Can you tell us what your novel is about?  

The book came about when I had an idea for a blackout that was large enough to cripple a whole town. I knew I wanted to make it a small town, so that the different characters would all be affected by it, and it would all come together in an intricate web. Blackouts are inherently suspenseful and full of mystery. Once I had the idea of the blackout, I then connected it to an idea I had of parents struggling to be parents and feeling full of doubt about whether or not they're doing a good job. The biggest nightmare for a parent would be if they were to lose track of their child during such a scary moment. I came across an article about a tragedy where a father was electrocuted, and his son went to go help him. In doing so, the son got electrocuted, too, and they both died. Once I read about that, I knew that I had a powerful story on my hands. There was something bigger going on with the parent-child relationship, and so that became a through line, a thread that helped me tie everything together. 

How did you approach turning your story ideas into a novel?  

The process usually starts with an interesting idea or premise. Generally, once I come up with an idea, I put it aside for a while to see if it grows on its own. Oftentimes, two ideas will connect or collide in such a way that I feel compelled to sit down and start creating characters and mapping out potential storylines. That’s when I know I have something real to work with. For this novel, I began writing it a couple of years ago, and it started off as a novella. It was about 30,000 words, but I knew it was too short, and I knew it was missing something. One of the central characters was a teenager, and part of the story was told from his perspective. While that was interesting, I realized the stakes weren't high enough. Kids sometimes aren't aware of danger as much as an adult who has more life experiences. I found myself leaning toward the chapters with the father figure. The minute I found a way to get other adult figures in the town into the story, I was able to make it so much more intriguing. The character that was originally the dad became a police officer, and I built in a mother of the missing child and a doctor who has to struggle with the blackout shutting down the hospital. So, the story focuses on a police officer who's looking for the kids and is unsure about whether or not he has what it takes to be a cop, a mother who's a science teacher and is full of doubt about her parenting skills, and a doctor who's trying to keep everything together as the head of the hospital. The narrative is woven around these three characters as they struggle to navigate the storm. Once I found that mechanism, I was then able to flesh out the full novel. 

Is there a particular genre your writing explores?  

I started off writing pretty literary stuff that was mainly about relationships, and I still do focus on that. But I've gotten increasingly more interested in exciting plots. I stay away from strictly writing in genre, so I wouldn't say I write thrillers or crime novels or anything like that. In the world of publishing, this is called upmarket fiction or book club fiction, where you have a fast-paced story and an interesting plot, but it’s still character driven and still very reflective and introspective. I’m going for that blend of literary and commercial which is really hard to strike, but so far I'm liking where I'm landing here. 

Why did you decide to attend Drexel’s MFA program?  

I had already written two full books before I applied to Drexel's program, and I was kind of okay to just keep writing on my own, but I knew something was missing. For about 10 years I kept coming back to the idea of an MFA, and kept shying away from it, because I have a wife and three boys and a full-time teaching job. I knew it was a big commitment, but I also felt a longing for community. As someone from the Philadelphia area, I was looking for a low residency program that would allow me to tap into the local writing scene. There are a lot of online programs where the community is all essentially virtual. That works really well for some people, but I knew that that wasn't enough for me. If I was going to invest in MFA program, I wanted to be in the community, and I wanted to feel like I was a part of a writers’ scene. Part of the Drexel MFA program that spoke to me was not only finding this sense of community so that I wasn't writing in isolation, but also being immersed in the Philadelphia writing scene.  

Why did you enter the writing contest?  

When the contest came about, I figured, like many of the students in the MFA program, it was such a gift to have an opportunity to submit to a contest where the reward was publication. I can't say that I've heard of any other contest that offers that kind of award, at least in novels. I submitted it on a whim, not expecting much, because you get used to rejection in the world of writing. I joined Drexel’s MFA program to be fully immersed in this writers’ community, and not only did I graduate from Drexel with an MFA, where I am a part of this world, but now I’m going to be published as a result. There's no greater honor to me, and there's no greater way to be fully immersed in the Drexel community. It feels like everything has come full circle.  

What will you take away from your time in the MFA program?  

I joined the program for the camaraderie, for the community, for having people to bounce ideas off of. So, the big takeaway from the program for me is that to be successful as a writer, and to make a career out of it, you have to be in community with other people. You really have to trust your work with peers who are also writers. You also have to trust your work with people who are more experienced than you and who might have different ideas than you. It can feel scary, but at some point, regardless of how personal it feels you have to hand your work over and be open to feedback. Prior to the program, I wrote a novel, and I made little changes here and there, and that was my book. Since the program, I'm much more open to writing as a collaborative process where other people get to have input. That is something I'll hold onto for the rest of my writing career.  

Do you have any advice for writers who hope to one day be published?  

Everything you write is a learning experience. The first book I wrote took me about 12 years to finish off and on. I'd put it down for a year or two, and then pick it up again. But when I finished that first book, I was empowered. I knew I could write a book. My first book took over 10 years, my second book took about eight months to write, and the same for the third book. Finishing that first book made me realize I could do this. Before book one, I thought of a novel as this precious thing. ‘This is my masterpiece. This is my work of art.’ When you realize that it might take you four or five novels to get published, instead of treating a novel as a precious thing, you treat it as this exploration, an act of discovery. It frees your writing in many ways and opens you up to new ideas. That approach to writing is often what it takes to craft a book that's disciplined enough, but also imaginative enough, to be published.