Ask even a professional novelist, writing two novels and publishing them a year apart isn't an easy feat. Unless, maybe, you're an insomniac workaholic like Danielle Steel.
Milwaukee writer Stacy Riedel, however, did just that, publishing her literary debut, "The King Is Dead," in June 2010 and a second novel, "The Field," in June 2011.
"It seems crazy looking back to be that ambitious in two years," says Riedel, looking back.
"The truth is if I don't work fast, the story gets away from me and I lose whatever drove me to sit down and do it in the first place. While editing 'The King is Dead,' the idea for 'The Field' popped in my mind out of the blue, and I had a very hard time shelving it to finish the first book."
"The King is Dead" is a rock and roll novel set after the passing of family patriarch Frank Gladney. Gladney's extremely different kids – one's a suburban queen, another is in a touring death metal band and another is on the move – get together after his passing.
As the jacket so aptly adds, "Confronted with their warped family history, and reminded of their gods given musical gifts, the Gladneys are faced with what it means to forgive and move the hell on already."
"The Field," meanwhile, is the story of Marin, a woman who has put a one-week deadline on her latest love.
"'The King is Dead' and 'The Field' feel very different from one another to readers, and thematically could not be more disparate," notes Riedel, "but the same river runs through them. My voice is in both, however it took a long time and a lot of practice to even understand what a voice was, much less know mine."
Though the idea for the latter arrived fortuitously, Riedel says it had to wait while she wrapped up its elder sibling. And that, says the author, is a good thing.
"Luckily I had so much work to do on 'The King is Dead' that it slowed me down on the second, gave me time to amass notes and jokes, anecdotes stolen from friends. By the time the dust had settled on 'The King is Dead' ... I only wanted to write 'The Field,' and so that's what I did.
"At the time friends thought it was an unwise business decision, but looking back I think it was the best thing I could have done. Now I have a growing body of work that shows a little bit of range, it proves my dedication and focus, and it's reminder to me what I'm capable of when I'm tired and just want to lay in bed and eat Doritos. Because of preservatives, those Doritos can wait. But a story will fly right out of my head if I don't work on it literally every day and set firm deadlines."
Don't let the two published works for you, Riedel is even more dedicated a writer than they suggest. She says a lot of literary bodies line the road to publication.
"These first two books in print were sadly not my only attempts. There were many failed works prior to 'The King is Dead.' I guess I thought of the first terrible book I wrote as the one I had to complete just to know I could. The second was even more disappointing because I was under the impression I was supposed to be improving over time, and definitely hadn't."
Why had those failed?
"The genre I chose wasn't me," says Riedel. "I wasn't 'writing what I knew,' as the old cliche goes, and there was nothing organic about the story. I learned from that to stick with what I do best, which is brief stories about the human experience. No bombs or secret agents, no dinosaur wars on the moon. Keep it simple and write about what it's like to be in the world, and everything will flow from there."
Riedel says that after the storm of words that emerged over the past year or two, she's taking something of a breather. Of course, she's writing, but not necessarily a new novel ... yet.
"I think it was Leonard Cohen who said great fiction is written during times of distress, but simple times call for simple stories," she says.
"This past year has been terrific and the books have been so well-received, I have no great heartache to speak of, I'm feeling very excited every day. Naturally I have no sad stories to tell, no wisdom to bequeath. So I'm using this time to write short stories again, essays as well, and come fall will be compiling them into a collection I have no title for just yet. I wouldn't call them easier than novels, but it's certainly refreshing to write overt humor again ... or as I call it, 'stylish fart jokes'."
Riedel expects that compendium to appear in 2013, but only, she says, "if it's good enough. If not, well, they can't all be winners. A friend told me recently, 'Don't worry. Tragedy's coming any day now,' to quell any fears I've got that there are no dark comedies left in me. Strangely enough that was very comforting."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
