Q&A with Lee Stephen, Author of the Epic Universe Series

Lee and I have been corresponding since he stumbled onto this site via a Gooogle search. I’ve admired his works for their tight plotting, great character development, and unapologetic devotion to telling a fulfulling story. After we had talked for a while, Lee agreed to do a two-part interview for me. The first portion will be today, the second portion will go up next Friday. If you have additional questions, please include them in the comments thread below.

With no further ado, I give you Lee Stephen.

1. If someone has never heard of you, why would they/should they read your books?

I am a very different kind of author. I’ve been blessed with a lot of positive feedback from fans, and one of my favorite things to hear is,”I’ve never read anything like this before.” That’s exactly what I aim for. What you’re essentially letting with Epic is an intensely character-driven story, presented in what I hope is an attention-grabbing way. I’ve seen called a “new comprehensible” on this very site, which I think is fitting. At times, Epic reads almost like a screenplay. That’s intentional. I want you to wonder, as you’re reading my books, why they aren’t movies yet.

You’ll also get a lot of unrestricted energy. Being independent, I’m free to write whatever I want at whatever pace I want. I don’t have to rush anything to meet deadlines, nor do I have to explain the choices I made to publishing houses in order to get approval. Everything, from the story to the cover art, I have control over decision-wise. Being a
self-admitted control freak when it comes to my universe, I couldn’t do it any other way.

You hear a lot of politicians talking about going in “new directions.” I want to do that, too, in the literary sense. There are a lot of great military sci-fi books out there, many of which you’ve reviewed on this site. I want Epic to be great, too, just in a different way. It’s also going to be a long series. There are eight books already tabbed, and I’m not opposed to opening the universe up more once the main series is through. I want the amount of content to rival Star Wars and Battletech.

2. Some authors are passionate about a subject, while others view themselves as a storyteller. Still others view themselves as artists, with a blank page as their canvas. What drives you to write fiction?

It would have to be a passion for creation. I’ve been writing since I was in third grade, making books out of folded construction paper and yarn. There’s nothing else I do that gives me the satisfaction of telling a story through words, and bringing whoever chooses to read it along for the ride. Some people were born to be doctors, or architects, or athletes. I was born to write. I want to entertain. For me, the purpose of fiction is escapism. You can’t tie the Earth of Epic into the Earth that we live in. It’s like a parallel dimension, as it’s meant to be. When you’re reading Epic, I want you to forget about everything else. Reading should be fun. If I can make you think at the same time, all the better.

3. Many authors cite one or more people who have a large influence on their style. Who are your major influences?

Actually, it’s kind of a funny story. I had been writing for a few years, and my parents always kept up with what I was doing. They’re both big Epic fans. One day, after “Dawn of Destiny” was written and done, my mother finds me and tells me she wants to show me something. She hands me this little typed children’s story. I read it, and I couldn’t believe how well it was written. I asked her where she got it, and she told me she wrote it.

Obviously you can only compare military science-fiction and children’s literature so much. But when I read her story, I could tell where I got my ability to write. My mother is a very gifted writer who just hasn’t written anything yet (I’m working on her). So I guess my knack for writing is partially genetic. Both of my parents have always encouraged me to write, since I was a kid. I owe them a lot.

There is one author who has been monumental in mentoring me, and that’s Barbara Colley. She’s not science fiction; she’s actually a cozy mystery writer. We know each other through church. She essentially took me under her wing and showed me the ropes of literature. She taught me how to write the right way to compete in the business. Is my writing like hers? Not really – we deal with totally different genres and styles. But she really opened up my eyes to a lot of things. If you don’t mind my plugging her, her website is here: http://www.eclectics.com/barbaracolley-annelogan/ . Please, check her out.

4. What three works of fiction had the most profound impact on you as a writer?

This is a tough, tough question, partially because I rarely have time to read anymore. For all three of these, I have to dig back to the days of my youth.

