Mike Dellosso Interview

Q: Let’s start by having you tell us a little bit about yourself.

Okay, I’m 36, married for 11 years to Jen, and have three daughters, ages 6,7, and 9. They keep us busy, but oh what a joy they are. We also have a black Lab named Josie, also female. So I’m totally surrounded . . . but love it. My full-time job is as a physical therapist assistant. I like to tell people: therapy pays the bills, but writing satisfies the soul. We live in southern Pennsylvania in a Norman Rockwell-esque town called Hanover (near Gettysburg).

What has defined me and my life these past few months is my recent battle with colon cancer. What a journey. I’ve struggled and wrestled with it but have learned so much about myself and my God at the same time.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break and how you found out about the sale of The Hunted?

I started writing about nine years ago and started small, church newsletter, wrote my own newsletter for a while, a newsletter for work, then was able to move on to writing for some websites, a column in our local paper, stuff like that. Little by little my audience grew and my confidence and skill with it. Then I got the bright idea to write a novel. Only problem was, I knew nothing about fiction writing, let alone novel writing. Actually, my first attempt is one I’d rather forget, although it was a valuable learning experience. I wrote a book, submitted it to some publishers and received a bunch of rejections (very polite ones, I might add). After a while I finally got a letter from a popular POD publisher (remember, at the time I had no idea about anything in the industry and didn’t even know what POD was . . . I was totally ignorant). I signed a contract with them and they published my book, which was terribly edited and sorely over-priced. I complained, they ignored, and I all but disowned the book. I was actually ashamed of the final product. Lesson learned. A hard lesson.

Anyway, that spawned in me the desire to write a real novel and get it published with a real publisher. So I went to work reading anything I could get my hands on about writing a novel. I practiced and practiced, wrote and wrote, until I had this great idea. That’s when The Hunted was born. It took me nine months to write it. Soon after that, I was at the Greater Philly Writer’s Conference where I met Kathryn Mackel, a wonderful author who had greatly influenced me in my own writing. She critiqued the first three chapters and promised to help me find an agent. Good to her word, she recommended me to Les Stobbe who offered me a contract. About nine months later I was signing a contract with Realms Fiction of the Strang Book Group.

It’s kinda funny how I found out about the contract. We had been back and forth with Realms for months while their editorial board reviewed the proposal and whatever else they do and I knew the moment was drawing near, the moment of final decision. I was expecting this phone call from Les saying “Congratulations!” and me screaming like a girl on a roller coaster and running around my house pumping my fists in the air. In reality, the news came via an email from Realms just saying very simply that they were going to offer me a contract. I sat there at my computer and said, “Oh, that’s nice.” No screaming, no jumping up and down, no fist-pumping. It was all very anticlimactic. But hey, the result was the same.

Maybe someday I’ll get my go-wild-and-celebrate moment.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release The Hunted?

Sure, it’s an intriguing look at what can happen when the need for vengeance gets out of control. The story is a lot of things, it’s creepy, eerie, suspenseful, filled with characters who are near to my own heart because they struggle with a lot of the same things I do, has a town with dark secrets and a monster with even darker intentions. There’s mystery, intrigue, and even a little romance. And through it all is a strong faith message of hope and redemption. I always want to give the reader something to walk away with and I hope The Hunted succeeds at that.

Q: How did you come up with this plot and especially the creature in the book?

The plot was birthed out of an old newspaper article I read from some small town in Indiana in the 1920’s. Apparently the townsfolk started reporting sightings of an African lion in the woods and fields around the town. One farmer even reported having a cow that had been mauled by what could only have been the lion. This went on for several weeks then just stopped. No one ever knew from where the lion came or to where it disappeared. That got my creative juices flowing and the story just developed from there. The creature is pure imagination. My weird mind at work. I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to ruin anything for potential readers.

Q: How did you become interested in supernatural suspense?

I’ve always been hooked on the scary and supernatural. As a kid I loved watching re-runs of The Twighlight Zone and never missed an episode of The X-Files. I’ve also always like horror flicks, not the gross-out cut-em-up ones out now, but the classics, the really scary ones. When I started getting into reading I naturally navigate towards the works of Peretti and Kathy Mackel and then Dekker and Stephen King. So with my interests as they were, writing supernatural suspense was a natural fit. I write what I love to read.

