What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
I had just dropped my daughter off at school and was making a left-hand turn through an intersection. Sunlight hit my windshield in such a way that for a moment I couldn’t see clearly, and I thought I glimpsed someone in the middle of the road. I hit the brakes, but thankfully no one was there. Once my heart rate slowed and we’d all resumed our drives safely, I thought, “That would make a good story.” What if someone had been there, but the reason I hadn’t seen them was that they’d crossed over from a parallel world? Hence, The Crossing was born.
If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of your book, what would they be?
I’ll leave that up to readers to make their own picks for the main characters (I always hesitate to imprint too much of my own feelings about the characters on a reader!), but I can tell you some of the artists who formed the soundtrack during the time I was writing the book. I don’t listen to conventional music while I’m actually writing (it interferes with my ability to hear the voices in my head, so to speak!), but I do create playlists that keep me tuned into the overall world of the book when I’m not working on it. This playlist ended up being rather eclectic! Wild Rivers, Novo Amor, Illenium, Jordan Davis, Dishwalla, JP Saxe, Phoebe Bridgers, Donovan Woods, Madi Diaz, and Andrew Belle, among others. And of course (and as always for me), because this book is set in Hollywood, there were a few tracks by film composer Thomas Newman sprinkled in there. I treasure his music, and if one of my books is ever adapted into a film, I hope he does the score.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
My reading tastes might be as eclectic as my musical ones, but I tend to gravitate towards favorite authors as opposed to favorite genres. If I had to pick only one genre, I would go with literary or upmarket, as most of my faves—Jonathan Tropper, David Nicholls, Margaret Atwood, John Irving—fall into those. But I also love pretty much anything from Stephen King, Ruth Ozeki, John Grisham, Patti Callahan Henry, Ursula K. Le Guin, Richard Powers, Audrey Niffenegger, Kristan Higgins, Jonathan Franzen, Jodi Picoult, Michael Christie, Emily St. John Mandel, and Elan Mastai (please write more books, Elan!). I dig the Dan Brown books, too—they’re certainly page-turners. Star Wars books. Game of Thrones. A ton of non-fiction, too. I could go on and on, as we all could.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Do you have room for 1,000 titles? I’m a bit of a mood reader, in that whichever book I’m finishing (Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, at the moment—Oh! He ought to be on that previous list of faves, too) will often steer me towards my next read. Though just as often I’ll alternate character-driven, dense picks with plot-driven, lighter reads. I’ll likely read About Grace by Anthony Doerr next. Yet another fave.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
That’s almost like asking about a favorite child! I enjoyed writing the conversations between Taylor and Natalie. Their dialogue was punchy and fun, particularly with the things Natalie would say. I enjoyed writing in the first person with Ben as the narrator, and letting his thoughts spill onto the page. But if I was compelled to pick a favorite child (still don’t have one, though), I really enjoyed writing the scene where Taylor gets into an argument with the character known as Captain Box Office. That scene—Captain in particular—was very visual in my head as the words were coming out. It was one of those blessed moments in writing where I felt like I was just recording what I saw and heard.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
Well, I usually write in the dark, for one. I have the shades drawn and lights off, because I don’t want any distractions or point of focus other than the screen and words right in front of me—the world of the book. I also write early in the morning and am often freezing cold at that time of day, so I’m generally clad in sweatpants and a hoodie with the hood up, and a quilt on my lap. My wife even took a pair of wool gloves and cut off the tips of the fingers, as my hands are generally ice cold after a writing session. That’s all to say that if one walked into my office while I’m writing, it would probably evoke an image of a guy in a cave in the middle of the wilderness! (But with wifi and multiple monitors.)
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Again, with the favorite children with these questions! Just kidding. But I’ll narrow it to two: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - Mary Oliver “Believe with all your heart that you will do what you were made to do.” – Orison Swett Marden
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
We create our reality, and we do that through the stories we tell about ourselves, and about one another. We can choose to rewrite the story at any time. There. I finally kept an answer to one thing. 🙂
