1) Why did you decide to become a writer?
I don’t know why exactly. Becoming a writer and an artist was perhaps decided for me. I felt the need to create, and so I create. As a boy, I thought I should be a writer, and when I was eleven, I scratched out a story—about astronauts and space—with pen and paper. I stapled the pages together and I had my first book (well, sort of). I got older and fear took root. I can’t write, I thought to myself. It’s too hard, doesn’t pay, I don’t have talent, et al.
Flash forward forty years and I’m texting silly Shakespearean love notes to my girlfriend, Tracy. She told me I was pretty good with words, and suggested I write a romance novel. I agreed and started writing again. Tracy and I didn’t last, but the writing did.
2)Do you consider yourself a writer or an author or both? Please explain.
Both. A writer writes. An author writes and publishes their work, or at least shows it to other people.
3) How long have you been writing professionally?
This is my fourth year as a semi-professional writer. Most of my income comes from my job as a computer professor.
4) What motivates you to write?
Fear. It scares me to think of who I’d be without writing, art, and music. I write because I can’t bear the alternative. Love is the other motivating factor. I love to create. That’s why I’m here.
5) How many books have you written and how long does it take you to write one book?
I’ve written two full-length books. Four Seasonswas my first novel, and it was self-published. The Seven Experimentsis my first traditionally published novel.
It takes me about a year, to complete a full-length novel of around 75k words.
6) What is your writing process like?
I put my butt in the chair and start writing.
7) Do you have someone you bounce your ideas off of before you write or are you a solo deal?
Kinda both. I usually start as a solo act, but I look for feedback throughout the process.
8) Studies have shown that music can affect a person’s mood, intellect, concentration, etc. Does music play a role in your writing? If yes, which songs, artists or genres play that role?
I love blues and jazz and rock, but I never listen to those genres when I’m writing. I’ve been listening to creative meditation music which has been shown to positively affect the creative regions of our brains. I just Google creative mediation music and listen to something on YouTube.
9) Who is your book dedicated to?
My children
10) What genre is your current book? Did you set out to write it in this genre or did it take you there as you wrote?
Seven Experiments is a sci-fi, horror novel, and yes, I set out to write it as such. I got the idea from reading a lot of self-help books. Basically, I just took the principles of attraction, psychic phenomena, remote viewing and manifestation, and explored what would happen if a deranged individual used these powers for evil instead of good.
11) What do you like best about writing?
When, I lose myself in the story, and hours pass like minutes.
12) What do you like the least about writing?
Writing is hard, maybe the hardest endeavor I’ve undertaken. Sometimes, it’s scary to write, especially a full-length novel. It’s daunting, but if you break it down into smaller pieces and treat each chapter as a short story, it’s more digestible. That’s why I recommend starting out with short stories, or flash fiction before tackling a full-length novel.
13) What is the best part about the publishing process?
Holding my book in my hands
14) What is the worst part about the publishing process?
The hours of stress and worrying trying to make everything perfect.
15) What advice would you give to a brand-new writer?
Write. Writing is a muscle and you need to exercise that muscle, even if it’s only ten minutes a day. The more you write, the easier it will get. I’ve written two full length novels, two novellas, and a hundred short stories in less than four years and I rarely write for more than an hour a day. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish by taking small steps every day, consistently over time.
16) What do you hope will become of your book?
I would have said to be a bestseller. Perhaps that’s still true, but now I want so much more. I’d love my book to be an inspiration to young, aspiring authors. If I can do it, so can anyone.
I fantasize about a day—long after I’m gone—when a relative of mine strolls into a library and sees my last name (their last name) on the spine of a book. I’ll be smiling then.
17) What is your definition of success in regards to your book?
This answer has changed over time. Do I think selling a million copies, signing a lucrative movie deal, and living the rock-and-roll-author-lifestyle a success? Well, yes, I do. However, I feel my book already is a success. I wrote it into existence, and maybe, in the end, that’s enough.
18) What is the one thing that you want your readers to take away from reading your book?
I want people to think about spiritual and religious matters, and perhaps re-think things as well.
19) Do you hope to write another book in the future, and to be known as the incredible writer that you are, or was this book intended to be a stepping-stone to something else?
I’m working on my third novel, There are no Saints. It’s about a Demonologist who exercises possessed souls during the oil boom in Titusville, Pa.
To buy a copy of any or all of Stephen’s books, click the links below:
Stephen’s newest, The Seven Experiments, can be found at https://www.blackrosewriting.com/thrillers/thesevenexperiments
Four Seasons: A Chautauqua Romance can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/FOUR-SEASONS-CHAUTAUQUA-STEVE-KANICKI-ebook/dp/B071WQH6F7/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=four+seasons+kanicki&qid=1563896180&s=gateway&sr=8-2