“Eulogy for a Mime” was sparked by two things: an image and a dream. I have no recollection which came first—the image or the dream, but I know they set my brain’s wheels in motion. The dream is vague, but it had a mime—with a red beret not a black one—and that’s all I remember. The image was a line drawing. . .

I wrote the first draft of “In the End” about one year ago. It all began with this picture. . .

“Love Letter” began as a contest entry. The contest asked participants to respond to the following situation: “A 20-something man sits in a taxi in front of his parents’ house, trying to find the strength to tell them that he (fill in the blank).”

When I started writing the story, all I had in my head was. . .

“Book Marked” is one of my favorites: it was a blast to get really creative, and it was inspired by several things writing-related.

Writers are big readers, and for big readers, there’s nothing more exciting than. . .

The idea for “Going Missing” was triggered by my Aunt Mitzie’s death late last year as well as my father’s recent sight loss, but it’s a concept I’ve been toying with for a very long time—perhaps 15 years or more—and I’m still not done with it.

My immediate family was always very small: I’m an only child; my father’s brother died before my father was even born, so his. . .

“Mostly Foggy with Occasional Clearing” began as an opening line—the one that remains in the finished piece. As strange as it might sound, ideas often come to me as voices in my head, and when I hear those voices, I do my best to listen to them. In the case of this story, I heard. . .