Coffee & Convo Welcomes Co-Founder of #PubWrite Steve Umstead

Coffee & Convo is proud to present the one and only … Steve Umstead! Steve is the co-founder of the awesome twitter hashtag #pubwrite.

Read about #pubwrite on Twitter Hashtags to Follow.  You can also find more about #pubwrite here and here.

Steve, it is an honor to have you :D


The name of your new Science Fiction/Adventure book is Gabriel's Return. 

Tell us a little bit about Gabriel's Return. 

On the far-off icebound planet of Poliahu, North American Federation Navy Commander Evan Gabriel suffered the loss of several team members in order to free a native species and save his brother. Now he is being called away on a new mission by a friend in trouble, and by a name from his distant past. He and his surviving team must again travel across the galaxy to the planet where he lost his naval command, and his original team, so many years ago: Eden. 

Evan Gabriel must face three distinct threats on Eden: the well-armed terrorist group that has been raiding Eden City, the dangerous planet itself, and his own haunting memories of his past. 

Gabriel's Return continues the epic science fiction/adventure trilogy with characters new and old, devious political intrigue on the moon and Mars, and deadly jungle combat on Eden.

What inspired the story for the book?

The first story dealt with a disgraced soldier trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the military and himself, so the title reflects that. Gabriel's Return deals with the main character going back to the site of his original mission may years ago where he lost his entire team, and where he lost himself. The memories may be more of a challenge than the mission itself.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

For book 2 I had a lot more research as I was introducing many new settings and technologies, and I had to make sure they were accurate and fit with the universe I had created in book 1. However, the hardest part of book 2 was time management! Writing book 1 late last year, I had no online commitments or social media platform. Since that published, I've jumped in with both feet and have spent a lot of time promoting, at the expense of writing time. I had the book about halfway written when everything time-wise fell apart, and it sat for over a month. After some encouragement from some great online friends, I got back into it, and the last week completing it was very exciting…and rewarding.

What do you think readers will enjoy most about Gabriel's Return?

I think that the near-future aspect of my writing will appeal to more than just serious or hard science fiction readers. Nothing is too far out of the realm of realism that casual readers will get lost. All of the technology, settings, vehicles, etc. are based on something from today's world. I also feel that the characters are very down to earth (bad pun, I know), and hope they act and speak as regular guys and gals will, thereby relating to the reader a bit more. 

Is there a sequel? Is your book part of a series? 

Book 2 of a trilogy (Gabriel's Redemption book 1, Return book 2, Revenge book 3 hopefully out by end of year)

Where can we find your books?

Gabriel's Redemption is currently available for:

Kindle US http://www.amazon.com/Gabriels-Return-Gabriel-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005HEXAP6

Kindle UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005HEXAP6

Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gabriels-return-steve-umstead/1104883916

Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/84988

Soon to be in print via CreateSpace.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm a Capricorn, I can my own jam, and like long walks on the beach. OK, not the second two…and with the recent changes in the Zodiac, I'm not even sure the first one is still correct. I'm forty *cough cough*, married with two awesome kids, and own an online travel business. I've always wanted to write, but life seemed to get in the way.  Now I'm just working on balancing the real world with my writing career…it's a challenge, every day, but well worth it.  

Why did you decide to become an Indie author?

I never once considered going traditional; the freedom, control, and time frame aspects of being independent are much more up my alley. I still can't fathom the window of time it takes for a person to get their book on the 'shelf' the traditional method. After writing, they query (rinse & repeat), hope to land an agent, hope to get a publishing deal, all of which can take months. Then once a publishing deal is set, it can be another 8-10-12 months or more until it's published. Then, the book is only on the shelf for 2-3 months before being pulled to make room for the newest book. In that time, I can write and publish 2-3 more books for my readers. It was a no brainer...

What are some of your other books and where can we find them? 

Gabriel's Redemption was my first - written in late 2010, published February of this year. Gabriel's Return, the second in the trilogy, was just published in August. 

Gabriel's Redemption is the first in the trilogy and is available for all e-reader platforms and paperback. Best place to find all the relevant links is here: www.steveumstead.com

Any future writing plans you wish to share with us.

The third and final installment in the trilogy (is that redundant, third & final?) is underway, and I'm hoping and working at it being completed and out before the end of the year. I've got another story I've been kicking around in my head for a couple of months, unrelated to the trilogy but still in the scifi realm, that I may give a shot on working on during this year's NaNoWriMo. Yep…ambitious few months ahead of me.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Write, and write, and write. Don't stop the flow to edit. Go start to finish without looking back. Complete your story, then worry about the nuts and bolts. Get the words down on paper before ever changing them. That was the biggest key I learned through this whole process. I used to write first chapters and edit the crap out of them, so I ended up with great first chapters…and nothing else. Just. Keep. Writing.

Thank you so much for being with us today :D


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