Bookpleasures.com welcomesas our guest Steven Dodge author of The Intelligence of Captain Heinz

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Norm: Good day Steven and thanks for participating in our interview

Please tell our readers a little bit about your personal and professional background.

Steven: I grew up in a Navy family and therefore attended schools in a number of different parts of the country which I think helped broaden my perspective towards life. For college I attended Washington University in St. Louis, choosing that institution for two main reasons:  its campus matched my vision of what a perfect college campus should look like and it was small enough that I could play basketball for them (go Battling Bears!).

In these formative years I was entranced by both aviation and biology and ultimately chose to pursue a career in medicine. After all, even mild turbulence in an airliner causes me considerable distress so how was I supposed to become a fighter pilot like my stepfather?

I financed my medical school education thanks to an Army scholarship program which meant that after my medical training was complete, I had some active duty payback time to serve.

This I did mainly at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. While doing so I worked with people from so many different ethnic backgrounds that I gave up trying to count them.

Also, while in Hawaii my interest in the history of the Pearl Harbor attack intensified, in no small measure due to the fantastic view of the harbor from my office window and the hospital’s 11th floor medical library.

I enjoyed most of the aspects of medical practice but gradually found myself becoming a sub-specialist in the field of reproductive endocrinology which meant my professional focus became incredibly narrow. 

I also missed teaching so basically in mid-career I decided to change gears and accepted an academic appointment at Missouri State University, which is where I have spent the last 16 years.

It is my daughter’s view that the real reason I made the switch was that I had suffered a lifetime of torment from my 5 children.

I have two rebuttals to that, however:  first, my children have actually been quite good and second, if I were to invent a time machine and travel back to when I first started college, I’m confident I would choose to become a history professor instead of a physician.

Norm: Was writing always a career move for you or did it grow into one? As a follow up, are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

Steven: The proper practice of medicine involves a great deal of patient teaching which in turn led me to write quite a few informational booklets and guides.

After I switched careers to university academics, I found myself writing numerous reports, scholarly papers, and accreditation documents. In doing so I became fascinated by the power of language and the observation that effective writing can make a big difference in important outcomes.

Therefore, I suppose it is most correct to say that I slowly and gradually grew into becoming a writer. Up till now all my writing has been part-time but my recent retirement from Missouri State University means I can devote more time to my craft. What impact this will have on my productivity and style remains to be seen.

Norm: What do you think most characterizes your writing?

Steven: I have always felt that I’m more of a storyteller than anything else such as a “writer” or “novelist.” Accordingly, I prefer to focus on the plot rather than providing detailed descriptions of characters and settings. What characters do and say is much more important to me than what they look like. The teacher in me also means that I strive to make sure readers understand the technical aspects of the story I am trying to tell. I hope I have succeeded!

Norm: Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre owe something to readers, if not, why not, if so, why and what would that be?

Steven: Absolutely yes, for without readers there would be no point in writing. The greatest satisfaction I get is when someone tells me they read my book and enjoyed it. It’s similar to the feeling I had when practicing medicine and a patient got better. Now why I feel this need to entertain or help people is an interesting question, the answer to which still escapes me.

Norm: What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish reading The Intelligence of Captain Heinz?

Steven: I hope my book inspires further interest in the history of World War II, a vast event which still impacts our lives today. It is my further wish that the sacrifices made by those who won the victory are recognized and honored appropriately. Lastly, I hope that readers will realize that the main plot of my book hinges on effective teamwork by a group of very diverse individuals.

Norm: Why did you choose this particular genre when writing your novel? i.e. alternate history fiction.

Steven: My book was born out of my interest, perhaps even obsession, with the Pearl Harbor attack and related “what if” questions such as “what if the Americans had not been so thoroughly surprised on December 7th?” As a result, I didn’t give any serious thought to genre until after my book was finished and the publisher said I had to pick one. Historical fiction seemed to me to be most appropriate, but I was gradually persuaded that alternate history is more accurate.

Norm: What are your thoughts as to why people read alternate history fiction? As a follow up, what do you think makes a good alternate history novel?

Steven: History books generally give us only the facts regarding past events. What the people living these events thought, what their motivations were, and how they justified their actions is where historical fiction is helpful.

Alternate history, which I consider to be a subdivision of historical fiction, helps us deal with two important questions that frequently emerge from any study of history: what actions would have produced a different outcome and what would have been the consequences of a different outcome? Or, phrasing it more succinctly, what does it take to change history? In my view, a good work of alternate history helps the reader better understand an important historical event from the perspective of possible different outcomes. After all, the main reason we study history is to hopefully avoid repeating prior mistakes.

