Samantha Michalski

Marc Ridge is an acclaimed author who has written a couple of stories and compiled them into the Between the Shadows series. The novel, Between the Shadows: The Final Darkle Story, is about Michael J. Bear, ex-deep cover operative for an ultra-secret shadow agency of the world Shadow Government, faces one of his greatest challenges: confronting a psychotic killer being controlled by the lord of darkness himself. The whole series is based on Lucifer, the fallen angel watching over other fallen angels and their daily lives. This story is a cyclonic examination of twisted and repressed love, leading to ultimate redemption. He has written other novels in this series such as, The Noble Stories and Darkle’s Midnight Tales. Two of Ridge’s stories, “Lloyd” and “Learning to Forgive,” have been published at Freedom’s Hill Primer. 

ME: Let’s start out with your childhood, where are you from, how did you grow up? How did this affect your decisions in life?

RIDGE: I grew up in a small farming community in central Indiana where I lived until 1976. Most of my youth was spent riding horses through the woods of southern Indiana with my friends and camping, hiking, and exploring adventures with the Boy Scouts and Explorers. I wrote my first short story at the age of twelve, having already spent many years reading biographies, adventure stories, and day-dreaming while riding alone in the woods. Throughout Junior High and High school, I wrote poetry and stories, as well as beginning my first novel. Although I was an athlete and fair student, I spent most of my time alone, except for two good friends, one of which also owned horses. My frustrations with lower-middle-class life and not having anyone [teachers, parents, etc] as supporters, I left home after graduation to join the Navy. That was November 1976 and I have never really returned home.

ME: How did you get interested in your field? What brought you to writing and publishing? How did you get involved with online blogs and editing and publishing?

RIDGE: I have always written on my own. In Junior High I found an old hand-powered printing press and was allowed to experiment with the technology while the other students worked in mock-businesses. In 1992, I began learning the programming language for the Web and started creating web pages. There were a lot of online poetry sites in the early days of the web, so I started testing the waters there. I soon learned that most sites were a bit questionable and would take anything submitted. I proved this by writing a nonsense poem backwards and upside down, which several sites accepted with praise. So, I have since then avoided online publications unless I know the editors or deem the site to be professionally made.

ME: How did you begin writing your book? What all does it take to accomplish writing a book?

RIDGE: Sometimes stories develop over time, and sometimes they just come to the writer. Some writing instructors may have a lot to say on the so-called art and craft of writing, but I don’t. My novel began as a series of unrelated short stories that I transformed into a larger story. A few years after letting it sit on the shelf, I took it down and began reshaping the story and the way it unfolds. Writing a book takes patience and determination. Instead of worrying over the theme, or grammar, or characters, just write it all down, and save the cosmetic things for afterwards. Let the characters speak to you instead of trying to force events. If your short stories tend to run long, then maybe you are a novelist.

ME: Are there any challenges to your field? Or any instances that you remember being particularly difficult?

RIDGE: Writing is a challenge every time you start anything new. Teaching is a daily challenge. The most difficult thing about my job is time management. Teaching classes, running a writing center—alone—taking on the administrative responsibilities of a department head, essentially, and dealing with student problems daily leaves very little time for personal writing, research, or relaxing.

ME: Any advice or tips for an online blog editor?

RIDGE: Advice for online blog editor? Just keep your writing focused on facts, and do not allow yourself to fall into the trap of writing emotionally driven diatribes. Always give your readers the various viewpoints of any topic without placing judgments on any one side.