1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
A: The first time I remember thinking about writing was watching Looney Tunes cartoons on TV after school. I quickly learned that the name Chuck Jones or Tex Avery meant that I was in for a great cartoon. I didn’t have any idea what a director was versus a writer but that didn’t matter. What did was the realization that real people tell stories, that they don’t just come from nowhere.
Shortly after I got into comic books, and the opening credits page in comics really let me obsess over certain writers. Some of them just told stories I liked more than others and I started following the work of people like Marv Wolfman, Keith Giffen, Frank Miller, and Neil Gaiman. After a while I got it in my head that I wanted to write comics when I grew up. I knew I’d never draw well enough to pencil them, but I’ve always liked to daydream and I had a million ideas. I hoped that if my comic book writing heroes could do it so could I.
From there I tried to write things down, but I was too undisciplined to finish anything. Eventually those ideas turned into D&D campaigns with friends until I decided that I didn’t want to have my stories changed around by the collaborative nature of gaming. I fiddled around with writing in college (first as a creative writing major, then as a journalism major) but then I let my passion fade away. Now it’s twenty-five years later and I find its back, and I’m doing want I can to indulge it.
2) What inspired you to write your book?
A: On December 10th, 2021, my dog Scout died. My wife and I rescued her when she was two years old, and she had been a part of my life for more than fifteen years. I’ve worked from home either part or full time for much of the last decade, so she was my daily companion. Scout was a poodle, and poodles are strange dogs in that they have their person. While friendly and loving to all, Scout was never settled unless I was around, I was her person. She was always watching me, following me, and with me through thick and thin. Losing her was a real gut punch.
About a month before she died, I was sitting at my laptop as she slept quietly next to me in her bed on the floor. I remember looking at her and knowing that she wouldn’t be with me much longer – seventeen is pretty old for a dog. I turned back to my laptop and the first sentence of The Maiden’s Sleep just spilled out of me and into a word document I had open for work. I stared that sentence – “I hate kids, and yet there are two in the pile of sticks and mud I call home.” – and wondered where the hell it came from. So I followed it. I kept writing whatever came to mind and within fifteen minutes I had two pages of Bow’s voice.
That has never happened to me before.
After Scout’s death I was visiting family for the holidays. My mother could see how much I was grieving Scout’s loss and, knowing I liked to write, suggested I write a story about her. Something that would help me remember how much she meant to me. When I got back home, thinking about what my mother had said, I opened that document I had written that day next to Scout and just kept going. I completed the first draft of the story in a month.
I don’t think The Maiden’s Sleep is at all what my mother had in mind when she suggested writing a story about Scout – sorry mom. But given what I was going through it should come as no surprise that Bow’s story deals with the themes of death, loss, and grief. I also think it really captures how I found my way through such a significant loss. Ultimately, it’s a hopeful story about how those we lose live on in our memories, inspiring us to be better with their love. In that way they never really leave us.
3) What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
A: Yes. If things are dark, there is light ahead. Just hang on because eventually it will reveal itself. Also, it never hurts to look around for friends, you might just find some when you really need them.
4) What drew you into this particular genre?
A: I’ve always loved fantasy books, and the chance to play around in this space seemed natural to me. That said, I do feel like I cross genres a lot when I write. I can’t help it. In this case it seemed exciting to mash-up detective fiction and fantasy. I really liked the idea of solving a mystery within the confines of fantasy. When other writers do that I just think it’s a blast.
5) If you could sit down with any character in your book, what would you ask them and why?
A: Maybe Bennie. He’s such an unrepentant jerk I’d want to know who hurt him so bad that he feels like he needs to punish the world as a result. Frankly, I only hint at his history with Bow in the The Maiden’s Sleep but it’s something I’d like to explore further if I write another story with these characters.
6) What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
A: I’m pretty terrible with social media so I mostly stick to Facebook. I think that’s been helpful in letting people know what I’m up to. In terms of learning things about publishing and writing, I find Reddit the most useful. There is an awful lot to learn on that site if you know where to look.
7) What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
A: Oh, wow, I don’t really know. I mean, in almost every way I’m still an aspiring or starting author. I’ve been lucky enough to get a few short stories out there and two novellas, but I hardly feel like an authority in this space. I can only share that any success I’ve had getting my work published has come down to relentlessly looking for opportunities, never getting down when I hear ‘no’, and constantly trying to create the best stories I can. I can’t control if someone likes what I’m writing but I can control how good the work is I’m putting out and how I present it to others.
8) What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
A: I’m almost done with another novella about Houdini in WWI that I’m really excited about and I’m probably three fourths of the way through writing my first real novel about high school metal heads in the 1980s who get mixed up in paranormal adventures. That book has been a blast to write. Someday I would love to come back to write more stories about Bow. I have another one in mind already.
About the Author
Michael J. Stiehl has had a lifelong passion for fiction, in particular horror, comics, adventure and science fiction, and is thrilled to finally be writing some of his own. Michael lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife, two kids and his very silly poodle Jack. When not writing fiction, Michael spends his time riding bikes, camping, reading books, obsessively listening to music and playing D&D with his friends. In short, he hasn’t changed a bit since junior high.
Facebook -> https://www.facebook.com/michael.stiehl
Goodreads -> https://www.goodreads.com/michaelstiehl
