We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Dorning a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

In High School, probably in ’88 or 89, I had an English teacher who would always assign us creative writing. At that time, I was a very avid reader and didn’t mind those assignments that much. She would always end up reading my stories to the class. I was very shy and that embarrassed me to no end. She tried to encourage me to write, but it didn’t take. Fast forward to 2008 and an author friend of mine asked me to beta read the first of a series of fictional stories for her. I remember thinking as I read, “I could do this.” I had written parts of stories over the years, but I would lose interest or have “an even better” idea. Until I read her story, I didn’t believe in myself enough to stick with one story long enough to finish it. I started writing in earnest then, and finished my first book by 2009.

Stephen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I finished my first book in 2009, but the amazing part of my story is how I got published. My oldest son was deciding on a career path. He said he wanted to be a bodyguard. I advised him to start taking martial arts and told him to think about military service. Those would serve him well in that particular profession. We were on a limited budget at the time, but we found a martial arts instructor willing to work with us. I know. You’re wondering how all this ties in with my getting published? Just hang in there and I will get us to it. I had been searching for a publisher and was stopping in at the local libraries to see which companies I wanted to send my manuscript to when I noticed a flyer calling for submissions to a contest. I remember looking at the dates and thinking my story was still rough. I wouldn’t have time to polish it and get it in in time. I didn’t have time to write anything else either. I thought it was a shame too, since the grand prize was to be published. My wife had been taking him and his sister to martial arts class at night. I was working nights at that time, and couldn’t. My wife got to talking with the instructor. It turned out that he was also an author, and was interested in taking a look at at my story. So my wife asked me if she could take it to him. I said sure, but let her know it was still unpolished, She took it to him. He read the first chapter and liked it. Then he told her I should submit it to this competition. By this time it was past the deadline, and I said as much when my wife told me about it. She said that they had extended the deadline and he wanted me to submit. I did and won. My first book was published in the latter months of 2009 under Fifth Estate Publishing.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My first book, “Stars of the Kanri” (pronounced Khan-ree) was meant to be my testimony. I published my books under Christian Science Fiction. I received a lot of questions about what that meant. It was basically stories set in the future told from a Christian point of view. I wrote three books in that series. It took me a little while to realize that I didn’t have to label it as Christian Science Fiction. People would see it in my writing. When you’re writing your feelings and beliefs bleed through. I had to realize my writing would speak for itself.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I’ve noticed that most of the stories coming out are leaning toward the grim, and gritty side of the genres. I believe those stories have their place in the grand scheme of things, but I found that I liked stories to either 1. Leave me feeling optimistic about life or 2. Give me something to ponder over. The newer stuff was just leaving me in a bad mood and the thoughts behind them were shallow at best. I remember someone said if you couldn’t find the book you wanted to read, write it. So that is my goal behind every story I write.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heavymetalcowboy.com
• Facebook: Stephen Patrick Dorning
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevedorning785b1550
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8o5uNCIg9OzU_em1tdJFKw
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/Dreamtank

Image Credits

Photographs by: Lorna Fischer at https://www.facebook.com/lorna.fischer.1