Page 67 - Reader's House Magazine Issue 49

Red as Apple is a heartfelt exploration of family dynamics and personal growth. Keenan’s return to the farm unearths deep-seated emotions and unresolved con- flicts. The nostalgic references to He-Man and Wiffle ball add a charming touch to this poignant and relatable story.
and the personal connections he forges with his characters. Join us as we explore the mind of an author who dares to defy genre constraints and embraces the complexities of the human condition.
You describe your writing
as stories about outsiders, misfits, and those who have never fit in. What draws you to these themes, and how do they manifest in your books like Red as Apple and Into the Fracking Fields?
I wrestled in high school. They gave us school-issued headgear to
Steven W. Simon masterfully captures the essence of outsiders, crafting immersive narratives that resonate deeply with readers and defy convention.
near a nuclear reactor.
In the book, the uninhabitable zone, or, The Fields, is located
in the New Madrid Seismic
Zone, which encompasses Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Within The Fields, there’s a direct reflection on American disparities, either racial or sociological. While the prison camps are dystopian, are they really that different from many American experiences today? Is the “normal” town much better?
You write stories that do not necessarily fit into specific genres. How do you approach writing without the constraints of genre, and what challenges or freedoms does this offer you as an author?
I hope I write stories that are interesting. I want my readers
to see themselves in them, to
take something away. Most of what I write could be considered “general fiction.” It’s more than that, but I don’t know what to
call it. Maybe “Americana?” Think John Steinbeck mixed
with Jack Kerouac. I would
never portray myself as being
on their level, yet stylistically
that might be accurate. In terms
of finding an audience, being “genre-less” can be challenging. Digital marketing is a requirement and our internet is built on keywords, compartmentalization, and associations. If I were a horror author, there would be a more streamlined path to online success.
Balancing different types of writing, from novels to poetry, requires versatility. How do you transition between these forms, and what techniques
or practices help you maintain your creative flow across different projects?
There is a break between writing processes, usually several months. I’m not writing a narrative at the same time as poetry.
Novels, or more accurately, novellas, always start with a scene. Once that scene is set, it evolves into the characters and plot. I’m a notetaker as I write. What’s organically driving the story? What challenge is next? What would this character do?
Poetry originates from an observation. Is what I’m seeing absurd? Is it mundane? Or it starts with a feeling. Situational awareness and critical thinking is a priority when I write a poem.
failures, yet dedicated to his child. His brother, Keenan, is another part of me, and their sister is who I wish I was—life would feel so much simpler if I was. I wish I could be satisfied as a mid-level marketing manager and fall asleep on the couch with a ball game on the television.
You are an independent author. Why did you choose this route?
As an independent author, I have complete control of my work and marketing. I still work with an editor and cover artist, but I’m able to write without the constraints of ‘marketability.’
protect our ears from cauliflower ear. Freshman year, I took off my thick glasses and put on the headgear for the first time. I got down into a wrestling stance and squinted.
“Mole,” our assistant coach said. “He looks like a mole.” You know, those small, mostly blind mammals that live underground. From then on, that was my nickname, and I’ve continued to feel like that goofy, weird, short kid all these years later. I’ll never feel like I’m good enough. I’ll never call myself successful—but that drive to write, to create, is omnipresent.
Michael in Into the Fracking Fields is me as an adolescent. Unsure, wanting desperately to fit in. Ansel in Red as Apple is the adult me. Quiet, worn down by
The downside, of course, is that it’s all on me. Or maybe I chose this route due to insecurities. Perhaps I’m not that great of a writer. In the end, time makes all of this irrelevant and nothing really matters, and that’s okay.
In Into the Fracking Fields, the setting plays
a crucial role in the story. How did you research and
develop the setting, and what impact do you hope it has on readers’ understanding of the characters and their struggles?
Into the Fracking Fields straddles two worlds. The first, a destitute town in middle America. I took inspiration from the coal mining towns of Appalachia and the Rust Belt. Here, there was
no need to investigate anything. I’ve seen cities in disrepair, the palpable hopelessness, and that sense of abandonment.
The latter, the uninhabitable section, required researching
how plausible the world I imagined was and where it would be located. I needed to study hydraulic fracking and gas drilling accidents and find a location in a seismic zone with shale deposits
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