RELEASE DATE AUGUST 8, 2023 Q & A with Ryan Steck Author of Lethal Range
ABOUT AUTHOR: Ryan Steck is an editor, an author, and the
founder and editor in chief of The Real Book Spy. Ryan has been named an
“Online Influencer” by Amazon and is a regular columnist at CrimeReads.
TheRealBookSpy.com has been endorsed by #1 New York Times bestselling authors
Mark Greaney, C. J. Box, Kyle Mills, Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, and many others.
Ryan's newest book, Lethal Range, will release on August 8, 2023 from Tyndale
Fiction. A resident of Michigan, along with his wife and their six kids, Steck
cheers on his beloved Detroit Tigers and Lions during the rare moments when
he’s not reading or talking about books on social media. He can be reached via
email at [email protected] .
1. How was your approach to writing Lethal Range different from your approach to writing Fields of Fire ?
RYAN: There’s a saying in publishing: “You have
your whole life to write your first book, but you only have a year to write
your second book.” When I wrote Fields of Fire, I was able to take my time,
revise, go back, and tweak things for as long as I needed to. With Lethal
Range, I was under deadline for the first time, and that compressed writing
timeline was a new experience. Thankfully, I had a couple of years after
writing Fields of Fire before I had to start on the second book, so I knew
where I wanted to go; it was really just a matter of getting the story out. And
in the end, I actually like Lethal Range even better!
2. Matthew
Redd has transitioned from a self-proclaimed loner to a family man, and that
causes several conflicts in this book. How has this shift affected Redd? R : RYAN: At the
end of Fields of Fire, Redd finds out he’s going to be a father. He swears he
will be unlike his biological father, who chose to work for the FBI and “save
the world” instead of being a dad. Redd swears he’ll never be like that, but my
goal was always to make him stare down the same moral conundrum and see how
he’ll handle it. In Lethal Range, he’s tested in new ways because of his
commitment to being a father, and it certainly weighs on him.
3. The
first book ended with a shocking revelation about Redd’s father. What do you
hope people with estranged family members might glean from Redd’s relationship
with his father?
RYAN: I’m a big believer that blood makes you
relatives, but family is a choice. Three of my six children are adopted, and I
love them beyond words. So incorporating adoption and themes like that was
really important to me. The flip side is Gavin Kline, the man who gave Redd up
when he was a child. Where does their relationship stand now? It’s not great,
but I do believe people can be redeemed, and it’s important not to write
someone off. Redd’s learning how to give Kline a second chance, but it’s not
always easy for him.
4. Matthew
and Emily have not been married for long in this story. How is their
relationship challenged in this book? What can we learn from their
relationship? I personally find it interesting that so many authors kill off
their hero’s love interest. I always wanted to go the other way because,
frankly, that’s what I know. I’ve been married fourteen years and know how much
I lean on my wife. I wanted that for Redd too, but for him, there’s always the
issue of wanting to protect Emily instead of turning to her for help in a
dangerous situation. In Lethal Range, she doesn’t always appreciate that and
wants to help Redd deal with some of the issues he’s facing. So they’re
learning how to work together as a team, facing everything together, but
they’re really up against it together in this one.
5. Your
love for Montana seeps out of your Matthew Redd series. Can you explain why
Montana is so special to you? I think for most of us, there’s something so
attractive about living off the grid. Or at least the thought of it! Many of us
wouldn’t do well without our phones and a high-speed Internet connection, but
deep down, we wish we could live that way. So that’s certainly one element, but
even more important to choosing Montana for the setting of this series was the
sheer vastness of the wilderness. Out there, backup is hours away, sometimes
days. You really are on your own, and for someone like Redd, that heightens the
tension and suspense, I think, knowing that he can’t just call for help at a moment’s notice. Whatever he’s
facing, he’s pretty much facing it alone. It raises the stakes a bit.
6. What
about this story excited you while writing it? R RYAN: There were a number of scenes
that I was excited to write. Without spoiling anything, I really wanted to show
Redd as a father for the first time. My real-life best friend, Mikey Derhammer,
becomes a central character in this book, and I was really pumped up to capture
him on the page and show his friendship with Redd. And then, toward the end of
the book, there’s an action sequence that I’d had in my head for years, and it
was a blast to finally be able to write it.
