About “Evening Commute”

1. What was your motivation for writing “Evening Commute”?

My first “real job” out of college involved a lengthy commute by train and then subway into the lowest of lower Manhattan. This story came from that. The subway full of commuters is a strange space: totally public, but with each person aiming to maintain privacy. Some people seek to invade that privacy, but the rules of the commute are pretty clear that the goal is to avoid eye contact, to ignore as much as possible, and to keep to yourself until you get home.

2. What challenges—if any—did you have writing your short story?

This story went through a few changes. I had a hard time with the ending. It needed something that I hope the sensory image of the smell of floral cologne provided. Previous versions of the story just sort of petered out in a way that felt unsatisfying.

3. What is your favourite line—if any—in “Evening Commute”?

I think my favorite line of the story is the one that sort of sums up the whole thing: “Over half of the people on the car filed off the train, not letting some miracle interrupt the routine of their trip home.”

4. What do you want people to walk away with after reading “Evening Commute”?

I think  I’d like people to read this story as a reminder to just to stop and look around once in a while. It’s so easy to get bogged down in things. When I was doing that long commute, I was in a different phase of my life, worried about getting married and getting through grad school. Since then, I’ve changed careers, built a family and a life with my wife, and the one constant is that, while the stresses might change, you can drown in all of the stuff that only seems important if you aren’t careful.

5. Is there anything else you would like to talk about regarding “Evening Commute” that hasn’t been asked?

The train in the story, for those of you familiar enough with the NYC subway system to care, is the 1 train, the red line that goes down to South Ferry, which is where I used to work.

Reading

1. What are you currently reading?

I just started Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls last night. I’m only a few chapters in, but I can already tell I’m going to enjoy it. I’ve read a lot of Hendrix’s other novels, and he’s got a great ability to blend humor and horror in such a way that it fully satisfies both (which is incredibly hard to pull off).

2. Do you have a favourite book? If so, what is it?

I have such a hard time choosing one book. I think I can limit it to a top handful: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, Ghost Story by Peter Straub, IT by Stephen King…actually, I could just keep going, but I’ll stop there.

3. What is your favourite poet or author, if any?

I’m going to cheat again and pick a few favorites: Stephen King because of the way he can weave a tale and suck the reader in, Ray Bradbury for the lyrical style of his prose, Clive Barker for the way he can find beauty in the horrific.

4. Do you gravitate towards reading genres outside the ones you write?

I tend to write a lot of horror stories, and I’d say that’s my favorite genre, but I try to read some of everything. I read a lot of nonfiction about a myriad of different topics, and I love a good mystery, fantasy, or science fiction novel as well as a horror one. I love nature writing, and will devour anything nautical (fiction or nonfiction).

Writing

1. Why do you write?

I’ve been writing stories since I was very young. My imagination has a tendency to wander and come up with ideas, and I like to follow them and see where they go. As I’ve gotten older, the craft aspect of things has become more and more rewarding.

2. What do you love about being a writer?

My absolute favorite thing about writing is when someone seems to love something that I’ve written. That is such a weird, impactful thing: I’ve told a story that someone I don’t know connects with. My second favorite thing is a part of revision. Sometimes I’ll come across a line that I’d forgotten I’d written and that I’m impressed by. I have a little private moment of feeling proud of myself.

3. What time of the day do you write, and do you have a writing routine?

I used to write all the time, but in the phase of life I’m in right now, my writing is mostly done in small increments at night once all of my kids are asleep. Unfortunately that means that my writing has slowed down quite a bit.

4. Where do you get your ideas from?

Sometimes I’ll make a random connection between two things that gradually form into a story. I’ve had times where an image popped into my head and I’ve built a story around it. I’ve had quite a few stories come from nightmares.

5. How long does it take you to write your projects?

When I used to have more time, I could write a short story in a day and a longer piece in a few weeks. I’m a teacher, so I tend to be more productive over the summer and much slower during the school year. In 2025, I wrote several stories, some of which were fairly long, over the summer months.

6. What advice would you give to other authors/writers/poets?

Persistence and thick skin…rejection is part of the craft. You can’t let your feelings be hurt when a story doesn’t make the cut for a particular anthology. Sometimes that means it needs more revision, and sometimes that means it wasn’t the right home for that story. Keep submitting and keep writing; that’s all that matters.

7. What project(s) are you currently working on?

I am in the very earliest phase of working on a sort of nautical dark fantasy piece that I expect to be novella length. I’ve got three main characters pretty well fleshed out, and I’ve started the first draft, but I’ve only gotten a few chapters down so far. I’m also revising completed books in two series that I’m working on: one is a fantasy novel and the other is a horror/supernatural thriller.