Please tell us a little about In the Lair of Legends.

Being both a film school graduate and an optioned screenwriter, my background in that medium provided a unique segue into the publication of my debut novel. In the Lair of Legends is about a Native American Civil War veteran who finds himself battling a unit of Army traitors and a legendary monster in 1873 Southern Oregon. While initially I set out for it to be a 1980s action movie on the page, the storyline eventually progressed into a deeper character study of duty and the power of finding your place in the world.

How did you choose the genre of your book?

The concept of the story itself allowed for me to delve into a multigenre world. The novel is a unique melding of action/adventure, historical fiction, horror, and Western. To write cohesively in those varied genres was an interesting challenge. As a writer, you have to be fully committed to making those different aspects work, or the novel will feel fragmented to the reader. Fortunately, all of the genre elements flowed organically into the narrative as the storyline progressed.

Was the storyline something you envisioned from the beginning, or did you change it as you wrote your novel?

The core storyline itself never changed throughout the writing process, but certain aspects of the plot were definitely altered during the extensive research process. Research brought not only authenticity, but fresh ideas to the narrative that I never would have envisioned without it. It doesn’t matter what genre of book you’re writing; research is foundational for creativity.

How has critical and reader response influenced the way you think about your work?

After the multidecade struggle this journey was, seeing my debut novel become an Amazon bestseller and a seven-time award-winner (including 2023 Best Thrillers Book Award: Historical Thriller of the Year and 2023 NYC Big Book Award: Action/Adventure) has been extremely gratifying. I’m hoping that this success will somehow bolster the courage of other writers to keep pursuing their dreams amidst whatever publishing challenges and adversities they might be facing. I have a motto: No Surrender.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on a sequel to In the Lair of Legends that will be published in spring 2025. I’m also writing a stand-alone action thriller that will be out in early 2026.

Portions of this Q&A were edited for clarity.