Creator Spotlight - Brian Reindel (Future Thief)

Featuring another Substack publisher, one who focuses on fiction

Today the Creator Spotlight shines on one Brian Reindel, the writer behind the Future Thief newsletter. He’s an avid fiction writer, part of the Fictionistas Substack team in addition to his own writing. We’re pleased that he agreed to this interview!

Here’s Brian!

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When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always had a deep desire to do something creative, but didn’t know how
that would translate into a career. As a result, it was a constant
battle between what I thought I should do and what I really wanted to do
when I got older.

I wanted to write stories and I wanted to create art,
but I also wanted to eat and not live at home forever. I chose
journalism as a result, became a copywriter at an ad agency and then a
self-taught programmer during the internet boom.

How long have you been writing fiction?

This is a tough question for me. It would be disingenuous to say my
whole life. I wrote a little in middle school, high school and college
for any creative writing assignments.

There was a period early in my marriage, but before kids, where I tried writing short stories. I wrote half a dozen, sent out a few (that were rejected) and then quit. For
many years after, I focused on art, but writing has always been my first passion.

About a year into the pandemic, I started again. Something clicked. I’ll never stop until I’m in my grave. I guess you could say two years cumulative.

What is the ideal writing environment for you?

Somewhere quiet. Zero distractions. I put on headphones and listen to
one video on YouTube that is 3 hours of an industrial fan blowing into a
cavern. There was a time when I used to wear construction ear protection
that silenced everything, but the fan helps create a sense of space.

Do you prefer writing with pen and paper or do you prefer the
keyboard?

Keyboard. My handwriting is slow and atrocious.

Do you maintain notebooks (paper) and for what purposes?

I realized recently that I’m going to have to start keeping a journal of
ideas. There’s so much going on in life that when an idea pops into my
head, I simply can’t remember day-to-day. It’s much easier with a
notebook because it’s ultra portable and convenient.

Do you have a favorite genre of fiction to read vs. favorite genre
to write?

This is a very interesting question and a subject I’ve written about in
the past. When people talk about fantasy and science fiction (the two
genres I write), I get the impression they’re talking about what’s
commonly accepted as fantasy and science fiction by the mainstream. On
one end you have “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones”, and on the
other you have “Foundation” or “Dune”. Neither of those are anything
like what I enjoy reading.

I suppose the subjects or genres that hit the sweet spot for me for both reading and writing would be folklore, cryptozoology, paranormal, magical realism, high tech and creature features (including aliens). I’m more inclined toward X-Files than I am to Star Trek, if that helps.

One thing that strikes me about your approach is how you handle
rejection letters, you almost seem to be happy to receive them.  Is that
a pragmatic approach or is something else behind that?

Ha! Some readers will probably think I’m a masochist, but yes, I’m happy
to get them for several reasons.

The first reason is that it proves to myself that I’ve made it past the largest majority of aspiring writers who never finish and submit their work for criticism and publication. It doesn’t matter how “good” a writer is if they never finish anything.

The second reason is that it means I’m one step closer to publication. It could be 1,000 rejections before I’m published, but now I only have 999 left to submit. The mystery is part of the excitement. At some point, hopefully the number of rejections reduces, and the scale is tipped in the other direction.

The last reason is that it’s the only real barometer that I’m improving, which is indicated on rare occasions if the editor provides feedback.

How long have you been publishing on Substack so far?  Any
particular likes or dislikes?

It’s been almost eight months. I started writing fiction and essays to
start, but quickly decided if I’m serious about fiction, then I needed
to drop the essays. I now spend any non-fiction creative energies
helping the fiction community through the Fictionistas Substack. This is
the one thing that I love most about Substack is the fiction community
in particular. It’s big enough to get an active community, but not so
big that you lose the personal touch.

I also create my own custom illustrations for my weekly short stories,
and that takes up the remainder of time that I would have spent writing
an essay.

As far as the platform features, I don’t have any major complaints. A
few writers have mentioned wanting total control over the look-and-feel,
more templates, etc., but that’s not their market strategy. Several
other platforms already do that well, and I hope Substack sticks with
the aesthetic model they have now.

I was excited to see that you are turning on paid subscriptions for
your Substack newsletter and will be interested to see how that goes for
you.  I know it's early yet but any observations to date?

I’ll be completely transparent because I think it’s helpful to our
community. I have around 150 free subscribers, and I currently have one
paid subscriber. I’m extremely grateful to have this subscriber, and I
hope they get tremendous value from what I can provide. Maybe that
number will grow to hundreds of paid subscribers, or maybe it won’t, and
I have to be okay with that.

I’m sympathetic to people who have been wired to write, this is their deepest desire, and they want nothing more than to make a living from it. However, writers have enough creative angst as it is, and to throw financial angst into that equation doesn’t improve the situation. Associating our worth to the world, and the
influence we can have as writers, isn’t going to be measured monetarily.

I tell younger creatives not to create with their back up against the
wall. Finishing is more important, and if you can do that while you have
a career and family, it may take you longer to finish, but you’ll still
be a lot further along than those who don’t have those obligations and
still aren’t getting it done.

Pretend you wake up one morning and you learn that the Internet has
been destroyed.  What's the first thing you do?

Embrace the chaos.

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend
The end of our elaborate plans
The end of everything that stands
~ Jim Morrison, The End

Thanks Brian!