Q. How did this story come about?

“Fragments of a Pennsylvania” is the first section of part of a larger thing I’m working on, sort of a fictional romantic autobiography told through city guides. The story is an attempt to work with my own memories, combining fragments that, I hope, end up saying something about young, awkward love, while, through the city guides and Styx bits, evoking my own experience as a young person at a particular place and time.

Q. Why is fiction necessary for you?

For me, fiction is necessary because it offers almost limitless possibility in the forms in which narrative can take shape, and through those forms, fiction allows a writer to attempt to communicate something about his or her experience in the world. While other art forms can do this, too, it’s fiction that resonates with me the most in its ability to create a shared experience between two people (a writer and a reader.)

Q. What song would you pair with this story?

Sing for the Day by Styx