Phil Stephens: The IAN Interview

Phil Stephens

Phil Stephens is an Indiana native and a graduate of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, and of the Dale Carnegie Course. He spent many years working in Fortune 500 America. Raised in a solidly Catholic family, he attended Catholic grade schools in the 1960s and served as an Altar Boy. His writing has appeared in the local newspaper and Pen IT literary magazine. His passions include reading in his favorite genres—history and horror. He also enjoys cooking, exercising, and the environment. Stephens resides in beautiful Brown County in Southern Indiana with his wife Marie, and has an adopted granddaughter, Crystal Maiden, in the Philippines.

IAN: Please tell us about your latest book.

Phil Stephens: Black-robed nuns, priests, bishops, the select fraternity of Altar Boys, and the ancient ceremonies of the Catholic Church. Music of the ’60s, boyhood shenanigans, Cootie doctors, and coming of age. Set in the socially and politically tumultuous period of the 1960s, The Altar Boy is the fictionalized memoir of Carl Sanders, a funny, sensitive kid, who’s caught in the middle when his family is fractured by the intrusions of a priest. We follow Carl's confusion and pain as he watches the pious façade of the Church fall away to reveal unholy carte blanche, cover-ups, and collusion.

The book opens in the late 1980s. Carl and his brother down beer after beer at a favorite pub, trying to piece together their family’s chaotic past. The stakes are high—someone is about to return after a 20-year absence, threatening to re-ignite the family conflict. As the brothers’ painful recollections of their past become more traumatic, Carl drifts back in time to the era he tried for so many years to forget. 

The story is realistic, poignant, and at times very funny. Stephens shines a timely spotlight on the then-unquestioned power of the Church, while taking the reader back to the ’60s era of rock & roll, Catholic schools, social upheaval, and boyhood pranks.

IAN: Is The Altar Boy published in print, e-book or both?

Phil Stephens: It is currently published in print only.

IAN: Where can we go to buy The Altar Boy?

Phil Stephens: It is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

IAN: What inspired you to write The Altar Boy?

Phil Stephens: True events...and a story that needed to be told.

IAN: Did you use an outline or do you just wing the first draft?

Phil Stephens: Some chapters I outlined and some I winged.

IAN: How long did it take to write The Altar Boy?

Phil Stephens: Longer than I'm willing to admit.

IAN: How did you come up with the title? 

Phil Stephens: I wanted a title that conveyed the subject matter of the book and grabbed the reader.

IAN: How much The Altar Boy of is realistic?

Phil Stephens: Most all of it.

IAN: How is The Altar Boy different from others in your genre?

Phil Stephens: Very little has ever been written about this subject.

IAN: What books have most influenced your life most?

Phil Stephens: David Halberstam (The Reckoning), Sun Tzu (The Art of War) and Carl Sagan (Contact)

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

Phil Stephens: Yes, if my first novel takes off.

IAN: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Phil Stephens: It is one of the few things I have a talent for.

IAN: Who designed the cover?

Phil Stephens: I did.

IAN: What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

Phil Stephens: Finding the time to do it.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Phil Stephens: First of all START the book and then FINISH it.  Don't give up.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

Phil Stephens: It is a stand-alone novel titled "On The Edge of the Stairs." A story of a young couple very much in love and planning their wedding but then the girl dies in a tragic accident.  As the woman lay dying she vows to the man she will reincarnate herself and come back to him.  And she does.

JJ Slate-The IAN Interview

JJ Slate is a bestselling true crime author and blogger. Born in Massachusetts, she has always been fascinated with true crime stories, especially those dealing with missing persons and cold cases. A self-proclaimed “trial junkie” and “forensic science nerd,” JJ currently lives in New England with her husband. When she isn’t writing or researching her next book, she is usually blogging about current cases in the media.

Independent Author Network: Please tell us about your latest book.

JJ Slate: My debut true crime book, Missing Wives, Missing Lives, a compilation of true cases about wives that have gone missing, published in June of 2014 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller in several categories. I teamed up with award-winning and bestselling true crime author RJ Parker to write my second book, Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers, a collection of chilling stories about killers who have used the internet to locate, lure, stalk, or exploit their victims.

IAN. Is your book published in print, e-book or both?

JJ Slate: Both of my books are published in paperback, eBook, and Audiobook!

IAN: Where can we go to buy your book?

JJ Slate:  Visit these Amazon links. Missing Wives, Missing Lives   Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers

IAN: What inspired you to write the book? 

JJ Slate: I have long been consumed with the cases that make up Missing Wives, Missing Lives. It is unfathomable to me how cases like this even come to be in the first place. But I think the saddest part of these types of stories (where a wife goes missing and the husband is the prime suspect in her disappearance) is how quickly they fade from the media when the leads begin to go cold. Writing this book was just my way of hoping to keep these women’s stories alive.

IAN: How long did it take to write the book?

JJ Slate: It took me a few months to write Missing Wives. I was already incredibly familiar with most of the cases, so I had the meat of the book in my head already. I just needed to get it out onto paper.

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?

JJ Slate: I hope people come away with the understanding that this sort of thing happens more than they realize and perhaps might see some warning signs in some of these women’s stories that will give them the courage to escape a similar relationship or help a friend who is facing similar circumstances.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

JJ Slate: I would love to write full-time one day. That’s my dream! I’m not there yet, but I know I’ve made some great strides in this past year and I’m excited for what is coming next.

IAN: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

JJ Slate: I’ve been reading and writing for as long as I can remember. I always had my nose in a book or a journal growing up, and not much has changed since.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

JJ Slate:  I think that if you really want to write for a living someday, you should just keep writing whenever you can and make that dream happen. I’m not there yet, but this is what I am pushing for and hopefully we’ll get there some day!

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

JJ Slate: I really would love to thank each and every person who has purchased my book and reached out to me to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Those words have encouraged me to keep writing and following my dream.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

JJ Slate: I am currently working on my next book, due out early 2015, a compilation of cases on newlywed killers—spouses that have killed their partners shortly after taking their wedding vows.