Q. How did this story come about?

The inspiration for “Goodnight Dogs” comes from another story of mine “Origin” where a strange girl asks a woman to brush her hair with an antique brush. The girl’s uncanny presence and the simple act of brushing her hair has darker implications. The story is set in present-day New York, and the woman’s mother was a German musician. “Goodnight Dogs” alludes to that history of the stolen brush. I was also inspired by stories my mother has told me about growing up in Celle after the war. My mother had a favorite aunt who slept with her horse, and the story initially began with Stoffi sleeping with her horse. Finally, I had wanted to write a story about the League of German Girls vis-à-vis the Hitler Youth, but the story shifted, as they do, and the story about betrayal became the focal point.

Q. Why is fiction necessary for you?

I am an atheist who believes in higher callings. Sort of. Rather, I believe in finding meaning and purpose in life by listening to your voice. Unless that voice tells you to pick up an axe and have at it. Then, well, you could plug your ears and sing lalalalalala I’m not listening! lalalalalala until that voice just shuts up. But in thinking of voices and axes I am naturally reminded of Stephen King and his brilliant essay “On Impact.” The essay is about his ordeal after being hit by a van in 1999 by one Bryan Smith, who in an attempt to dissuade his dog Bullet or Pistol from getting into his cooler, swerved out of control and hit King as he was taking a walk in rural Maine. King recounts his slow and painful recovery and his return to writing. “For me,” King writes, “there have been times when the act of writing has been an act of faith, a spit in the eye of despair. Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.” When I think of why fiction is necessary, it is both a personal narrative of memory and identity and a historical narrative of language and power. The evolution of storytelling is fascinating to me; how cultures create, adopt, incorporate, and disseminate folklore in order to inculcate its values, rituals, and laws. I believe that narratives that subvert and reimagine oppression are necessary for change, and that the articulation of suffering that is at the heart of fiction provides, as King says, a way back to life. This is an act of faith. Even for a non-believer like me.

Q. What song would you pair with this story?

I chose Cat Power’s cover of Billie Holiday’s Don’t Explain because it captures the essence of the story for me – the sorrow of losing a loved one. I particularly love the tone of Power’s gravelly voice and her stripped down sensibility. Also, there was a bit of serendipity with the line, “You know I hear folks cha-cha-cha-chatter” that recalls the jaunty opening scene.