#sffwrtcht

Stephen Wallenfels lives in the sunny desert of Eastern Washington. He enjoys spending time with his wife, and when the stars align, his Seattle-based son. His activities include any sport that uses a racquet, backpacking, reading, movies and cooking. POD is his first novel. He is currently on book two of the POD trilogy.

Learn more about Steve at www.stephenwallenfels.com

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SFFWRTCHT: When did you decide to start writing? How did you begin?
Stephen Wallenfels: I decided that I wanted to write for a living when I was in high school.

SFFWRTCHT: Did you study writing in school? How did you learn your craft?
Stephen Wallenfels: I took creative writing in college. I learned my craft at conventions, workshops, and reading books on writing. And collecting rejections like battle scars.

SFFWRTCHT: How long did you write until your first sale? What was that?
Stephen Wallenfels: Six years (not counting high school). My first published piece was a short story in National Racquetball about a magic racquet. I used the $50 check to buy an electric typewriter. Yup, it was that long ago.

SFFWRTCHT: What aspect of POD came first? Characters? Plot? Setting?
Stephen Wallenfels: The first aspect was the idea. Then the voice—Josh. Once my characters start talking, then the rest falls into place.

SFFWRTCHT: What sort of pre-writing did you do for POD? Did you outline?
Stephen Wallenfels: POD was originally a short story from Josh’s POV. I decided to turn it into a novel, and added Megs. I did some outlining (more like a time-line of events) but not willingly.

SFFWRTCHT: What’s your writing time look like? Planned time? Grab it when you can?
Stephen Wallenfels: It’s a bit of both. I write from 4:30am-6:00am on weekdays, then whenever I can on weeknights and on weekends.

To read our review of POD, click here.

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