S.W. Strackbein
People are the most fascinating creatures. They are resilient, creative, powerful, and ambitious. Yet there is not one that amounts to perfection, by any means. It is in their flaws, their vulnerabilities, their shame, that we find what is relatable and their stories so compelling. Success, despite failure, holds a mirror to our own lives. This, in return, gives the confidence to be resilient, creative, powerful, and flawed. The most authentic literary characters mimic humanity. When written to their fullest, they become people to emulate or despise, to pity or glorify.
My life’s work has been the study of people. I’ve tried to represent the humanness I’ve witnessed in my writing. I write characters who I love and love to despise. Who, when they fail for the umpteenth time, I shake my head at. Yet feel so deeply when victory comes from weighty sacrifice. Story is about characters, their lives, their interactions, their choices. Characters come alive when they embody genuine people. I write genuine people.
I’ve been writing fiction since my early thirties, 2006. Knee deep in my Army training, the US in the latter parts of the Iraqi war. I’d spent five years obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and another four on a Master’s in Psychological Counseling. Writing has been a way of discovering what’s missing in me, the world around me and finding my place. I’ve written dark horror, likening to Kat Richardson, Jim Butcher, or C. E. Murphy, short stories I’ve only been brave enough to show to a very few, and poetry that never met the light of day. I wrote myself into corners, created cardboard protagonists, and had plot holes the size of C130s.
In 2019, I decided I would write with the goal of publication. Before, writing was a release for whatever haunted me. Today it’s a conduit to explore what humanity could be, and maybe shouldn’t be. Fiction has always been my go-to. I lean toward science fiction like Shawn Inmon, Emily St. John, or Ian McEwan, but enjoy a great deal of fantasy as well (Mark Lawrence, Sarah J. Maas, Naomi Novik). Horror will continue to be a favorite, but as I’ve matured as a writer I find my monsters turn to misunderstood victims. My protagonists skew to moral ambivalence similar to authors like Joe Abercrombie, V.E. Schwab, and N. K. Jemisin.
Born and raised in rural Wisconsin, my first goal was to leave. After I left… I missed it. The simplicity of the Midwest, Green Bay Packer’s football, and all four seasons. I came back without regret, met my soul mate, Tanya and I’m happy to say the rest has yet to be written. Tanya is the love of my life, my kind but demanding critic, and the only person I write for intending to impress. We live in a semi-rural town with our dogs Amber and Jax, both young-at-heart rescues. With a love of cooking, travel, and dreams about retiring in Hawaii living off book royalties and movie rights, it’s a fascinating life the universe saw fit to create.
