The Burden of Memory follows a retired professor and aspiring author as he moves to South Carolina to write his first novel who unintentionally witnesses a murder. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I was walking on a rather desolate road one day and I stopped and said “What if?” to myself and began imagining a scene.  And it went on from there.  The narrative sort of blew up and the characters came along. 

Robert is a recluse who struggles to break out of his shell after witnessing a horrible crime. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

The shy, heartbroken man comes out of his shell one way or another and nothing he really does causes it to happen.  The unknown forces of his life, if you will?  And once he is forced to act, he begins the process of change.  And he has worked very hard to not change because of too much pain.  It took something this dramatic to begin the change.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Transformation is an important theme, of course.  Another theme is how the past controls the present.  Love and loss is surely an important theme, too.

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

My next book will be Stories Can Save Us.  The novel has two alternating narratives, one first person, and another third person.  Timothy and Frank.  One is a Vietnam Veteran and the other is not.  And the one who is not a vet makes up stories with himself as the hero at a local VFW.  As the narratives progress, more and more issues develop.  This is the best I can do at this point because, no doubt, before I am through there will be changes.

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/05/03/the-unknown-forces-of-his-life/