Q: I found the spiritual thread in this book summed up in two passages that you wrote. One is simply, ‘Fear not’, the other is ‘Faith is the key to everything. When you think about it nothing the world has to offer makes sense. It is meaningless. It is a riddle. But faith does make sense. Because with faith we stop trying to figure everything out and just put it in God’s hands and let Him figure it out for us’. So often we place our own limitations on God and don’t believe He really can do unfathomable things. Do you struggle with this in your life and if so, how do you overcome the doubt when it springs up?

I’ll be honest. Yes, I have struggled with this in the past, with the whole notion that, “Well, God doesn’t work that way anymore.” Who says?

While writing The Hunted I wrestled with some of my previously held convictions and finally dumped them. I’m not going to put God in a box and tell Him what He can and can’t do. That’s not my job. My responsibility is to simply trust Him, to put my faith in Him and watch the wonderful and, yes, strange and mysterious things He does.

In Luke, Gabriel tells Mary, “With God, nothing is impossible.” I had to ask myself, “Do I really believe that?

” It’s the same thing Joe, in my story, wrestles with.

Q: You write so convincingly about June Heller’s battle with cancer and how it impacted their life. At the time you wrote this, could you have ever imagined being faced with a cancer challenge of your own?

Absolutely not. I always thought that if I wind up with some health issue it would be diabetes or heart problems, they both run in my family. Cancer doesn’t. What healthy guy in his mid-thirties ever expects to get that phone call: I’m very sorry, but you have colon cancer. It’s been a real twist in my life, my own story of suspense, but has taught me so much about how faithful God is and how faithful His people are. Even in this deep valley, I’ve been blessed countless ways.

Q: You are in such an interesting place right now. Here you are faced with cancer and all that it entails, and you have your first novel published. A joyful, yet uncertain time. Through the book, you’ve become an unofficial spokesman for many people fighting the same health issue, but without a forum to speak. How do you deal with the cancer trying usurp The Hunted?

I never thought of myself as an unofficial spokesman but I can see how that could be true. Another blessing in all this, I guess.

You know, I used to see the cancer as just plain bad timing. Here I was three months out from the big release of my book, planning this and that, and “the call” comes. Wow, stop the presses. Cancer. Okay, this throws a kink in things. Lord, you sure you know what you’re doing here? Not the best timing, you know.

But a couple weeks ago, God laid it on my heart that it was perfect timing. The cancer was in my body long before the book was even born. My oncologist told me the tumor was probably there for three or four years. In God’s perfect timing, He has allowed my book to release in the midst of this trial to give me some happiness and joy and excitement. I can only imagine going through this without having the book release and all it entails to redirect my focus and give me the excitement I’m experiencing.

See, God really does know what He’s doing. Amazing, isnt’ it?

Q: I enjoyed many things about The Hunted, but as a writer I especially liked your unique descriptions. In fact, I don’t think it has taken me this long to read a book in a while as I was savoring each word. Does this come easily to you or do you spend a lot of time coming up with special descriptive phrases?

Sometimes easy, sometimes not so easy. There are times when my creative juices are flowing and these metaphors and similes just bounce around in my head like popcorn, then there are the times when I sit and stare at my monitor for what seems forever and agonize over one word. One word! It’s ridiculous. But when you get a good one, you know it and then it is very satisfying.

I love describing things in unique ways and trying to paint a realistic picture for the reader. To get in the rhythm of this I read Stephen King or Dean Koontz, two of the best when it comes to metaphors and similes. I also try to write down things I hear other people say in conversation. Last year I heard an elderly man say it was raining “ax heads and hammer handles.” What a picture. That’s gonna be in a future book, you can count on it.

Q: Have you had any formal training in creative writing or has it come naturally to you?

No. In high school and college I hated English class and creative writing and all it entailed. Hated it. It wasn’t until a tragic accident left my brother-in-law in a deep coma that I turned to the written word to express what I was feeling inside. That was nine years ago and I haven’t stopped writing since. Darrell pulled through, but I see that moment as the moment of my “calling” to write.

What I did do was dive into authors I could learn from, read anything online I could find about writing and crafting a story, and crack open book after book on the art of writing. I guess you could say I’m mostly self-taught, but there have also been some valuable people in my life who’ve read early manuscripts and given me tips and pointers and a real education.

Q: You did a fantastic job with the faith message in The Hunted. Not an easy task. I just read the other day that in today’s Christian suspense, plot drives the story and the Christian message takes a backseat. (Here’s a link if anyone wants to read the article) What’s your take on this new trend?

