Some of the stories in Dogwalker were written as long as four years ago, but I wouldn't say I've been working on this collection for four years. I have always been a little unsure of whether I could make it as a writer so I've held other jobs and worked on other projects this whole time.

I was living in a house with 11 dogs and all I thought about was dogs. I never had sex with any of them though.

I want the situations and plots to be surprising and unusual.

The first story I wrote was "Catface" which was later selected for The O. Henry Collection, so that gave me some confidence to try some more. Gathering these stories together was fun, but I realized when I read them that I have certain mental preoccupations and they keep recurring in my stories.

I'm not very disciplined. I tend to write late at night because I get distracted during the day.

I wanted to do a collection where the narrator is constant throughout, so that there's a little unity.

I want people to read them and enjoy the experience and feel entertained. A lot of the best stories revolve around strange people, people whose decisions and logic and circumstances are not easily understood.