Norm: What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

Steven: I dedicated my book to my stepfather, a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It pains me that he died a month shy of his 95th birthday and was never able to read it.

He was part of a wonderful generation that survived the Great Depression, defeated three malignant dictatorships in World War II, and sent explorers to the moon.

The number of living members of his generation is now quite small and is diminishing daily. If my book helps younger Americans remember this amazing group of humble, self-effacing individuals and the contributions they made, my goal for writing it will have been met.

Norm: Did you see your book from an outline or did it come from a completed manuscript?

Steven:  My book was written using a mental outline only. I didn’t start writing until I had a fairly complete vision of the entire story and everything flowed from that.

Important changes were made along the lengthy gestational period, however. At one point about 4 years ago I thought I was done but it just didn’t feel right to proceed ahead to publication. Perhaps a dozen revisions since then produced the version I was finally happy with.

Norm: What was the most difficult part of writing this book and what did you enjoy most about writing this book

Steven: The most frustrating aspect of writing my book had to do with time. Due to my “day job,” time for writing was always limited and sometimes non-existent due to the ebb and flow of work and family life.

It’s quite aggravating to have an important inspiration regarding your storyline and yet no time to bring it to life.

On the other hand, delays sometimes led to even better ideas later on down the road, so I suppose the excessively long creative period for this book may have produced a few advantages (but not many!). For me, the best part of writing is that typing words into your computer grants a certain type of reality or life to what were previously imaginary thoughts, unknown to anyone else. I actually enjoyed doing revisions because in rereading my words I could better visualize and experience events I had previously only dreamed about.

Norm: How did you go about creating the characters of John Heinz and Kathryn Fujita?

Steven:  All my characters are composites of interesting people I have known and/or worked with. Two childhood friends of mine were Mary Kathryn Duffin and Jack Barton. The character of Ace Barton borrows Jack’s name and a little bit of his personality but owes even more to one of my sons.

Kathryn Fujita is largely a mix of three people: my childhood friend Mary Kathryn, a nurse I used to work with, and my wife.

John Heinz and Bill Baxter were inspired by my stepfather with a dash of personality from a medical school friend thrown in and perhaps also shaped a bit by my vision of the person I wish I were.

Professor Fujita was largely derived from two brilliant professors I encountered during my medical education. The name Fujita, by the way, came from a Japanese fighter pilot who participated in the Pearl Harbor attack and the later Battle of Midway.

Norm: Is there much of you in the character of John Heinz?

Steven:  Well, let’s see. We both share last names with commercial products (a car for me and food products for him) and therefore were subject to some ribbing because of it.

I was also shy around women and I wished I could have become a skilled pilot. I have also been known to utter short and highly personal prayers to the almighty during times of stress. But I think that’s about it. I doubt, for example, that I would have been as courageous as he was in aerial combat.

Norm: How much research went into the writing of the novel?

Steven: My book emerged slowly over an 11-year period and during that time I read everything I could regarding the Pacific War and particularly the Pearl Harbor attack. I also “interviewed” my stepfather several times. Particularly helpful to me were Morrison’s History of U.S. Naval Operations in World War II, Prange’s At Dawn We Slept and Layton’s And I Was There.

I must confess that all of this was really a labor of love since I have been fascinated by World War II history since high school. I suppose my interest in that conflict sprang from stories from my stepdad, who participated in several battles, and also perhaps from the fact that one of my teachers had been a submarine commander in the war and another had survived the December 7th destruction of the U.S.S. Arizona.

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and The Intelligence of Captain Heinz?

Steven: I can be contacted for questions or comments through email (stevedodgebooks@gmail.com) or through Facebook (Steven Dodge Books).

Norm: What is next for Steven Dodge?

Steven: I have been working on a short story collection titled Time Travel Testimonials where several of the stories are long enough to be considered novellas. This book will be ready to go as soon as I overcome writer’s block concerning one story’s plot. After that I will be faced with a decision to either write the sequel to Captain Heinz or to head in a completely new direction.

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, what question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has?

Steven: Your questions have been quite thought-provoking and the only comment I wish to add is that I’m grateful that writers now have many more options for publication than they did in the 1990’s when I wrote my first (and never-published) novel. Then, even if you submitted your work to every known publisher and literary agent, the chance an unknown author could get published seemed similar to the odds of winning the Powerball lottery. Today, thanks to self-publishing companies and organizations such as yours, it’s still hard to reach the right audience of readers but at least it’s possible. I certainly thank you for that. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

FOLLOW HERE TO READ NORM'S REVIEW OF THE INTELLIGENCE OF CAPTAIN HEINZ