Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mike now lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jen, and their three daughters. He writes a monthly column for Writer . . .Interrupted, was a newspaper correspondent/columnist for over three years, has published several articles for The Candle of Prayer inspirational booklets, and has edited and contributed to numerous Christian-themed Web sites and e-newsletters. Mike is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, the Relief Writer’s Network, and International Thriller Writers. He received his BA degree in sports exercise and medicine from Messiah College and his MBS degree in theology from Master’s Graduate School of Divinity.
And now... Mike Dellosso...
Talk about your “call” to write.
My call to write was in no way gradual. It happened all at once and might as well have been God speaking directly to me. It began with a motorcycle accident that left my brother-in-law in a deep coma and a prognosis of death or, at best, persistent vegetative state. My wife, Jen, and I went to visit my sister and Darrell in the hospital and came away wrestling with emotions I couldn’t easily explain: anger, frustration, sorrow, confusion, you name it. When we got home I did the first thing that came to mind, I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and started writing.
Now, it’s important to know at this point that I’ve always struggled with stuttering. Lots of thoughts and ideas swirled in my head but I rarely voiced them because talking was just so laborious. I often kept my emotions under lock and key because it was easier than trying to express myself in words. Well, when that pen hit paper I knew I was on to something, I felt a freedom I had not felt before. I could say what was on my mind and in my heart and say it with perfect fluency. I had found my voice! That was almost ten years ago and I haven’t stopped writing since. Oh, and by the way, Darrell pulled through and is doing just fine now.
What do you hope to accomplish in your writing?
God’s done so much for me. He loves me while I am so unlovable. Lifted me up out of that miry clay, wrapped His arms around me, and set my feet on solid ground. Made me a new creation and gave me a new life. I’m so undeserving of His love, and yet He so willingly and freely gives it. Why wouldn’t I want to give all of me back to Him? And that includes my writing. God’s given me a gift and I want to give it back to Him to be used for His service, His Kingdom. I hope and pray my writing and my stories impact people on a spiritual level, if they don’t then I will feel like I’ve somehow failed. Really, when life is all said and done, when we get rid of all the materialism and ambition and rat race stuff, isn’t our sole purpose to glorify God? Isn’t that what it’s all about? Really? That’s what I want to accomplish with my writing . . . to just glorify God and let Him take care of the rest.
Describe the journey to your first contract.
Well, it was a nine-year journey and I’d like to say I did it “by the book.” I made some mistakes along the way but learned from them and made sure not to do them again.
I started writing non-fiction just for fun and freedom and the sheer love of putting words on paper and making sense out of what was inside me. After about a year of doing that I began writing a monthly article for my church’s newsletter. At the same time I was submitting articles and short pieces to various websites and getting some of them “published.” There was no pay, of course, but the satisfaction of seeing my creations on the screen and knowing somebody was reading them was well worth it. Heck, it’s still worth it. Gradually, I began expanding my horizons a little. I wrote a few inspirational articles for The Candle of Prayer Company and began writing a weekly column for my local newspaper, both paying jobs (yeah!).
In 2004 I saw the Christian Writer’s Guild was holding a first-novel contest. I had an idea so I decided to try my hand at writing fiction. It was harder than I thought but I was able to finish a book before the contest deadline. As much as I hoped I would, I didn’t win (I don’t even think I came close) but the experience was priceless and sparked in me a love for writing fiction.
I still thought I had a good story but knew next to nothing about the publishing industry. I sent out some proposals and got a mailbox full of rejections before a letter from a “traditional publisher” came showing interest. I put that in quotes because at the time, in my ignorance, I thought they were a real publisher and only found out later that they, indeed, were not. Anyway, I published that first book through this POD publisher, was terribly disappointed in everything about the experience, and vowed to never, ever, EVER do that again. To each his own, right?
Shortly after that frustrating ordeal I began work on another manuscript, calling it The Hunted. A year later I toted it along with me to my first writer’s conference where I met suspense author Kathryn Mackel who critiqued it, liked it, and said she’d not only endorse it but help me find an agent. A few weeks later she referred me to an agent friend of hers, Les Stobbe. Les liked my proposal and chapters, agreed to represent me, and circulated the project to various publishers. Four months later we got an email from Realms Fiction (Strang Book Group) saying they were interested in the full manuscript and a few long, endless months after that they were offering me a contract.
Where did you get your idea for The Hunted?
