Author Guest Post: An Authors Journey by Stephen Zimmer



Today I have author Stephen Zimmer with us to tell us about his authors journey.  I'm super excited to have him here with us today.  Enjoy!!!




An Authors Journey
By Stephen Zimmer

I would like to thank An Author’s Journey for inviting me to tell a little about my own journey, one that has had a number of twists and turns, ups and downs, and brought me to the point where I am today. 

My journey as an author really began during the earliest phase of my childhood, with significant contributions from both my mother and father.  


My mother always read books to me from my earliest of memories.  She taught me to read very quickly, such that I was far ahead of my peers when I entered Kindergarten.  In a way, she was homeschooling me before the concept was even a buzzword or popular practice like it is today! 
Around the age of seven, she read me The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I remember looking forward to my bedtimes and getting to adventure in Middle Earth with mom as my guide.  She also introduced me to Narnia, by getting me a boxed set of the Chronicles not too long after my introduction to Tolkien.  

As far as my father, he definitely contributed to the expanse of my imagination with all kinds of wild, improvised stories he would tell to me at night when I was very young.  He crafted a world where the dinosaurs I so loved and was into at the time existed, right alongside our family.  

I had a stuffed dog pillow, a basset hound, that also was brought to life in these stories as a living, breathing friend.  I remember having a T-Rex that was also my friend and companion in these stories, by the name of Tommy.  The basset hound, myself, Tommy, and my parents would go on all kinds of great adventures, and as a young child it was really exciting to have my own family starring in these tales.

I strongly credit both my mother and father with instilling a love of storytelling within me.  Their stories and the books they read to me opened my eyes to the unlimited possibilities of the imagination.  It also cultivated a love of fiction, reading, and creativity.  

It was not until late high school that I began to write with a much more serious intent.  From this period into the beginning of college, I ended up writing three full novels of a cross-genre, modern-setting series that may not ever see the light of day!   Nonetheless, the process served as a great training ground for me.  By the time that I was deeper into college, I knew I could finish a book, and had gotten a lot of practice in writing, even if the result was very unpolished and in need of refinement.  

It was during my college years, especially during my time at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, that my determination to really advance as an author set in.  It was during this time that the seeds of what would eventually become The Rising Dawn Saga and the Fires in Eden Series were planted and grown.  I had a very solid vision for the storylines and destinations of both series, and was able to proceed steadily.

Not long after I graduated from college, I finished early drafts of the first books of both series.  The feedback I got at that time was very constructive, indicating that I had the makings of something but that certain aspects need to be developed further.  Other things needed to be shored up and improved writing-wise.  I also got a deeper appreciation for research and what it could bring to the table when writing a larger-format series.

Taking all of that in stride, I spent the next few years rewriting, researching medieval history and cultures extensively, gaining more background on political and economic history with the modern era, and looking into a number of other subjects that related to the storylines in the epic fantasy and urban fantasy series.  At this point, everything began to take shape and I got the books to where I determined they were ready to be taken to the next step, in terms of finding an editor for publishing. 
That led to meeting Amanda DeBord, who became the editor of The Rising Dawn Saga and who also handled the first book of the Fires in Eden Series, Crown of Vengeance.  The two series have been published in an alternating fashion, with a book in one series following a book in the other.  As of now, three books are out in each series, with the fourth book of the Rising Dawn Saga about to come out.  

After my first published novel, The Exodus Gate, was out, and after attending a number of conventions, I received an opportunity to send in my first steampunk story, introducing my Harvey and Solomon characters who have since been in 3 of the Dreams of Steam anthologies from Dark Oak Press (formerly Kerlak Publishing).  I have also contributed short stories to Vampires Don’t Sparkle!, Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword, and recently had my first two single-author collections released, the fantasy-genre Chronicles of Ave, Volume 1 (set in the same world as the Fires in Eden Series), and my first horror genre release, Hellscapes, Volume 1.  

The growth of my short fiction has been wonderful and allowed me to explore some additional genres such as sword and sorcery, horror, and steampunk.  It also gives a nice change of pace in relation to writing the larger, ensemble-cast novels of my two main series.  

At this stage, I have been published in epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, horror, urban fantasy, and steampunk, making for a solid range in speculative fiction.  I have loads of ideas for stories, and look forward to exploring all kinds of literary territory in the future!  

As I look at things, the possibilities are limitless for the journey is one that is without end; of the kind that might echo a rather famous C.S. Lewis line, “Further up, and further in!”


Stephen


Be sure to connect with me at the following links:
Twitter: @sgzimmer


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Thanks Stephen for sharing this with us.  I hope you all enjoyed this great post. 

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Thank you for having me on your site! I really appreciated the chance to talk about my own road and had a lot of fun doing this post. Hope you enjoyed it! :) (and sorry about the deleted comment above, had a typo I needed to get rid of, LOL)

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  3. Hallo, Hallo Mr. Zimmer! :)

    I was quite intrigued with this interview, because although I knew bits and bobbles of the scope of your journey as a writer, yet there were a few things that caught my eye and learnt for the first time! For starters, both our Mums gave us a solid foundation in learning, creativity, and the thirst for knowledge!! And, we each had fathers who took an equal interest in our learning lives as much as our actual lives whilst growing up! :) I always hope that others are as blessed!

    And, curiously, we each began writing at the same time in our lives, or I should say, that was the time in which I tackled writing my first novel, but I was 'writing' long since then, but I always felt that it was the beginning nonetheless! :)

    Brilliant post!

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