Dana asked Brent Jones:

What inspired your idea for your new novel?

Brent Jones Thanks for the question, Dana!

My wife went to a music festival in Orlando last November, and this was right at the time I was thinking of shutting down my online business.

I had thought for a while about writing fiction, and with the house to myself, I let my mind wander.

At the time, I was listening to a song from the Dexter soundtrack called "Astor's Birthday Party" by a composer named Daniel Licht. The song made me think (over and over again) of a guy around my age—a little younger, maybe—looking out his apartment window into the night sky. His laptop was nearby, and he was about to record a video of his drunken thoughts for some reason. The apartment was sparely furnished and rundown. He wasn't exactly miserable, though—he had grown accustomed to isolation.

I began to wonder why he was that way. What happened in his life that made him crave loneliness? To prefer his own company? Did he have a drinking problem perhaps?

I began to write down my ideas, and before long I had the basis for "The Fifteenth of June."

That guy I had envisioned became Drew Thomson, and a lot of his struggles in the book revolve around a central theme that you often talk about—finding his truth.

Since writing the first novel, I have a notepad with about a dozen ideas for subsequent releases. It's kind of like the more time I spend allowing my mind to wander from one fictional world to the next, the more times I say to myself, "Hmm . . . that might make an interesting story."

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