Steve Wickstrom is an oldie when it comes to Faithwriters members, having joined way back in 2002. His book, "The Seagull who was Afraid to Fly" was published in 2004 and he has another book in the works. Join interviewer, Lynda Schab as she talks o Steve about his writing, his military career and his unique message board user name.

LYNDA SCHAB: Tell us a little about yourself.

STEVE WICKSTROM: I was born in Plymouth Indiana in 1959, but was raised just west of Chicago. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at a Billy Graham crusade when I was 8 years old. My dad was a Methodist minister but I never really fit into the mold of a preacher's kid and probably caused my parents a lot of grief because of it. After High School, I attended Oral Roberts University, but I decided that was not the direction that God wanted me to go. I chose instead to pursue a career in electronics and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. I discovered that I liked repairing radars and radios and just about any electronic device that I could find. Since then, I've never looked back. 

LYNDA: You serve in the military (insert applause here ). What are the challenges and rewards of military life? And would you mind sharing a memorable military moment or two?

STEVE: The U.S. Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security and not part of the Department of Defense. We are considered a military service even though we under the DOD. What we do is at times extremely dangerous. The Coast Guard has been at war with the South American drug lords for over thirty years. They shoot first and don't ask questions later. We perform search and rescue for people on the seas which usually happens in bad weather. We are also the law enforcers of U.S. law that extends out to sea. It's a busy life.

It is not easy being away from home up to 200 days a year.  That lifestyle will shatter a weak marriage but strengthen a strong marriage. Fortunately, my wife and I have a strong marriage. Many of the challenges and rewards go hand in hand. It's a challenge to pull a dead body out the water. It's a reward to save someone's life. It's a challenge to know that the drug runner will kill you rather than be captured. It's a reward to come back from a patrol having seized a ton or more of cocaine.  I've lived in some wonderful places such as Puerto Rico and Hawaii. I would never have had the opportunity to live there if it had been for the Coast Guard.

One memorable moment was search and rescue case that I was involved in. An older man was out fishing in his old wooden boat all day. As it got dark, it also became foggy. His boat's engine would not start up. He was able to call the Coast Guard just before his battery died. We blindly searched for hours in the foggy darkness to find him. Wooden boats don't easily show up on radar because the wood absorbs the radar pulses rather than reflect them. We passed within a quarter of a mile from him several times before we practically ran over him. He was cold, wet, hungry, and very happy to see us. We dried him, fed him, and took him back to a very grateful wife. Those types of moments make this a very gratifying job.     
      

LYNDA: You joined FaithWriters way back in 2002. FaithWriters has changed so much since then. What is the biggest difference you can think of between then and now?

STEVE: Back when I first joined, FaithWriters was very small. By that, I mean that there weren't very many people submitting articles - there were only about 100 of us. It seemed that everyone who submitted articles was also active in the forums. Scott (Lindsay) was also active in the forums back then. We would read every article and write a critique.

Now FaithWriters is huge - which is a good thing. There are so many new submissions, that I stopped writing critiques on most of them.  I can't even keep up with the newbies, but I really do try to say hello to everyone who posts in the newbie forum. It is wonderful to see many people joining FaithWriters. The biggest difference I see is the message boards. Instead of just two or three forums, now there over 40. The FW family has definitely grown over the years. Unfortunately, many of people I got to know in the forums back then are no longer active in FW. But the quality of the boards is just as high as it always has been. I really do believe that FaithWriters is the best family on the web.

LYNDA: I have to ask. You go by lunarnut on the message boards, and that is also the name of your website. What is the meaning behind the name?

STEVE: I have always loved outer space. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid and I think I still do. I love reading the science fiction books that took me to other planets in rocket ships. I watched the lunar landings on TV when I was child and I never lost that excitement. I still look at the moon and wonder what it would be like to go there. Since I've always been crazy about outer space, I came up with name lunarnut. 

LYNDA: How did you get your start in writing?

STEVE: Actually, I did not start writing until about 10 years ago, when I began putting down on paper what I was learning from the Bible. People liked what I wrote so I kept writing. Then I realized how just little I knew about grammar and effective writing. I had to relearn all the rules and I'll be the first to admit that I'm still in that process. I purchased books on grammar and style and I still refer to them quite often.  I did find out, however, that the more I wrote, the better I got at writing. Writing is definitely a love that the Lord has instilled in me. If you would have told me 20 years ago that I would be a writer, I would have laughed. It is amazing what God can do in a short period of time.