The idea for The Hunted
came from the internet. I was surfing one day just looking for ideas or something to spark my imagination and get the wheel churning when I came across this story of a small town in Indiana that reported lion sightings back in the 1920’s. Several of the townsfolk said they saw an African lion in the fields surrounding the town. A couple cows were mauled and eaten. Then the sightings just stopped. No one knows where the lion came from or where it went. I thought it was a pretty neat idea and ran with it. Story born. Happy birthday!Why did you choose to write supernatural suspense?
Because I’m weird. No, not really . . . well, maybe. Plenty of people think I am weird after reading my stories. It was a natural gravitation for me. I grew up loving The Twilight Zone and The X-files and any kind of monster movie. I’ve always been intrigued by legends like Big Foot and the Loch Ness monster. The unexplained has always fascinated me. I honestly can’t see myself writing anything else. I have so many ideas now, but maybe when I exhaust them I’ll try my hand at something else . . . maybe westerns.
Will you share a little bit about your family?
I’ve been married to my lovely and supportive wife, Jen, for 10 years. We’ve been blessed with three daughters ages 5, 6, and 8. All fun-loving, sweet-spirited, and of course always well-behaved (ahem).
Tell us about when you were diagnosed with cancer.
Yeah, cancer. Kind of a big thing. I was diagnosed on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. Here I was getting ready to launch into trying my hand at promoting my new book and in the middle of negotiating a contract for a second book when the doctor dropped the bomb: You have colon cancer.
Funny thing is, I don’t remember ordering colon cancer. Not part of my plans at all.
How has that diagnosis affected your writing?
How has it affected my writing? Well, immediately, it’s halted my writing. With the exception of daily journaling on my blog, I haven’t written a lick since being diagnosed. I love to write, it’s my passion, but this cancer thing trumps it. I took this diagnosis as a nudge from God that I need to set writing aside for a little while and just concentrate on the most important things: my relationship with Him and my relationship with my family. Sometimes it takes something like cancer to refocus you, to get you to evaluate your life and do a little re-prioritizing.
In the long run, I think the experience of traveling through this valley will only enhance my writing, give it more depth, more texture, more emotion and passion. I know firsthand what it’s like to traverse that Valley of the Shadow of Death, to question Why me?, to be scared of dying, not for dying’s sake but for my family’s sake, to live with a monster inside me that wants to kill me (hey, that gives me a great story idea), to be poked, prodded, scoped, and stuck, to live a life that revolves around the next test result or the next doctor’s appointment. I’ve been there now and I can incorporate those experiences into my stories, into the life of my characters. It’ll be interesting to see how my writing changes once I get back to it.
What is one thing your diagnosis has taught you?
One other thing I’ve learned is to fully rely on God, to willingly submit myself and put my life in His hands. And of course, this carries over into my writing as well. We writers never know where the next contract is coming from or how much the next royalty check will be for, or even how the next story will unfold, if there is a next story. We are constantly at His mercy, and I’m learning that’s a good place to be.
[Don't forget to come back later this month for a chance to win a copy of Mike's book The Hunted. Or if you don't want to wait that long, click HERE to order a copy.]
Also, be sure to check out all the stops on this blog tour...
A Peek at My Bookshelf
Alien Dream
An Author’s Life
Artistic Blogger
Behind the Mountain
Blog Tour Spot
Camy’s Loft
Canadian Prairie Writer
Chatter Matters
Dee’s Christian Fiction:
Fictionary
Gatorskunkz and Mudcats
Good Word Editing
Heart Chocolate
His Reading List
Home-Steeped Hope
Humbleoradio
In the Dailies
jessicajournal
Kells Creative Musings
Life in the Midst of Writing
Life with Missy
Light for the Writer’s Soul
Margaret Daley
Mommy Come Lately
My Cup 2 Yours
My Name is Michael Snyder
Not Just Romance but a Love Story
Notes in the Key of Life
Novel Journey
One Day
Penning Prose
Portrait of a Writer . . . Interrupted
Real Women Scrap
Refresh My Soul
Relevant Blog:
Savvy ReViews
See Ya On the Net
Sumballo
Terri’s Treasures
The Book Beat
The Law, Books and Life
The Surrendered Scribe
The Suspense Zone
The Write Message
wandering, wonderings of a whacked-out woman
Windows to My Soul
Wisdom Walk
Writing Career Coach
Writing on the Edge
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