An Interview with Frank Schutz

An Army brat, I have traveled from place to place from my earliest memories. I went to college for a major in engineering but dropped out after one year, knowing I did not want to be an engineer. I was drafted into the Army in 1970. In addition to Basic and AIT training, I went to jump school and earned my ‘silver wings.’ Instead of going to Vietnam, I was assigned to the famed 82nd Airborne Unit, where I spent the rest of my time in the Army preparing to go anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice. I was deployed a few times, but I declined to go to Ranger school, received my separation papers in 1972, and returned to college without a major. In 1973, my mother died of cancer and I took another year off from schooling to work and save money to return to school. I also took some small leadership roles in my church.

In the Fall of 1974, I returned to college, where I majored in Philosophy and minored in Biblical Studies. I graduated with honors in 1976, returned to my home base in Indianapolis, IN, where I was elected to be a trustee in my church, and married the love of my life, Leslie Hannah (Schütz). Our son was born in January 1980 and the next fall I returned to school at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. We had a daughter while in seminary and worked as many as three part-time jobs to pay the bills. I graduated and was called to pastor a church in an inner city area of Pittsburgh, PA. I had a successful pastorate for eight years there while also holding some leadership positions in the local Presbytery. Our second daughter was born during this time.

In 1992, I resigned from that position and transitioned into a career in Information Technology while I continued to preach and teach as an ordained minister. We moved to Columbus, OH, for work in 1995. In the early 2010s, I retired as a pastor for health reasons but continued to work in IT.

I retired from IT in 2020; unfortunately, my wife’s health declined and she died in the spring of 2021. I now have three grown children and three growing grandchildren and continue to be active in my church.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

My book began with an idea of two riders, a man and a woman, entering a tiny village in the rain and fog. Though I believed I could never write fantasy due to my having Aphantasia, I couldn’t get the story out of my head and the story kept growing around that idea. I soon knew that the man was someone who was called ‘the Traveler.’ I soon knew that twins related to the woman had been abducted and the story would begin with the man and woman setting out to free the twins. So the title, The Traveler: Quest for the Twins, was actually quite easy to come up with.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I first saw my book cover options when Ronaldo Alves sent me half a dozen options to review. The actual cover was not one of them, but one was very close and I took the whole bunch to show to my children and their spouses and got their feedback. Later, when I saw the final book cover, I was even more excited, but that paled to what it felt like to open the box with a proof copy of my book and then a box full of my published book! P.S., it is still exciting every time I show it to someone who hasn’t seen it yet and they rave over it! Excitement on excitement!

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I always loved to read fantasy, but I can’t say that any one of the authors or anyone I knew influenced me. I honestly don’t know where the idea of the two outsiders entering a village came from. But it was that idea that I could not get out of my head and led to the whole story. Which, by the way, included the story of the next two books. Originally it was all one story in my head and I had to break it up because it was just too big for one book!

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

Army Airborne (82nd) – First to respond to any hot spot in the world.

I was a Master Keyer for a lock company, developing the coding for locking systems.

I have not worked in Philosophy but I spent most of my college years working in Philosophy and received all As after the first year.

I was a pastor for eight years and worked off and on in that capacity for many more.

I worked in IT for nearly thirty years before I retired.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

Overcoming my lack of a ‘mind’s eye’ to be able to write a fantasy world and fantastic characters.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I am a committed Christian, and my world of ‘The Land’ reflects my view of the world. However, the world is not a Christian world, so my world reflects all kinds of viewpoints. I have known many people with many different views of the world and I hope my world reflects that. However, I do hope that people of various viewpoints will be able to enjoy a realistic fantasy world and I do hope that it will cause many to think more deeply about what the world really is, rather than just assuming the viewpoint they have grown up, whatever that is. The Christian worldview really is rich and challenging.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I have some beta readers reading the next installment of my story. The working title is The Traveler: Quest for the Sword.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

For me, working with Atmosphere Press was by far the best choice. It allows me to keep control of my own story, while still getting the professional help that all authors need. I highly recommend Atmosphere and I think it is the best option out there for new authors whether you stay at the basic level or add every option!

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.