Q & A with the Author
Why release two separate novels at the same time?
My background is in marketing, and while writing for the past decade I studied—a lot. I’ve always tried to zig when others zag throughout my professional career.
Competing for attention in publishing is brutal, especially with people reading less than ever.
We’ve become a binge culture. We don’t want to wait a week for a new television episode, and if we find an author we enjoy, we forget about them before a new book hits the shelves.
Today, 98% of fiction books sell less than 1,000 copies. I have little to lose by attempting something different. So, why not?
These books, In Eddy We Trust and The Hour of Noon, are not part of a series. Each stands alone, and, as far as I could research, a new author releasing two unrelated debut works has never been done. Or it’s not happened often. Often in life, you have to take a chance to get noticed. My mother used to say, “Sometimes those who play hard to get don’t get got.”
Wait. It took you ten years to write this book?
It took that long to write both books. But I spent most of that time on Eddy. I bit off an enormous project. As a new author, I didn’t know that writing in the first person is very difficult. I wasn’t aware that flashbacks added to the complexity. And then, I wrote in the voice of multiple characters—also challenging. I was, shall we say, uninformed? But writing a novel was a personal dare, so who cared?
Still. Over a decade? Why?
Fear of rejection. It's like dressing up your child and putting them on the bus for the first day of school. It horrified me that the world might tell me my baby, babies, sucked.
And now?
Thankfully, I’ve reached the age where I don’t care. If readers appreciate my book, they then they do. If not, that’s okay. This is my journey.
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These two books are not part of a series?
Nope. Two separate novels with original characters, themes, and purposes.
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Are these your first novels?
Yes, they are. Years ago, I published a well-received novella – I Believe in You.
I wrote In Eddy We Trust first as a personal dare. Over the years, I’ve freelanced a few articles and written advertising copy, but those were never more than a few thousand words. I wondered if I had the discipline to complete a full-length novel. To my surprise, I did.
It was painful work, to be honest. I did not know how much went into writing a novel.
What was most shocking was how real the characters became to me. I know these people. They live and breathe in my mind the same as anyone I’ve ever met, and I found that addictive. It’s a bit god-like, creating life, giving them sentience, and allowing their stories to flow through my keyboard—what a blast.
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​Where did you get the inspiration for The Hour of Noon?
Years ago, I was chatting with a young neighbor. We often discussed philosophical, what-if topics while sitting on the staircase of our apartment complex. She asked if it was possible that we were friends in another lifetime, and perhaps we agreed to meet again, and that started my creative wheels turning.
​Later, I needed to process a painful loss. The two concepts combined into this story.
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And the impetus for In Eddy We Trust?
That one is weird. I met Eddy while jogging in a Denver neighborhood. The story is his, but one that I dressed up for reading. He shared stories of many people whom society would consider losers or failures. Eddy discussed redemption and overcoming mistakes. He talked about how quickly every life can change if only we dare to believe.
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The Hour of Noon discusses the nature of love and explores intense emotional pain. Have you endured such extreme feelings?
Just a tad.
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You’ve also written nonfiction books. Few authors juggle both. Why do that?
Money. The nonfiction I write to support my business. I lead history and ghost tours in my little town, and the nonfiction titles document the early days of my community. Writing fiction is my passion. The others are business. But it is a fun part of that business.
Both novels tackle deep concepts. You write about the power of belief, reincarnation, loneliness, regrets, transformation, and redemption. That’s heavy stuff.
I love books that are entertaining on a higher level, so I write what I’d want to read. I enjoy stories that make me think and challenge me without being preachy. Some of my favorite novels are The Life of Pi, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, 1984, and Atlas Shrugged. They are all marvelous stories with intriguing concepts winding throughout.
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Do you think you’re as talented as the writers you admire?
Goodness, no! I’m not a hack, but those authors are in a category all their own.
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Readers are often interested in the creative process. How do you write?
My style is how I imagine a Rorschach Test gets created. Honestly, there’s a good deal of avoidance in the early stages. While I love having a finished novel, I’m not wild about starting one.
Some prolific authors are machines, cranking out pages, day after day. I’m more akin to George R.R. Martin, with life pulling me in other directions. I’m on the hiking trails as often as on the keyboard.
When I write, it’s early morning with a big pot of coffee. I jump-start my brain, set my fingers on the keys, and begin typing.
​For me, the whole thing is similar to channeling. I don’t plan my stories—to me, that’s like flipping to the last page. Instead, I let the story dictate direction during the first draft. Somewhere around the book’s midway point, I conceive an ending and start working on that. Then I write backward—what led to the conclusion. At some point, I meet in the middle, and then, frustrated with myself and the process, I set it all aside and allow a marinating period. When I return to it (which might be months or years), I hash out plot holes, sometimes kill entire scenes or characters, expand others, and then add color—descriptions, details, and indulgences. Then comes editing, something I consider necessary, like flossing. And just as fun.
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It doesn’t sound as if you enjoy writing.
Writing is an exquisite pain. These first two books barged into my brain and refused to budge until I recorded them. It’s a love/hate relationship, for sure. I’d prefer drinking beer, hiking, or hanging out with Rez. But sometimes, a story whispers in my psyche, and if I don’t write it, I fear losing my mind. Perhaps I already have.
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Have any fresh stories taken residence in your mind?
No comment. But yes, dammit. Yes.
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Have a question you’d like to ask Steve?