Stephen A. Roddewig

Joined June 2021

150 stories

Bio

Author of A Bloody Business and the Dick Winchester series. Proud member of the Horror Writers Association 🐦‍⬛

Also a reprint mercenary. And humorist. And road warrior. And Felix Salten devotee.

And a narcissist:

StephenARoddewig.com

Achievements (13)

Stories (150)

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April: The Month of the Backlog
A long while back, I recall reading a post on Medium from an aspiring author who faced a dilemma: Every author’s success relies heavily on having a healthy backlog.
By Stephen A. Roddewig9 months ago in Writers
A Revelation Realized
Back before Vocal, I wrote short stories and sold them to publications. Then, along comes a Facebook ad promoting a contest with a payout 250 times greater than the most money I’d ever been paid for a short story up to that point (and even now), and Vocal began to reshape how I saw the writing world.
By Stephen A. Roddewig10 months ago in Writers
The Counterattack: The Sequel that Vocal Inspired
Dick Winchester is back and reloaded. Yes, Book 1 The Opening Salvo introduced the hyperbolized setting of Arlington, Virginia and the neo-noir archetype who is battling for dominance over the food delivery business in a modern take on 1930s gangland Chicago.
By Stephen A. Roddewig10 months ago in Writers
Picking the Right Moment to Start. Honorable Mention in Self-Editing Epiphany Challenge. Top Story - March 2025.
You’ve likely heard some of this conventional writing advice before: Start “in media res” A reader can tolerate proportionally as much exposition as the plot has achieved momentum – Stephen King (I think) Begin in the moment and feed the reader details as the plot progresses
By Stephen A. Roddewig10 months ago in Critique
Free Market Man Returns. Top Story - March 2025.
Listen to the audio version on Spotify (starts at 6:05): (Available on all major platforms—full list) *** Fresh from his battle with the Bureaucracy Brothers, Free Market Man patrols the skies over America, the shining city built on a hill of U.S. dollars (and a few dead laborers).
By Stephen A. Roddewig11 months ago in Humor
Playlist: Kindle Unlimited Books from the Vocal Author Community
TLDR: There’s a bunch of creators on Vocal who have put their books in the Kindle Unlimited library, which allows you to read these books for free with a 30-day trial (all while the author is compensated for every page). Skip to the section aptly titled The Playlist to see links to every participating author’s work if you read this and said “say less.”
By Stephen A. Roddewig11 months ago in Writers
Babe, Wake Up: New Bio Just Dropped
Disclaimer 1: My Vocal bio has not changed. My official author bio has. (Though my Vocal bio has changed recently, just not as recently. It actually was a precursor of the overhaul I’m about to cover here.)
By Stephen A. Roddewig12 months ago in Writers
Vocal Authors, Bring Me Your Kindle Unlimited Books
Recently, I signed up for Kindle Unlimited, the Amazon equivalent of a streaming subscription where you can read as many e-books as you want. So long as the author/publisher sells through Kindle and has enrolled the e-book in Kindle Select.
By Stephen A. Roddewigabout a year ago in Writers
Only Look Within
A year ago, I looked in the mirror and told myself things would change. I cook, I read, I exercise. I let myself feel.
By Stephen A. Roddewigabout a year ago in Poets
A Known Issue
Carter hadn’t always been like this. Once, he had walked the trails in the woods behind his house for hours, sometimes working his way home in the dark. Never a broken ankle, hardly ever a bruised shin, and always a sense that this was where he belonged. An innate sense of purpose and direction that he imagined rose deep from his DNA, instilled in his essence by his hunter-gatherer ancestors.
By Stephen A. Roddewigabout a year ago in The Swamp
2,000 Reads and a Quick Look Back
Are you tired of reflection pieces yet after two separate challenges calling for essentially that? And perhaps a third if the author wants to set the stage in their New Year, New Projects challenge entry?
By Stephen A. Roddewigabout a year ago in Writers
To Finish a Series. Top Story - January 2025.
It’s always great when you realize your mistake 2/3s of the way through writing the series. For a while, I could not figure out why reception for my second book had been so much more muted than my first book. Certainly, it’s not as novel (hehe) the second time you publish something. Perhaps I should have spaced it out more than six months. Did I not do enough promotions?
By Stephen A. Roddewigabout a year ago in Motivation