What was the inspiration for A Quiet Life? Did the plot of the book drive the location in Pennsylvania or did your roots in Pennsylvania drive the storyline of your novel??
I think both. I wanted a place with a long, unforgiving winter, and I wanted a place I knew well and could really get into the culture and psychology of the characters who lived there, so Northeastern Pennsylvania ticked both boxes. I think Pennsylvania works well in A Quiet Life because the life in Hilton Head in winter is such a contrast. In Delaware, in February, our daffodils are starting to come up, so it’s not such a difference. I wanted Chuck to feel the cold and ache for the better life there, even if it would still feel odd without Cat. January is also such a cold, lonely time for Ella, which develops her character, and Kirsten can’t stand facing the dark, cold evenings alone after work. Pennsylvania worked in all those ways.
Are there personal connections or experiences that you have with some of the specific places mentioned in the book?
Downtown Bethlehem, where Kirsten and Grayson end up seeing each other at a bar and spending time together, walking on the lit streets, is one of my favorite spots. My family and I go there every year at the holidays just to walk around and take it all in, and my wife and I had our high school senior prom at Hotel Bethlehem.
Is Rescue Ranch inspired by a specific rescue agency in Pennsylvania? Are there other locations in your book that are not actual locations but inspired other places?
No, I hadn’t heard of Kindred Spirits until now. I just made up the name of Rescue Ranch, and I think in my head, since most of the pets we’ve gotten over the years have been rescues, Rescue Ranch looks like a compound of all the different shelters we’ve been to. I imagine RR to be a really well-run place with walking paths outside and immaculate facilities. I can’t imagine Kirsten working there if it were otherwise. When I write about a place, I try to do what Wes Anderson did with New York in The Royal Tenenbaums—that it definitely reminds you of the area, but it’s more the essence. I feel like it can feel too forced or lose some of that “book magic” and necessary distance if I say a certain barbershop, and it’s right where I say it is. So in the book, Lloyd’s Café is really just twenty different diners I’ve been to in Pennsylvania, and where Kirsten lives could really be more rural parts of the Lehigh Valley like Palmerton or Fogelsville. I do mention some real places every once in a while though so it feels authentic—like Kirsten’s mother teaches at Lehigh University.
Although there is much loss and sadness in the lives of Kirsten, Chuck and Ella, their love for those no longer with them is so evident and strong through the memories they cherish. What is your hope for readers who might be struggling with loss, be it temporary or more permanent?
I think we have to honor the people we lose as best we can by living well for them and even sometimes using their things that they loved if we can: scarves, books, even a mixing bowl or old bag of clothespins. I think we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about our lost ones and to ask others about people they lost. I think the most beautiful tribute is to live well for someone and to think about them often and reflect about what they would have said or done in a circumstance. Kirsten’s dad, when he’s teaching her all about car maintenance, says he just wants her to be okay, and I think that’s what we all want for our loved ones—to know they’ll be okay if something happens to us. I also think when we’re grieving, we need to remember why we’re grieving. It’s usually because we don’t know what to do with the love that’s left over. I think of my character Kay in A Little Hope, who lost her son, and one day she realizes even knowing what she knows, she would do it all again. And I think most of us, no matter how much the suffering from the loss of a person or pet, would do it all again because love is beautiful, and there’s nothing like it. And I think knowing you had that is a comfort, no matter how bad the pain of the loss.
The story about the cardinals really resonates. Kirsten remembers Cat saying that “cardinals were the most special birds because they kept us company in the winter when the other birds leave” and Chuck recalls her urging to “be someone’s cardinal”. There were many cardinals in A Quiet Life, like Sal, but also those who were suffering helped as well. Can you share your thoughts of how the acts of your characters helped in the healing process?
Yes, I think the three main characters are all stuck, and they’re all suffering, but they can still be helpful to one another. Cardinals are all about showing up. I know cardinals are so special to so many people, and they are one of my favorite birds. There is something so graceful and unique about them. My wife and I walk a lot, and once in a while, we’ll hear that familiar call and see one in a holly tree or sitting on a mailbox. You really feel like you’ve been selected when a cardinal appears. And I love that you think of Sal as a cardinal because even though he gets on Chuck’s nerves, he really is looking after his friend. But I think they’re all cardinals in some ways. Cat was trying to be a cardinal to Natasha. Ella helps Chuck, Chuck helps her. Grayson and David both help Kirsten, and Kirsten comes to the rescue of another character later. Sometimes we need help, and it doesn’t come from the closest people to us. For example, Chuck and his children all keep their pain from one another to protect them; sometimes it’s the found family, or the unexpected person who helps us the most.
Are there any other insights you would like to share with your readers about A Quiet Life?
I was inspired by Chuck’s story when I heard some older men on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk talking, and one said he was making the trip to Florida without his wife this year. So A Quiet Life was born in Delaware. Writing A Quiet Life really made me appreciate growing up in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. It’s a humble, interesting place filled with beauty and good people who are all doing their best—much like the characters in the book. I will never know another area as fully as I know that area of Pennsylvania, so I was really happy to set a novel there.
You have two books in the works right now, can you share the settings for those books? We can’t wait to bound them!
Oh, thank you! I so appreciate your support. My third book will take place in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where I live. I absolutely love Southern Delaware. My family always vacationed here when I was a kid, and we seldom went anywhere else. I think that’s a big part of the reason that I always feel like I’m on vacation. I’m not quite sure where my fourth book will take place, but I’m leaning toward Pennsylvania again.