Bemidji, Minnesota—not usually equated with being a hotbed
of cultural style—has per-capita, perhaps, a stable of authors who can hold
their own with the denizens of the smarmiest of literary abodes. Even though he
now lives elsewhere, I would like to spotlight one of these folks in
particular. I present to you, a dear friend of mine, the talented author, Wade
Alan Steele. He is the author of PLAGUE SEED and other fantastical delicacies.
So, we went to school
together, you and I. Seems like an eternity
ago to most, but like yesterday to us writers who never forget anything. Now,
we sang in choir, you acted in many a production, but never, not even once, did
I hear you mention writing as an interest. So, when and how did you first get
the bug for this thing?
I blame New York City Transit.
I had just graduated from the National Shakespeare
Conservatory (1995) in NYC and had escaped the next logical career step as an
actor, being a waiter. I was working at
a new movie theater in uptown Manhattan and was
living in Brooklyn at the time. This meant an hour commute by subway. I wasn’t making very good money, certainly
not enough to do a lot of book shopping, and I had a fine at the Brooklyn
Public Library that was growing by the week, so I was reading the same books
over and over again. I was also dating a
lovely woman from Staten Island – another
trek, believe me – and had a great deal of time to kill in transit.
I purchased a Mead Composition Book. I had done some writing in high school and
college, but had never finished a story, so I decided I would use that wasted
subway and Staten Island Ferry time to write.
I started with a poem to the woman I was dating: “It was her
autumn eyes that began my fall”. As I
continued writing, it started to sound like a character, and he sounded like a
jerk. I have been a Dungeons and Dragons
player since the age of 13, so I had a whole world already built—I threw the
character into that world and into a brothel.
Because why not? The poem became
the first chapter of the Plague Fall Trilogy.
Six filled to the last page Mead Composition Books
later I had finished a story. I was
hooked.
Writing means a lot
of different things to a lot of different people. What are some of your
long-term goals? How ‘bout short-term?
Originally I saw dollar signs, someone optioning the book
for a movie, mad bling—I’m not ruling those things out, but my goal now is to
finish book two and three in the next year and a half and tell a good story.
The hardest part of the self-publishing path, especially on
a shoestring budget, is that you have every job; writing, marketing, web
design, book trailer creator—all of it falls to you. I spend money where it matters; an awesome
editor, Lexi Klenow and a crazy talented cover artist, John Amor, but the rest
of it, all me. I have serious respect
for those self-published folk who can not only turn out awesome material, but
also execute the backstage things so well.
It’s a crazy learning curve, takes up a lot of creative time, and I’ve
got a lot to learn.
I have a survival job and am a father of two rambunctious
boys, so my creative/business planning time is short (when it comes) and often
happens either late at night (like now) or before sunrise, but it will always
get done. I’ve got a story to tell, damn
it. It will get done.
Plague Seed (book one
in your planned trilogy) has managed nothing but positive reviews, with many
reviewers clamoring for the next installment. Can you give us an indication of
how long this wait may be? Any advance plot-lines you’d care to share with the
public at this time?
Plague War, Book Two of the Plague Fall Trilogy is with the
editor as we speak and my cover artist is working on the layout for the
cover. My hope is for a late February,
early March release.
I am 25,000 words into Plague Fall, the final novel in the
trilogy, and am very happy with it so far.
I am shooting for same release time 2015.
The events of Plague Seed, book one, were unkind to our
hero, Drayvus Varden, banished elven knight turned professional mischief maker
and killer, but as the novel closed it looked as if he would start down the
hero’s path. Plague War finds Drayvus
trying to drink himself to death in the makeshift refuge village
of Gate Town—he’s Nick Cage-ing the
place Leaving Las Vegas style; Leaving
Gate Town,
that’s what I’ve been calling the first third of the book. He needs to be dragged kicking and screaming
to save his people from the disease he was used to bring back.
Any plans for other
future new projects that you can share?
I’ve got a few ideas I’m very passionate about.
Being a horror writer, you probably know a
little bit about witch hunting.
There is
a 15
th century witch hunter’s manual called The Malleus Maleficarum,
or the Witch Hammer, written by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, two
Dominican monks.
It is a hateful
handbook, sanctioned by the church, laying out the process of finding,
interrogating, and setting up a trial for an accused witch.
The Malleus Maleficarum became the standard
guide to the massive witch burnings of the Inquisition.
I would like to write a historical fiction
novel using this book as source material.
I also have a comic book in the works with my cover
artist, John Amor called Geek Gods, about five 13 year old roleplaying geeks
who find a planet in a box and become gods to its inhabitants. That one has been in the works for a while,
but it’s going to be worth the wait!
Amor’s work is really stunning. (http://johnamorartist.com/)
I happen to know
several of your best-kept secrets, the fact you find the song “Talk Dirty To
Me” by Poison a guilty pleasure not least of which. But please, it’s been a
long time. What can you share with my blog-readers that they might not know by
visiting you on social media?
Dear lord. Can it get
anymore embarrassing than “Talk Dirty to Me”?
I am still lost in that era of music, man. Can’t help myself. Love the Hair Band stations on Pandora!
I’m a TV junkie like you wouldn’t believe. Love my Supernatural, Community, and Parks
and Recreation. Really quite dull. There’s my secret; I am really quite dull!
What advice might you
give to an aspiring writer who is just trying to break in to the madness?
Read. Read multiple
styles and genres. Get to know what you
like, what you don’t like; what works for you, what doesn’t. Pick up a strange
history book or a repair manual. Read
that. Inspiration can come from the
least expect places.
Write. Write every
chance you get. When you start writing
crap, keep writing; the likelihood that something brilliant will come next is
greater than if you let crap writing defeat you.
Get yourself a copy of The Elements of Style or, at the very
least, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style. No matter how brilliant you are in this
regard, you will always learn something useful.
Share. Share your
writing with someone you trust. I have
something called the final “Wife Read”.
My wife is the world’s greatest reader!
If a sentence passes the wife test, I’m golden; I know I have a sentence
that kills.
Hire an editor. If
you’re going to spend money, do it here.
You want your finished product to sparkle. I rushed into my first self-publishing
endeavor; a book of short stories called A Sudden Dominance of Shadows. The stories could have used a copy and story
editor to be sure. Some day I will
revisit the book; there are many worthwhile tales in there.
The first grammatical or formatting error will cause even
the most forgiving reader to drop your book like a hot stone. Dress that child of yours up!
What’s the best way
for your fans to connect with you?
I am a social media pygmy, but I’m trying to build a greater
online presence.
Any last words? (You
are being interviewed on a horror author’s website, after all).
A few. First, thanks
for sharing your corner of the internet with me. I miss you, bro! Now that I am a Minnesotan once more, we must
needs hang! Second, read Plague Seed. It
is Joss Whedon meets Dungeons and Dragons.
It’s a lot of fun and touching too.
Swords, dragons, elves, dwarves and… heart. Ha!
Yup, I do my own marketing!
So,
there you have it! Thank you so much, my friend, for allowing me the interview,
and for dressing up my blog with flare and moxie. And here’s to—hopefully not
in the too-distant future—you and I sitting around the fire with snotty drinks
in hand. We will discuss the old days, the new days, and toast to the small
dent we have managed to put in the publishing world.
