Welcome to our Writers Wednesday Spotlight! Each week we will be highlighting a different geeky writer we think you might like to check out. For this week’s spotlight, we are excited to introduce you to Edmund R. Schubert!
His book “This Giant Leap” was released June 3, 2016 by Falstaff Books!
You can purchase “This Giant Leap “ here.
About Edmund R. Schubert
(in his own words)
Edmund R. Schubert is the author of the novel, Dreaming Creek, and over 50 short stories. His short stories cover a variety of genres, appearing in magazines and anthologies in the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. His short fiction has been: included on storySouth’s Year’s Notable list; reprinted in The Writer’s Post Journal’s Year’s Best issue; a #1 rated story on Zoetrope.com; a preliminary nominee for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Short Story; and First Prize Winner in Lynx Eye’s Captivating Beginnings contest.
Some of his early stories are collected in The Trouble with Eating Clouds; newer ones can be found in This Giant Leap. Schubert also contributed to and edited the non-fiction book, How to Write Magical Words. In addition to writing, Schubert served for ten years as head editor of the online magazine, InterGalactic Medicine Show (including publishing three IGMS anthologies and winning two WSFA Small Press Awards).
Schubert insists, however, that his greatest accomplishment came during college, when his self-published underground newspaper made him the subject of a professor’s lecture in abnormal psychology. Declining a Hugo nomination for Best Editor in 2015 (because of the associated political game of thrones) comes in a close second.
About “This Giant Leap ” …
“(Edmund Schubert is) a writer I stay up late reading” Faith Hunter, NY Times bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock series.
Acclaimed editor Edmund R. Schubert hangs up his editorial hat to explore issues both global and personal in this exquisite short story collection. Life, Death, Aliens, Zombies, Love, Loss, Apocalypse, Space Travel – these are just a few of the topics Schubert looks at in This Giant Leap. In this volume readers will find science fiction, horror, fantasy and new genre blends, all told with Schubert’s characteristic heart and glorious writing style.
“Edmund Schubert writes with flair, with wit, with stunning imagination. His plot lines twist and surprise and, ultimately, satisfy. And his characters remain with you long after you’ve stopped turning the pages. Savor this collection, but beware: When you’re done with these, you’re just going to want more.” — David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson
Stories include:
Mean-Spirited
This Giant Leap
Tangible Progress
A Hint of Fresh Peaches
Breakout
The Last HammerSong
A Little Trouble Dying
For the Bible Tells Me So
Lair of the Ice Rat
Batting Out of Order
Feels Like Justice To Me
Included in this ebook – The Gem of Acitus, a Manwe the Panther short story by Jay Requard.
5 Questions with . . . Edmund
- When did you first realize you were interested in becoming an author? What drives you to write?
I love stories. Always have, always will. When I was in the second grade my teacher would bribe me with books to get me to do math and the other work I found boring. In high school I took a typing class (on an electric typewriter, because, yes, I am that old) and instead of doing the assigned exercises, I wrote short stories. When I got to lunch period later that day, I’d give the story to a friend at the end of the lunch table. If he liked it, he’d pass it along to the next person. How far the story went up the table became my barometer for how good the story was (or wasn’t). A couple of times it got passed well beyond my friend-group and into the hands of strangers, and I think that was when I decided I wanted more. It was thrilling watching my work getting shared. In hindsight I think those moments at the high school lunch table, watching my work get handed around, was probably more impactful than I realized at the time. Ain’t hindsight great? - How would you describe your style or genre of writing to a potential fan?
I’ve always been a big fan of the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits TV shows and a lot of my early work would best be described in that vein. Lately I’ve been finding myself creating large-scale mythologies and wanting to explore them as thoroughly as possible. I can see a clear and obvious line between the stories I wrote before I started editing InterGalactic Medicine Show and those I wrote/am writing after leaving. It’s not too hard to see, because I wrote precious little during the decade I edited that magazine. - What are you currently working on? What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on several things at the same time. I’m not sure that’s an approach I would recommend for everyone, but it seems to be working for me. When I get bored with one project I hop to the next. If I’m feeling unmotivated with one project, I allow myself to “cheat” and work on something else. Plus, at present I’m also enrolled in an MFA program (Converse College in Spartanburg, SC), so there’s academic writing as well. At the moment I’m working on a thesis paper about non-linear narrative techniques and structures, which is helping to shape the weird western novel I’m writing. I’m about 75% of the way through the weird western novel. I’m also halfway through a straight SF novel that I’m co-writing with a friend. The SF novel is on hold until I finish my thesis and my weird western, but I’m looking forward to getting back to it as soon as possible. I’m also 6 or 7 chapters into a historical fantasy novel set in New York City during the Great Depression; plus, I’ve been invited to be an anchor author in an anthology that just successfully completed its Kickstarter fundraiser, so I need to get start writing that story (soon), because it’s due on Dec. 31. That’s enough to keep me busy for a while. - What existing book do you wish you had written and why?
Several flippant and irreverent answers come to mind with regard to that question, but the truth is that as much as I have enjoyed a lot of other books, I don’t wish I had written any of them. They wouldn’t be the books I love if I had written them; they’d be something else. What I do wish I had written is more of the books that I’ve had in my head for so many years. I have a ton of ideas “in process,” but I’m a pretty plodding writer—my perfectionist nature slows me way down. Books by other others that I’ve read multiple times because I love them so much are a diverse mess, including (but not limited to): The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, both by Shirley Jackson; I Am Legend and Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Catch-22 by Joseph Heller; Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut; On the Beach by Nevil Shute; Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin; To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis; West with the Night, by Beryl Markham; and a big chunk of John Steinbeck’s books (top of that list is probably Cannery Row and its sequel, Sweet Thursday). I’m also a big fan of graphic novels. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read old classic like The Dark Knight Returns and modern classics like Old Man Logan. When I was a teenager some of my favorite authors were Roger Zelazny, Clifford Simak, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, and Ray Bradbury. I read anything of theirs that I could get my hands on. - What is one piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Read a lot, then write a lot, then read some more, then write some more. Read, write, read, read, read, write, read, write. Some of your reading should include craft books, and some should include work outside the genre you want to write in. You have to immerse yourself in it. You have to learn how to read like a writer. Pick apart your favorite texts. Find a section or chapter or paragraph that you really respond to and break it down. How did that author make you feel that way? That’s the essence of reading like a writer. So you need to read and write a lot—but you also need to learn how to do it intelligently, with intentionality.
Find Edmund R. Schubert on the Interwebz!
