, lush tapestry that is unparalleled by any parts individually. And for me, shows that are very dialogue rich have always excited and inspired me. I love writing dialogue. And I love good dialogue. At a young age, I was also so fascinated by shows like The Muppet Show or Sesame Street because the best parts of those shows were the conversational interactions between real humans and puppets. They felt so real. They felt natural, even when silly. And they had to. You don't excite adults and children alike with something that should feel unnatural or odd by not mastering the construct of conversational flow. Those shows are masterclasses in constructing dialogue in both the written and visual form. I'm not kidding when I think sometimes "This story, these characters talking, have to feel as real and authentic as Dolly Parton talking to Kermit the Frog about their love of music." as funny as that might seem.