Joab Stieglitz was born and raised in the Warren, New Jersey. He is an Application Consultant for a software company. He has also worked as a software trainer, a network engineer, a project manager, and a technical writer over his 30 year career. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Joab is an avid tabletop RPG player and game master of horror, espionage, fantasy, and science fiction genres, including Savage Worlds (Mars, Deadlands, Agents of Oblivion, Apocalypse Prevention Inc, Herald: Tesla and Lovecraft, Thrilling Tales, and others), Call of Cthulhu, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and Pathfinder.
Joab channeled his role-playing experiences in the Utgarda Series, which are pulp adventure novels with Lovecraftian influences set in the 1920’s.
Website Address: http://joabstieglitz.com
Twitter Address: @joabstieglitz
Facebook Address: https://www.facebook.com/rantingsofawanderingmind
About the Book:
An Innocent Favor for a Dying Old Friend…
Fifty years ago, a group of college friends dabbled in the occult and released a malign presence on the world. Now, on his deathbed, the last of the students, now a trustee of Reister University enlists the aid of three newcomers to banish the thing they summoned.
Russian anthropologist Anna Rykov, doctor Harry Lamb, and Father Sean O’Malley are all indebted the ailing trustee for their positions. Together, they pursue the knowledge and resources needed to perform the ritual.
Hampered by the old man’s greedy son, the wizened director of the university library, and a private investigator with a troubled past, can they perform the ritual and banish the entity?
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Interview:
Would you call yourself a born writer?
I have been writing all my life. I wrote stories for myself as a child. In college, I excelled at classes that had papers (as opposed to tests). In my various jobs in the computer networking world, I have gravitated toward writing tasks, such as requirements, training, and policies and procedures.
My writing career really started when I decided to hunker down a write a chapter a week. I was reasonably successful, writing and publishing my first three books in roughly six months each. The constraints of my day job reduced my time over the last year or two, so book four took about nine months, and book five is still in progress.
What was your inspiration for The Old Man’s Request?
I am a big role-player and have written numerous adventures, character backgrounds, and other material for a variety of genres. I took notes of the games I ran over the years, and ideas from some of those became the inspiration for my books. I am also a history buff, especially with respect to the 19th and 20th centuries, which provide source material as well.
What themes do you like to explore in your writing?
I like to introduce obscure historical figures and events into my stories. Other than that, my works are pulp escapism.
How long did it take you to complete the novel?
Writing and publishing a novel was a life goal. I had started writing a Tolkeinesque journey tale in the 90’s in dribs and drabs “when the muse hit me.” Twenty-five years and 300 pages later, that story had changed in terms of plot, tone, and style. I considered revising or even restarting it, but instead I decided to start fresh with another idea that had been on the shelf all that time. So I sat down and wrote one chapter a week. Using that method, I published my first three novels in six months each from start to finish.
Are you disciplined? Describe a typical writing day.
I try to write a 1500-2000 word chapter each week, but that is constrained by the requirements of my day job, running/playing in several games each week (which does provide inspiration for future projects), and my family.
What did you find most challenging about writing this book?
Writing the books was the easy part. I outlined the plots in terms of 10 chapters each. As I composed, some chapters expanded to two or three. I followed my outlines fairly closely. The most challenging aspect of this enterprise has been promotion.
What do you love most about being an author?
I enjoy the creativity, but also hearing that people have read and enjoyed my work.
Did you go with a traditional publisher, small press, or did you self publish? What was the process like and are you happy with your decision?
When I wrote the first book, The Old Man’s Request, I didn’t write it to sell. I wanted to achieve publication. So I went with Createspace. The publishing process was simple and I am happy with the product.
Where can we find you on the web?
My books are all available in Kindle, paperback, and audiobook formats on Amazon. Readers can also follow me at joabstieglitz.com.
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