Meet Author Steven G Bassett
My blog this month is about a fellow author named Steven G. Bassett. I have done a previous piece on his sister, another local author, Jenny Offutt. I have had a lot of fun meeting and talking with the various local authors, some of them on-line and some in-person. Steven has some good things going on and I wanted to share them in my Q & A session I held with him, along with a few long discussions we had over a couple of cold beverages. I learn more from fellow authors than I anything else I do to work on my craft. Here are some things that you might want to know about my friend, Steven Bassett.
Q: Tell me why you started writing?
A: I always loved creative writing from back in my high school days. Mrs. Warren’s creative writing class gave me inspiration to write short stories, poems and songs of broken hearts from girls.
Writing a novel was always on my bucket list, but it took a near family tragedy with my son and wife on a float trip that finally motivated me and gave me the story to propel into a Christian Fiction. Writing that story took me to places and emotions that I found I loved creating and developing.
Q: What current works do you have available and where can they be purchased?
A: I have only one novel published so far and it is available on Amazon or my current website. stevengbassett.com which takes you to Amazon. It’s available in print or eBook.
I am working on a new psychological thriller series that will hopefully be released by late November. I have written the first book which is out being beta read and have nearly completed the second book and getting ready for first edit. I will soon start the third book and have a lot of the storyline formulated in my head. My goal is to be able to release a book every six to seven months to this series until completion. I have several future editions to this series working constantly inside my head. It’s my other world!
Q: How did you come up with the idea for “The Mason Jar” series?
A: It was going to be a stand-alone and I had completed it down to a happy ending for all. A dear friend read it and critiqued it along with helping me edit. She suggested rewrites in areas and to add even more thrill. She suggested that one-happy endings were not always possible for the circumstances I was writing about. In fact, they would seldom end like I had ended it. Two- she suggested turning it into an ongoing series, showing these changes in people that are possible and to build the characters making them deeper and more sinister or loving. Then create more conflicts and resolutions.
I went back to rewriting it and the story suddenly grew out of my control into something I couldn’t put down. I now love each character, both dark and light. These are like family now and it takes a twist within myself to allow them to be killed off, disappear, etc. The friends and some acquaintances that have read the first book, have told me they are hooked on the characters involved and feel a need to know what happens to them.
That is something as a writer that I take great love of hearing. It’s very motivating to a writer to hear such wonderful words of praise. It also holds me to a level now that makes writing more challenging.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
I have several local favorites. You Bill Rogers (Malcom Tanner) have become one. Several more in my local Springfield Writers Guild have become favorites. J.C. Fields, Drew Thorn, C.A. Simonson, my sister-in-law Kendra Nicholson, and my sister Jenny Offutt.
As far as well-known authors I would say my top three are: Stephen King, John Sanford and believe it or not Kristin Hannah. My all-time favorite book of recent is “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. The characters in that particular book really took me over. I suggest anyone of any genre to read that book, or listen to it on Audible.
Q: What advice would you give to authors just getting started?
A: Write! Use today’s modern technologies to your advantage. You can literally walk the streets of about anywhere through Google maps and be able to plot your stories with geographical accuracy. I am one that will look up places that I find interesting in books. I like seeing real places take place in fictional stories.
My other advice is to make yourself set aside some time each week. Think about your story while driving on trips or just before sleep. Have something by your side to jot down or record thoughts...you will forget them or their impact you were imagining them to have in your story, if you don’t record them for your later writing.
Ask advice from fellow writers. Join a group like I have like the Springfield Writers Guild and let them critique your work so you constantly grow.
Keep a thick skin because you can learn from silly mistakes or questions asked. Some people are NOT gentle in the way they “help” you with their critiques, but if you thicken your skin, you can learn so much from even those that aren’t so compassionate in their mentorship.
Also, be that caring voice and help to those who seek out information. This isn’t a game where one should fear another’s thoughts and aspirations. We are in this as writers together. We should love helping one another succeed in this artistry.
Q: What is your most and least favorite things about writing?
A: Losing what I’ve written and having to rework because of technical foolishness. Save often and keep current flash drives on your work. I save everything on multiples now. I carry one flash drive with me at all times and backups in several spots. My work is very important to me and I do not like losing it by my own hand!
My sister said I would hate self-editing and then final editing by an editor. I actually love it. My stories grow so much from editing that there is no way I could despise it. The cost is despicable. Rewrites can be challenging to get back into the zone. Grammar checks and spelling can be overwhelming. It would be nice to have someone to do all of those things that aren’t quite as fulfilling as creating new, but it’s all part of the process.
Q: What works do you have planned for the future?
A: My brain is going non-stop with new ideas. Sometimes I wish I could turn it off until I complete a project. I have several different projects going on most of the time. Right now, I have my series going, I’m co-writing a novel with Kendra Nicholson, my very talented sister-in-law. She just published “The Climb” which is a fiction based on a horrible loss of her son. It’s a wonderfully written story of a very tragic subject matter, but it is a MUST read.
I have a Christian Science Fiction partially down on paper, that I have side-lined because of other interests taking over.
Sometimes, I just see a building or someone walking down the street...maybe a magazine picture...BOOM...a story pops into my head. I think I need to do a collection of shorts one of these days.
Writing has become my escape and my drug. I can’t get enough of it...nor can I get enough time. I want to write, write, write because I’m afraid of the ideas going dormant on me. That would be my version of a hell on earth right now.
Q: What sites and contact information can you give our readers?
A: stevengbassett.com, I’m on Facebook, I am working on my new site elipope.com which is nowhere near finished but it is up and running.
I changed genres to a much darker side from my previous Christian Fiction and in order to maintain a separation of the two, I am now writing the Mason Jar Series under a pen name of Eli Pope.
Facebook author pages are:
FB.me/writerofchristianfiction
This Q & A session with Steven was fun to do. We have become friends over a short period of time talking about books and what we each have planned for the future. I hope you all give some thought to Steven’s works. I have been very impressed with what I have read thus far. See you later and don’t forget the monthly newsletter coming out soon.