I’d have to put Michael Crichton’s “Sphere” in there. I’ve probably read that book more than any other, ever. I’ve always loved Crichton, and even though I haven’t had a chance to get into him lately, in my childhood he was my  favorite, hands-down. “Sphere” hit the nail on the head when it came to building atmospheric suspense. I’d stick Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” there as well. Very well written, original fiction. I can still recite a lot of its tales
verbatim, and I haven’t picked the book up in years. Then again, this is Ray Bradbury we’re talking about. He should be somewhere on every sci-fi writer’s list.

There were several books I could have chosen as my third on this list, but I’m going to go with one that I absolutely loved as a kid. It had absolutely nothing to do with science-fiction, but nonetheless was a huge part of getting me into literature. It was called “Sideways Stories from Wayside School,” written by Louis Sachar. This was an incredible
example of character development, as literally every student at Wayside School had their own personality and story. It was also a very humorous novel, and as anyone who’s read Epic knows, there’s definitely a necessary aspect of humor. If you have young kids, seriously consider grabbing Sachar’s Wayside series for them. I can’t imagine a child not
loving them.

Whether or not any of these books influenced what I write, or the style that I write, I really don’t know. Nonetheless, they all got me excited about literature at a very young age. Obviously, that’s important for an author.

5. What types of fiction do you typically read? What types of non-fiction? What are you reading right now?

If you throw me in a bookstore with a “ten free books” coupon, I’ll probably walk out with ten non-fiction books. I much prefer non-fiction over fiction, and that’s just because I find the world so fascinating. I love nature. I have so many books about outer space, nature, history, cultures, religion…you name it. This Christmas, my fiancée surprised me with a massive, coffee-table sized “Oxford Atlas of the World.” I could flip through it for hours. So far as fiction goes, when I do find time to read today, I typically avoid mainstream literature. I find that independent authors have so much to say. There are really some outstanding series out there that many people have never heard of, because they aren’t owned by massive publishers. Case in point, Robert Fannéy’s “Luthiel” series. He’s a solo publisher, like myself, and he writes fantasy. The guy’s sold upwards of ten thousand books. If you know anything about the literary industry, you know how ridiculous that is for someone doing it independently. The guy is a machine.

Right now, I’m reading a new series that I can’t talk about, because it’s not released yet. But when it is, boy, is it going to turn some heads (and no, it’s not my own work).

6. What is your definition of a good book? What makes a book good? Can a book be well written, yet still be awful?

There are really four things that make a book good to me: honesty, heart, cohesion, and cohesion. Honesty and heart go hand-in-hand for me. Writing honestly means writing something even if it hurts you to write it, because it’s real. You’ve got to gun for the truth, especially when characters and emotions are concerned. Without heart, a book will just fail. You can tell in the first few pages if the author genuinely cares about what he or she is writing about. I’d rather read a poorly written book with heart than a grammatical masterpiece written just to make money. With that said, though, cohesion is a big part of it for me. Make everything line up, have good, solid pacing, and make me feel like everything in the book has a point. Writing a book is like conducting an orchestra. You’ve got to know everything well enough to bring it all
together in the end.

Concerning well-written books that are “awful,” I’m really not sure I have an answer. “Awful” is such a relative term. What one person thinks is awful, another could think is breathtaking. You can dig up the worst book on the face of the Earth, and there was probably one person who enjoyed it. For them, it wasn’t awful. It was great. Are there well-written books I think are awful? Yes. I could name a few. But like everything else artistic in nature, it’s all subjective in the end.

7. When did you start writing?

I wrote my first book in third grade English class, and we wrote a book every year until middle school. They were just goofy little stories, the typical kind of thing a kid would write. I didn’t start writing seriously until I hit college and  decided that this is what I wanted to do. It’s been all-Epic ever since.

8. Did you start writing novel-length fiction, or have you written short stories? If so, are any published?

I have written short stories before, even outside of school, but none of them have been published. I actually have an impressive collection of literature that no one will ever read involving Scott Remington of the Epic series before he became “Scott Remington of the Epic series.”That’s one of the reasons I feel so comfortable writing him. I’ve been
writing him since I was fifteen, in various forms.