LYNDA: You've written the book, "The Seagull Who Was Afraid to Fly." (http://www.amazon.com/Seagull-Who-Was-Afraid-Fly/dp/1413718906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203596368&sr=8-1) What is the book about and what sort of feedback have you gotten?

STEVE: The idea for that book came while I was up on top of a mast working on an antenna. I was about 140 feet above the water. A seagull floated past at head level and then circled around me several times. It was almost like it was wondering what a human was doing so high up off the ground. The light bulb came on and a story was born.

Here's the synopsis: Dusty is a recently hatched seagull. He has a fear of heights and as a result, is afraid to fly. He doesn't seek adventure, but adventure seems to follow him wherever he goes. He finds himself in some rather unusual situations, and makes some rather interesting friends. A bird's first reaction to any problem is to fly away. Because he can't fly, Dusty is forced to face problems that shape his character in ways that make him unique. He would rid himself of his fear of heights if he could, but he doesn't know how. He must learn the importance of friendship, to trust and depend upon friends and ultimately overcome the obstacle of his fear. Caution: after reading this story you may never look at animals the same way again.

Most of the feedback has been positive but some has been negative. I have a page on my website ( http://www.lunarnut.com/reviews ) where all the reviews that I have received are posted.  You can learn much about your writing from feedback. Even though I love the positive feedback (who doesn't?), I learn the most from the negative feedback. I had to learn not to take feedback personally, but to use it to improve my writing.

LYNDA: I think your book sounds wonderful! Since you self-published your book, take us through your self-publishing experience. What advice would you give an author looking to self-publish?

STEVE: Getting work published is not easy; there is no way around that. Publishers only want books that they think will sell. (J.K. Rowling was turned down by 12 publishers who didn't think a story about a wizard named Harry Potter would sell.) Most publishers will not deal with an unpublished writer unless that writer has an agent. After about 10 rejection letters, I decided to use Publish America to produce my book. Self publishing requires the author to do 100 percent of the marketing. You need to be prepared to sell your book "manually." You need a website, business cards, fliers, and anything else you can think of, to help sell your book. Most self-published books are available on Amazon.com, so that helps. For most self-published authors, writing the book is the easy part. The real work begins after it has been published. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from self-publishing; I just want everyone to know that selling your self-published book is your job. I will add that selling your self-published book is a very rewarding job.

LYNDA: Do you have any more books in the works or any other projects you're working on?

STEVE: I just finished writing a story that I have tentatively named; "The Adventures of Randy the Deer: The Hunter's Bane." Randy is a young fawn who desperately wants to become a buck. In order to be recognized by the herd as a buck, Randy must go through the initiation. The initiation is held once a year, and is fraught with danger for it is held during hunting season. When Randy enters the initiation that prove will his worthiness to become a buck, he must rely on his wits and his Grandfather's advice to pass the initiation and survive hunting season. This hunting season, two brothers and their brother-in-law come to forest to find a trophy buck. What never expected was to run right into the middle of a deer initiation, where in order for a male fawn to become a buck, he must steal the car keys from a hunter. The hunt is on, and each must outwit the other if they are to succeed. It's deer versus man in this outrageous story of the classic hunt.

LYNDA: I have to say, I love this! What a great concept!

On another, more personal, note, tell us about your family.

STEVE: Vickie and I have been married for over ten years. I have no children of my own but I have a stepson, a stepdaughter, and two step-grandchildren. (I don't think "step-grandchildren" is actually a real word – maybe I've just invented it!) My wife reads all of my articles and stories and always assists me with the proofreading. She is very supportive and encouraging of my writing ability. She really is a wonderful wife. We transferred last summer from Honolulu Hawaii to Chesapeake Virginia. This of course involved a lot of changes, including a new church family to get to know. As a bonus though, we are now within driving distance of family.

LYNDA: Where do you see yourself in five years?

STEVE: For me, this is actually a very difficult question. In five years I will have been in the U.S. Coast Guard for 30 years and I will retire at that point. I really don't know what God is going to do with me then. I'm thinking about locating in eastern Tennessee but we'll see where God puts me. The one thing that I do know is that I'll continue with my writing.  

LYNDA: Thanks, Steve, for taking the time to answer my questions. Wishing you all the best in your U.S. Coast Guard career and your writing. Looking forward to seeing "The Adventures of Randy the Deer" on shelves very soon.

To read Steve Wickstrom's work, visit his FaithWriters profile here:  http://www.faithwriters.com/member-profile.php?id=127