Really, I think it’s up to the individual author to go with their own “writing DNA.” For me, I see my writing as a calling, a gift, and I want to use it to glorify God. All my stories have to have a strong faith message in them. I want the reader to walk away from the story with something he or she can hold onto, something that’s going to make him or her think a little deeper than just, “that was a neat story.”

Again, I have to go with my own conscience on the matter, but for me, I have to ask myself, “Why am I writing?

” Is it just to write a good, clean story a reader will enjoy and get some entertainment out of? Or is it to hopefully write a good story that’s going to make a real difference in the reader’s perspective of God and how He works? Or alter how the reader sees the world and his or her role in it?For me, I can’t not (ha, double negative) use this avenue to shine forth God’s truth. And if that means I go against the “trend” of more story/less message, then so be it. My publisher hasn’t complained and, so far, readers haven’t either.

Q: Your love for God is so obvious in The Hunted. Would you share a little bit about your faith journey?

I watched my dad, an alcoholic, totally turn his life around after finding Christ. That led me to make the same decision. I’ve struggled with stuttering my whole life and now with cancer. Through it all I’ve seen God’s mercy and faithfulness and hope I haven’t taken it for granted. He’s given me so much and blessed me in so many ways, how can I not infuse that journey into my stories? So much of my writing comes from my heart and the experiences and struggles of my characters from my own life lessons. For me, writing stories, even scary, suspenseful ones is therapeutic.

Q: Now that The Hunted is published and you’ve had some time to reflect on the book, what scene/part do you like the most?

Definitely the final hunt. It’s gritty, raw, and suspenseful. I also like the scenes with Maggie and her dad. They were added during the edits and I think add so much to Maggie’s character and the story as a whole.

Q: I am not a real supernatural suspense reader so I can’t comment on this, but your name is being mentioned with the likes of Stephen King, Frank Peretti, and Ted Dekker. How does this make you feel?

Flattered and humbled. Those are three guys I really look up to as writers. They are the masters of their respective genres. For my name to be even mentioned in the same sentence as theirs is humbling. Honestly, I don’t think I’m there yet. Maybe some day I will be, I sure hope so, but for now I’m content to just be who I am and find my own unique voice and style.

King, Peretti, and Dekker have proven themselves over years and books. I’m a rookie and know my place. If I’m really going to earn space next to those guys I have to prove myself with more than one book. Like I said, maybe some day.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

Sure, my next novel, due out early 2009 is called Scream
and is another supernatural suspense with a powerful message. I totally love the story and hope readers will too. It’s in the beginning stages of the editing phase now.

I’m also working on novel number three and am about 80 percent complete. It will be my first story told in first person and I think it really works well. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it and can’t wait for it to be published.

Q: Has being a published novelist differed from your expectations?

It really hasn’t differed much from my expectations. There’s a little more work in keeping up with marketing stuff than I expected and I’m finding it hard to edit one book while writing another while marketing another while living life. It’s a lot of balls to juggle.

I’m enjoyed hearing how my story has impacted others. That part I really didn’t expect, at least not this soon. It’s one of those little added blessings.

I have to add, though, that being published is truly a dream come true for me. This is what I wanted, what I worked for, what I prayed for, what I aimed for . . . and now I’m here. I have a long way to go, of course, and a lot to learn, but for now, I’m enjoying realizing my dream.

Q: When you sit down to read for pleasure what authors do you choose?

Dean Koontz heads the pack right now, followed by Athol Dickson, Kathy Mackel, Stephen King, and Dale Cramer.

Q: What authors have inspired your writing career?

Early on it was Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, and Kathryn Mackel. Lately, it’s been Koontz and King, the masters.

Q: What is your favorite part of writing? Your least favorite?

Favorite part, the first draft. I love letting my creative juices flow and crafting the story, creating a world for people to live in and interact and struggle and love. The first draft is flat-out fun and I enjoy every moment of it.

Least favorite part, revising and re-writing. I don’t like change much so having to go back and rework part of a story is difficult for me. I agonize over words and sentences and descriptions.

Q: Any advice for aspiring novelists?

Never give up. If you have a dream and you feel God has called you to write, I’ll say what my wife always said to me when I was about to throw in the towel: Live like it’s already happened.

100% of published writers didn’t give up. They pressed on, kept writing, kept submitting, and eventually realized their dream. You can too.

Start small and build your portfolio. Every one has to pay their dues. Take your time, learn the craft, and let yourself grow.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

Thanks so much, Susan, for the opportunity to talk about my book, my writing, and my life. God has blessed me in so many ways and I’m so happy to be able to share just a little of that with readers via The Hunted.