Bestselling author Steven James was gracious enough to take the time to answer a few of my questions—even though he was the keynote speaker at the writers conference and had a ton on his plate. Steven is genuine and funny, and it was such a pleasure to meet him. He writes Young Adult and Adult thrillers, and he is a captivating speaker. Before we jump into the interview, here is a little bit about him.
Bio
Steven James is a national bestselling novelist whose award-winning, pulse-pounding thrillers continue to gain wide critical acclaim and a growing fan base. His latest novel, SYNAPSE, a near-future thriller, was a finalist at the International Book Awards in the Science Fiction category. Steven deftly weaves intense stories of psychological suspense with deep philosophical insights. Equipped with a unique Master’s Degree in Storytelling, he has taught writing and storytelling on four continents over the past two decades and has spoken more than two thousand times at events spanning the globe. In his podcast “The Story Blender,” he interviews leading storytellers in film, print, and web. His short fiction has appeared in more than eighty different publications, including Writer’s Digest and the New York Times. When Steven isn’t writing or speaking, you’ll find him trail running, playing basketball, or drinking dark roast coffee near his home in the Appalachian Highlands of Eastern Tennessee.
Interview
Steven, you started your career writing nonfiction books, and then you switched to writing thrillers. What made you branch out?
One day, I read a thriller that was well-known and a best seller. I got to the end, and I was so disappointed with it I actually threw it against the wall. I was like, “If that’s the best that’s out there, I can do better than that.” I heard this little voice inside me say, “Oh yeah, prove it.”
So, I wanted to write a thriller that will thrill, have a twist, and be a story that I would want to read. I went to my publisher, who’s doing some nonfiction with me, and told them I really wanted to write a novel. I asked if I needed to write the whole thing before I send it in, and they said to just send in fifty pages. I sent them fifty pages of what became The Pawn, my first novel. They gave me a 3 book deal, and I started writing novels.
That’s a relatively quick entrance into a fiction writing career. What is one thing going into this profession that you wish you would have known earlier?
That it doesn’t get easier. For some people maybe it gets easier, but I found that it actually doesn’t get easier for me because I become more critical of my work. I have done eighteen novels and been writing a long time. I’ve noticed that now when I’m writing I’m much more attuned to—that doesn’t work, I shouldn’t do that—things I didn’t know back in 2005.
I’ve developed, either through reading and research or writing, and so I kind of thought it would get easier. You get better, but it actually becomes more fine-tuning and critical. I’m not happy with my work as much as I might have been fifteen years ago. I did not know that. I mean, for some people it may get easier and that’s fantastic, but I just find the more I learn about writing the more I really want to strive for excellence and so then I’m more critical of my work.
So how do you keep always improving and expanding your writing skills after all these years?
One thing I feel is important is to take risks. So, I did eleven books in one series, the Patrick Bowers novels, and all of those were really good ideas and I was happy with what I did. But I really felt towards the end that I wanted to tell fresh and new stories. So, I stopped that series. Then I wrote a sci-fi novel, which I had never done before, and started a brand new series.
For me personally, I feel like, if you don’t continue to stretch yourself, you won’t continue to grow as a writer. You can make a lot of money writing formulaic stories. Just look at Law and Order. Every single episode is exactly the same down to the minute. If that’s your way, more power to you. You’re going to make a lot of money, and you don’t have to work that hard. But, for me, it’s a little different. I feel like every story I tell I want to tell it different. I don’t want to follow a formula and a template, and I like to stretch and continue to grow.
Speaking of trying new things, your latest book is Synapse, a science fiction novel you branched out to write. Tell us about it.
It happens thirty years in the future when machines have free-will, self-awareness, and consciousness. A lot of things have been done on artificial intelligence, but what about artificial belief? When machines can have free-will to believe what they wish, what will that cause and how will that impact society?
There’s one robot in the book who remembers a previous owner who actually had taken her life. Her husband cheated on her, and she didn’t want to live unloved. She left a message. The robot found her when she was dying and saw that message, “I don’t want to live unloved,” so he let her die. Now he regrets that. He did love her, not in a romantic sense, but he did love her and yet let her die.
So, he says to this women who’s a minster in the book (she’s the main character), “How do you find forgiveness?” She says to ask the person to forgive you. He’s like, “What if you can’t? Will God forgive me for what I did?” She’s like, “You’re a machine. You don’t have to worry about God forgiving you for what you have done.” But he says, “I am a morally free agent, and I made a choice that I regret. If I can’t find forgiveness, what hope is there for me.” So, it’s very fascinating, I think. It’s climbing into the perspective of this robot. I tried to explore the dynamics of knowledge, faith, redemption—all of these things within the realm of a thriller. It sounds philosophical, and it asks big questions, but it’s heart is a sci-fi thriller.
So, what projects are you working on now?
I have a thriller that comes out this winter. It’s the start of a brand new thriller series. I’m working on the second book in that now. And then, I have a book coming out on storytelling in August. It’s called The Art of the Tale. It’s more on how to tell stories than write them, but a lot of the principles are the same as writing. It’s fun. So, I’m trying to promote that, get ready to promote my new novel, finish the novel I am working on, and I’m halfway through another novel that I started over the pandemic. I have a few irons in the fire.
My last question is this, if you could give aspiring authors one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t self publish. Because what happens with so many people is they send out a book to a publisher or agent, and then they get rejected. Then they say, “I’ll just put it on Amazon and see how it does.” Then afterwards, they get more serious about writing and they really want to get a publisher for the next book. Publishers will look at your sales, and they will see you sold 14 copies. If you sold 14,000, they might be interested in picking up the rights and so on. But it’s unlikely.
I just see so many people who end up in a bad spot because they’re like, “I’ll just do this first.” Before you press that button to publish your book on Amazon or Kindle or wherever, really evaluate if that’s the right route for you.
If you have one book in you and you’re like this is the book I always wanted to write for my grandkids, then fantastic! That is perfect for you. You can get your book out, and your grandkids can get it and read it. Or, if you are a speaker and you speak at events all over the country and you want to have a book available to sell in the back of the room, fantastic! That’s perfect for you because you”ll make more money and sell them yourself.
But for most authors, well…the people that I know who do really well self-publishing spend 40-50% of their time marketing. So, if want to spend five hours a day asking your friends on Facebook to buy your book, then it might be a good choice for you. If you don’t want to do that and you just want to tell stories, traditional publishing might be a better fit.
The only reason I say all this is I just meet so many people whose dreams have been dashed because they think they can make all this money with Facebook and Amazon. They try it, and the book is out there and not doing well. I just wish people would hit pause before they jump in. Evaluate if that’s the right choice for them. Look before you leap.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed talking with Steven one-on-one at the conference. He has years of experience and a lot of knowledge to go with it. My main takeaways were: always strive to improve your writing and make a career plan before you jump into action.
Thanks for reading!
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