Author Interview: Steve De Winter

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the books that you write?

Steve is a #1 Bestselling Amazon Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Author who also co-authored a fantasy novel with Charles Dickens. Yes! That Charles Dickens.

His books have hit #1 on the Amazon Children's Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Bestseller list and his adult thrillers reached as high as lucky #13 on the Amazon Action & Adventure Bestseller list. He also has the distinction of having nine books in the top twenty of the Amazon Children's Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Bestseller list all at the same time.

Check out his books on Amazon: http://bit.ly/SteveDeWinter-AZ

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Do you remember the title of the first story you wrote?

Actually, I do. It was called Second Thoughts. I wrote about eleven pages before abandoning the whole thing because I was young and had other things to do. I still have the little grey notebook in my bookshelf with the original pages I wrote. While I may have abandoned that story, the concept became the basis for my second thriller in the Peacekeepers X-Alpha series, The Warrior’s Code.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I write with a word count goal for the day. Sometimes I can hit that word count by noon and others days it takes me until 11PM to reach my goal. Each day is different but I am always making progress on my story by holding myself to a specific daily word count goal—no matter what.

Where do you find inspiration?

Inspiration hits me out of the blue from all directions at all times. I keep a “garden” of story ideas that I plant as soon as they happen and then I tend to them to help them grow and mature and only pluck them for the next project when they are fully developed.

What have you learned about publishing that you didn’t know about when you first started writing?

Wow! I have learned a lot that I didn’t even know I had to learn. So much that it’s tough to decide where to start. When I first started, the eBook revolution was well under way and, after countless rejections (okay, over forty in six months - I counted) I decided to take the plunge and self-publish. That first book did well and I determined to do better with the next. After a few false starts (all that learning I had no idea I needed) I finally built a team around me of volunteers (beta readers) and paid contractors (editing/proofing) to ensure that my end products were at the same level of quality as the books coming out from any established major publisher.

I guess what I’m saying is that the one thing I learned the most is that publishing is not a solitary endeavor if you want to do it right. You need a village to get that baby into its best form for readers to enjoy.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I really enjoy playing video games ranging from the ancient ASCII Text games to the latest XBOX games. I don’t judge!

Can you tell us about your future projects?

My next project is Oliver Twist: Victorian Vampire, a mashup of the Charles Dicken’s novel, Oliver Twist. After that I begin work on B is for Bewitched, the next book in the A is for Apprentice series.

Connect with Steve:

Website: http://www.stevedw.com/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjmIgg9SlVlT0kwIJuI8Npw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mythmakersdw

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevedw

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+SteveDeWinter

Steve’s Latest Book Releases:

A is for Apprentice

(eBook Available for Pre-Order – Print and eBook Release Date: November 2^nd, 2015)

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015WZJMDS

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1122718460

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/a-is-for-apprentice