A Short Talk with Steve Rzasa

Today we have Steve Rzasa with us. We’ve interviewed Steve before (you can find his original interview here), but we thought we would visit with Steve again and see what’s been happening besides a new book coming out, new covers, and life in general as a multi-published author.

Please welcome Steve Rzasa!

1) You’re a multi-book published author now. Do you do things differently now than you did back when you first started writing? Do you still get excited with each new book/series?

I plot and outline more than I used to. Doesn’t mean I don’t do things by the seat of my pants anymore, because really, where’s the fun in that? Every new idea and project is exciting, by virtue of the fact that they’re new – I’ve never done (x) before. It’s the unknown of what’s going to happen is what pulls me along.

2) Going off of the question above, how do you keep things fresh as a writer?

Reading both fiction and nonfiction gives me ideas, and looking for new trends or wacky ideas in technology. History is fertile ground for story ideas, because the bare bones of historical fact can be adapted into new novels. The best thing, though, is to daydream. You never know what character or scenario is going to materialize.

3) Is there a genre out there that you hope to write in someday, or are you happy with the fantasy/science fiction world?

I’ve joked about writing a romance novel, only from a guy’s perspective, because my wife and I comment to each other about the common tropes in those kinds of books. Probably won’t happen. I’m content with both genres, though I’d like to do some more steampunk besides Crosswind and Sandstorm. A monster-themed novel would be fun, too.

Ooo, a monster-themed novel sounds fun!

4) What is the best comment someone ever made about your books?

Several people have told me they couldn’t stop reading one of my books, which gives me chills, and makes me thankful I’ve been given this opportunity. But by far the most humbling was one man who told me reading about Baden Haczyk’s discovery of the Bible in The Word Reclaimed and its impact on him in The Word Unleashed prompted him to reinforce his own exploration of Scripture.

Wow! I agree, that is an amazing comment!

5) If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice at the beginning of your writing career, what would it be?

I’d tell myself not to worry so much about what other people think, and to set concrete writing goals. Whether or not you meet them, such goals provide mileposts and motivation for a project. Never occurred to me to set them up until about a year and a half ago.

6) What are your future plans?

I have a superhero novel that I’ll either get published by someone or do on my own. Likewise for a short novel set in the near future about automated cars. Plus, there’s several story worlds I want to revisit. So for the immediate future, at least, I’ll keep plugging along and churning out pages.

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Steve, it was great catching up with you again. And for our readers, check out the new covers for Steve’s Face of the Deep series (including his newest book, The Word Endangered, now available in ebook).

The Word Reclaimed The Word Unleashed Broken Sight The Word Endangered