About The Author
Tony is an author who’s not afraid of the dark.
He writes thrillers with elements of sci-fi and the supernatural, down-to-earth dramatic stories, and anything else he feels led to. Every story is filled with deep spiritual meaning. Tony isn’t content with simply entertaining readers. Writing is a ministry to him, and his stories often go to the darkest places of the human heart to shine light on important questions of morality and humanity.
Tony has been part of the ministry team at Calvary Apostolic Church in Clintonville, Wisconsin, since 2004. When he’s not writing, he enjoys grilling, sitting by a fire with his family, and recreational reading. Tony is happily married and has five children.
Introduction:
Q&A:
Tony:
Story has been important to me since I was a baby. Seriously. As my mom told it, I was a cranky little kid who just wouldn’t go to sleep. She’d read me four, five, six books in the rocking chair every night, just to settle me down. It helped… and it instilled a lifelong love for books in me. It sent me into kindergarten with a fourth-grade reading level, too. So a lot of credit goes to my mom.
I’m also eternally grateful to two of my high school English teachers, Mrs. Aprill and Mrs. Brodhagen. Mrs. Aprill kicked my English 10 class off by assigning a year-long creative journal. Each week, the class was to write a paragraph with a specific purpose: introduce the main character, bring in a secondary character, introduce conflict, and so on. That assignment really got me going. I didn’t write paragraphs; I wrote pages. At the end of the year, I turned in a hundred-and-forty-page handwritten story. It wasn’t very good, but it was fun. Mrs. Aprill gave me an assignment for the summer: “get published.” I’ve always appreciated her encouragement.
I crossed paths with Mrs. Brodhagen a few years after graduation. She asked if I was still writing. I hadn’t done much; I’d recently become a Christian, and I wasn’t sure if there was a place in Christian fiction for the kind of books I enjoyed: thrillers, sci-fi, a little bit of horror. Mrs. Brodhagen introduced me to This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti, a fantastic book that showed me that there absolutely was a place for books that combined spiritual insight and truth about God with action, tension, even terror. Mrs. Brodhagen showed me the potential in Christian fiction, and I’m grateful.
I try to write in a way that honors God; I owe Him everything. My novels aren’t book-length sermons, but generally, you’ll find a little food for thought in them. Examples: how far do we really want to take the concept of tolerance? What are we willing to give up for success in this life, and at what cost? How does bitterness affect us? How do we face our fears? I like to work in thoughts like that.
You won’t find profanity in my books; I really don’t think it adds to dialogue. You won’t find “adult situations;” I’m not interested in writing scenes like that. You will find violence. After all, most of my books are thrillers, and characters die. I do try to keep the worst of that “off-screen.” There’s no point in detailing pages of blood and gore. Reader imagination does enough.
All that being said, there’s still plenty of… how did I put it earlier? Action, tension, even terror. But evil is shown for what it is, and I try to glorify God, even in the darkest stories.I’ve tried to outline my books. I really have. But my characters have a way of hijacking the plot on me. I write from deep point-of-view, putting myself in each character’s head. As I’m doing that, I find my characters often want to say or do things I hadn’t anticipated, and I let it happen. It makes for a more natural story. But it leads to juggling chapters, cutting or changing scenes… it gets interesting.
What I try to do now is outline about ten chapters, write that much of the book, then adjust as needed. I’ll repeat that process for maybe half the book. After that, the plot’s moving along, the characters are carrying the story and doing what comes naturally or logically, and I just let them run with it. It’s fun.I try to treat my characters as though they’re real people. There’s more to them than what they look like, how they dress, personality, special skills… what I really want to know is, what are their goals? What do they love? What are they afraid of? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
I write characters that are heroic, but flawed. I write villains who are evil, but have a sympathetic side. All those characters are imperfect, complicated, and struggle with human challenges and issues… which brings them down to earth, no matter how crazy their stories get.I enjoy building tension. The buildup to an explosive scene is often more fun than actually writing it. And I’m most often doing that from a character’s perspective: what they’re feeling, what they’re afraid of, that moment of shock or dread when everything goes nuts. That kind of stuff has much greater impact for a reader then simple narration of events. I don’t like writing fight scenes. I know I’m in the wrong genre for that, but I’d much rather focus on the emotional impact of a scene than punches, kicks and gunshots.
A few other things I enjoy writing, just in general… for some reason, I feel like I have a knack for writing arguments. I’m not sure what that says about me, because I’m typically pretty calm. I like writing dream scenes, especially nightmares, because those can really go off the rails in creative ways.One of the benefits of being an indie author is the freedom to write whatever I feel led to at any time. I approach every book, and every writing session, with prayer, and I’ve always said I’ll write whatever God wants me to. For example, I was in the middle of writing Brimstone when something unexpected came up. As I worked through it, I felt prompted to tackle the subject through writing. I set Brimstone down and wrote Melody’s Memory. It’s a short little book, certainly not a thriller, but I feel it’s some of my best work.
As far as the next book, Christian Knowledge and Character… I’ve been part of the ministry team at my local church since 2004, and I’ve sometimes wondered about converting a series of sermons into book format. It feels like time now to do so. Will I go back to writing thrillers? I imagine so. I’ve got an idea for a military sci-fi project that’ll fit the bill. We’ll see where God leads.Write what you enjoy, and be yourself. If you’re both passionate and authentic, the truest stories in you are going to come out. Learn as much as you can about writing; there are plenty of helpful resources out there. Learn what good writing looks like and sounds like and feels like. It’ll speak to your heart, making an emotional connection, and you want that for your readers, too.
Connect with other authors. By and large, we’re a very supportive bunch. I’m part of a couple groups online. Author groups are great places to befriend like-minded people who will answer questions, offer honest feedback, encourage you when you’re struggling, and cheer you on when you succeed.
Finally, nail down your purpose for writing. There’s a reason why you feel this burning need to share your stories. It should go deeper than dreams of money or best-seller lists; those things don’t last. Determine why you really want to write, and don’t lose sight of your purpose. It’ll keep you going and help you write your deepest, most honest stories.