7. The
details in this novel make it come alive, even for people who do not have
military or ranching experience. What kind of research did you do for this
book? Can you explain your process? My father served in the military, and I
have a lot of friends who did too. Many of them are authors themselves, in
fact. So I’ve been fortunate to have so many people in my life I can turn to
get those details right.
The first Matthew Redd thriller, Fields
of Fire, addressed several heavy themes such as redemption, courage, and
justice. How do these themes progress in Lethal Range? Those same themes come
into play here, certainly. I think for Redd, he got his redemption and revenge
in Fields of Fire, but this time around, he wants justice. Kline, meanwhile,
still seeks that redemption, and while I don’t want to give anything away just
yet, that’s a theme that’ll take more than two books to play out.
8. What
questions do you hear most often from fans? R RYAN : Probably the question I get asked
the most from readers is “Who would you want to play Matty Redd if they ever
made the books into movies?” Honestly, from day one, I always pictured a
slightly younger Jason Momoa as Redd. I see him when I’m writing, and I hear
him when I read back Redd’s dialogue, so to me, he would be a perfect choice.
9. Who is
your current favorite author? How has their writing impacted you? RRYAN: I can’t pick
just one. There are just too many that I really love and enjoy. Vince Flynn
will always be my favorite author, but C. J. Box is like a 1B for me, and he’s
definitely my favorite living author for sure. I devour his books when they
come out! I’m also a huge fan of Brad Thor, Mark Greaney, Brad Taylor, Kyle
Mills, Daniel Silva, Michael Connelly, and Connor Sullivan. Most of them don’t
know it, but they’ve all had an impact on me as a writer in different ways.
Most profoundly, though, would be Flynn and Box. I always like to say that
Vince Flynn made me fall in love with the It actually makes it harder! I’m
always so worried I’ll accidentally write something that’s too similar to
someone else, and people will think I got the idea from another book or
something. So I spend a lot of time trying to come up with stuff that I haven’t
read about or seen done. At the same time, I do think I have a pretty good
understanding of what makes readers love characters, and my goal is to
hopefully make Redd feel real enough that people connect with him that way.
You
have read many books as the Real Book Spy. How does your work as a reviewer,
editor, and influencer impact your writing? RYAN: It actually makes it harder! I’m always so
worried I’ll accidentally write something that’s too similar to someone else,
and people will think I got the idea from another book or something. So I spend
a lot of time trying to come up with stuff that I haven’t read about or seen
done. At the same time, I do think I have a pretty good understanding of what
makes readers love characters, and my goal is to hopefully make Redd feel real
enough that people connect with him that way
This book follows Redd after his
recent conversion to Christianity. How does his faith impact his charcter? RYAN: You
know, it’s such a tough topic to write about, I think. For me, I never set out
to write Christian fiction, and that’s not what my books are. But my faith is
incredibly important to me, and I wanted to explore that with Redd a little
bit. My goal was to present an authentic spiritual journey. We’re not all
cookie cutters, and I think it takes longer for some people to find and
discover their faith. And for Redd, the challenge is, how does someone hear
things like “Thou shall not murder” and then also take on as many enemies and
threats as he has to? There’s some internal conflict there, and I’ve had fun
playing around with that a bit.
What do you hope someone without faith
takes away from this book? RYAN: That you can be a big, manly, tough guy and still
hold your faith near and dear to your heart.
Between your work on The Real Book Spy
and your Matthew Redd books, you are able to engage with both Christian and
secular audiences. What advice do you have in demonstrating our faith in a
divisive culture? RYAN: I’m perfectly comfortable talking about my faith and what it
means for me, but I don’t try to push that onto anyone else. Instead, I’d
rather my actions speak for themselves. I’m honestly not out to convert anyone
else, and in my experience, whether it’s faith or politics, people don’t like
things being pushed on them. They want to be entertained, and when it comes to
fiction, that’s our goal, right? To entertain readers. And yet my faith is so
important to me, just like fatherhood and adoption, etc., that it’s natural to
write about it. NORA: Thanks to Tyndale
Publishers, Natalie Wierenga and for this Q & A about a new to me author I really enjoyed.
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