I’m a lifelong lover of reading fiction and can’t remember a time I didn’t want to write my own stories. During my professional career I occasionally dabbled with short stories and (unfinished) novels, but it wasn’t until my retirement from the corporate world in 2016 that I seriously pursued the craft.
I always assumed I would write a
novel. I really wanted to discover if I could put together a story with a
complex plot and well-developed characters. My first one-and-half novels are
stored on the shelf in my office. I describe them as “learning opportunities
that will never see the light of day.”
How long did it take to write the first one you published? Did you have in mind that it would be a two-book set or did it just expand too much for one?
My first published novel, Into the Room, took about fourteen months to write. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about a series, but, once the book was completed, I knew there was more I wanted to say about my main character, Ben Cahill. A Year in the Room was the result. This summer, I plan to begin the third book in the “Reluctant Pilgrim” series.
Your story is a transformative one with the main character trying to recreate his life after alcoholic addiction. What drew you to focusing on this issue?
When
I began writing, I never considered alcoholism or addiction as potential topics.
Initially, I wrote horror and time travel stories. However, on a flight to
Israel in 2017 I had a thought— “I wonder what would happen if I was an
alcoholic, just released from rehab, and I had to take this trip?” Ben Cahill
and Into the Room were how I answered the question. Why did I have this
thought and why did I suddenly begin writing Christian Fiction when I was
trying to be Stephen King? I can’t really answer either question other than to
say, it was a “God Thing.”
However, both books reflect my own experiences observing alcohol and drug abuse in others. This perspective was forged by living with those around me suffering from the disease, witnessing their recovery, and addressing the impacts those addictions had on me and my life. My journey has led me to do extensive research into the mind of the alcoholic/addict and the reality of alcoholism/addiction as a family disease. No one escapes untouched. I’ve tried to reflect this perspective through my writing.
What is the hardest part of writing for you? Starting? Creating a scene? Dialog? Tension, etc.?
Patience. I always want to write faster and complete my
books more quickly. However, I can’t and still be satisfied with the product.
For instance, with A Year in the Room, I wrote sixty pages before
deciding the narrative was too “flat” and that I wasn’t letting my characters
drive the plot. I ended up throwing away all but about ten of those sixty pages
and starting over. For me, sixty pages are a couple of months’ worth of work. I
forced myself to take a deep breath and trust my process.
On a more specific level, I find creating tension without
overusing adjectives and adverbs to be the most challenging part of writing
What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
There are two things that come to mind. First, three
successful authors—Brad Parks, Heath Lee, and Adriana Trigiani—mentored and
encouraged me. They offered in-person guidance and answered questions by email.
Their advice ranged from “how to find a publisher” to “how to make an unlikable
character likeable (for the record, the answer is either get him a dog or have
him save a cat) to “if you could achieve what you did in the corporate world,
you can certainly write a piece of fiction worth publication.” Secondly, a
short story I wrote, “Deep Waters,” won an honorable mention award in a Writer’s
Digest competition. The award helped me believe I was moving in the right
direction.
How did you go about finding your publisher?
Before I began submitting the book for publication, I hired
a professional editor, Michele Chynoweth, to help me polish the manuscript of Into
the Room. My plan was to find an agent and work with him/her to identify a
publisher.
Once we were finished revising/improving, Michele told me
the book was worthy of publication. She asked if I’d for like her to submit the
manuscript to Elk Lake Publishing for consideration. Of course, I said yes. A
week later they sent me a contract with an offer to publish the book. Elk Lake
is also the publisher of A Year in the Room.
What do you know now about writing you wished you
had known sooner?
Initially,
I avoided my own instincts on style and topics, focusing on the reader rather
than on what my writing meant to me personally. The result was mechanical
storytelling. However, beginning with the short story that won the award, I
began to tell stories reflecting my own experiences and personal history. Writing
them impacted me as much as any reader.
For example, we discussed above about how my two published novels focus on alcoholism and addiction. While both books are 100% fiction, writing them taught me to forgive others and helped clear my heart of the resentment, anger, and guilt directed towards the alcoholics/addicts in my life. In addition, walking with my main character, Ben Cahill, helped me to better understand God’s grace and His love for all of us. I truly believe that, if these books had never been published, telling Ben’s story would still have changed my life.
Said another way, I wish I’d known sooner that fiction is better when the author digs deep into his/her own soul when telling a story.
What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
Write the story you want to write and be yourself as an
author. Not everyone is going to like your work. You better be darn sure you
do.
Are there any other points about writing you would like
to add?
I recommend
focusing on characters first. For me, the most enjoyable fiction draws me into
the characters and then impels me to follow them through whatever
conflict/events the author’s mind has invented.
I’m not sure when the book will be published, but I’m
planning a third book in the series. The working title is Beyond the Room.
I’m still developing characters and the overall storyline, but I know three
things so far: (1) the first and last scenes (I can’t say anymore without
offering a major spoiler), (2) that Ben Cahill will help someone else with an
addiction, and (3) there will be a travel component to Italy, Greece, and
Turkey as the characters follow the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. My wife and
I are taking a tour in May to help me research that part of the book.
That's all for today's interview. Hope you'll look into Steven's books. I'm currently reading one of them and am finding it an insightful read. I don't usually like books written in the first person, but this book is done well.
