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The Crime CafeAuthor: Debbi Mack
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Interview with Author Ryan Steck – S. 11, Ep. 15
Saturday, 17 January, 2026
My guest interview this week on the Crime Cafe podcast is with crime writer and publisher of The Real Book Spy on Substack, Ryan Steck. Also, feel free to download a copy of the transcript here. Debbi (00:52): Hi everyone. Welcome to 2026. Our first show of the new year features the author of the Matthew Redd Thriller Series. He’s also a freelance developmental editor, which is an important thing to have if you’re self-publishing, and an author/publisher of The Real Book Spy on Substack. It’s my pleasure to introduce my guest Ryan Steck. Hi, Ryan. How are you doing today? Ryan (01:20): Hi, Debbi. Thank you so much for having me. Debbi (01:23): I am very happy to have you on, even though you are wearing a Yankees cap. Ryan (01:27): I know. Debbi (01:27): I can live with that. It’s cool. I have Yankee fan friends, even though I’m a Met fan and a Nationals fan. I’m a National League fan. I don’t know. Ryan (01:38): Well, I was telling you before we started to record, I’m actually a Tigers fan too, but I’m from Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is where Derek Jeter grew up. So I always loved the captain and rooted for the Yankees since I was a little kid. Debbi (01:51): Very cool. That’s a very cool reason to root for him, too. Ryan (01:55): Yeah. Debbi (01:55): There you go. So anyway, happy new year. Glad to have you on. Thanks for being with us. What inspired you to write a thriller series? Ryan (02:06): Oh, I think I’ve always loved to tell stories and I love thrillers. I love mysteries. Way before I was actually writing books, a fan of the genre, it was through talking with other authors. So I came from sports journalism and covering NFL teams, primarily the Detroit Lions, and then sort of made my transition into publishing. And at the time, I tried writing for other media outlets, writing book reviews and author interviews, but I didn’t love that I was told what books I had to review or which authors I had to talk to. I wanted to be in control of myself and my own boss. And so I was friends with a lot of the authors that I was covering. And the one thing I kept hearing from everybody is that there’s no one-stop shop for all things thriller. And it was a good friend of mine who was a mentor. (02:58): His name was Ted Bell, New York Time bestselling author, Ted Bell, of the Alex Hawk series. Ted’s a guy I worked with for a while and he really mentored me in writing. But he said, “Buddy, if you build a website, we’ll come. We’ll support you. We’ll be there.” So I launched The Real Book Spy at the end of 2014. And by 2016, we were averaging a million readers a year. And I think by 2018 … Yeah, I think it was 2018, we crossed two million readers for the first time and have hung around two and a half million readers a year or so on that. And I’m super proud of that. But at the same time, I’m so used to being on your side of the conversation that when I did become an author, it took time to learn to be on this side. And I just want to make another note too. The Matthew Redd series is my own books, but I also write now for the late Ted Bell’s estate. (03:49): So the guy that really mentored me that helped me launch The Book Spy passed away a few years ago and initially I took over his series for Penguin Random House. And now we just signed a new three-book deal with Blackstone to continue the Hawk series. So I get to write those too. And I guess what led to me wanting to write my own books, I just always wanted to tell stories. And I bring a different, I think, perspective. A lot of guys in my genre, they’re ex-military, ex-special forces, ex-law enforcement, that kind of a thing. And I’m a father. I have six kids. I’m married. I know family life. People say write what you know. And I don’t agree with that because if I did, my books would all be about a dad who’s trying to figure out how to make it to everyone’s gymnastics and how to volunteer at church and all these other things. (04:43): I believe in write what you want to read. And I love the West and I love lone wolf operators. And I felt like, man, we haven’t seen a lot of that. What does Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne look like out West? And I wanted to explore that. So I was very blessed to have a literary agent. And I said to him one day, “I think I want to write Jason Bourne.” Or I said to him, “I want to write Vince Flynn meets CJ Box, two of my all time two favorite authors.” I remember my agent at the time said, “What’s that look like? ” And I said, “I don’t know, give me a year. I’m going to figure it out. ” And I wrote my first novel, Fields of Fire set in Montana starring a former Marine raider named Matthew Redd and have been fortunate enough to write three books that are already published after that. (05:32): And I’m under contract for two more with the next one coming out this year called Target Down. Debbi (05:40): Wow. So you have something coming out this year, and what are you working on now? Ryan (05:48): Yeah, so it’s actually a big year for me. I have three books out this year. Debbi (05:52): Wow. Ryan (05:53): So I have my second Alex Hawk novel that again, I took over for the late Ted Bell, who’s a mentor and dear friend of mine. Ted Bell’s Warmonger comes out March 31st. And then sometime this summer, my fifth Matthew Redd novel, that’s my own series. And then the franchise I’m most passionate about comes out … I would think we’re targeting July, August, September range. I don’t think we have a pub date just yet. And then my third book is … Actually, the second book I co-wrote with a friend of mine named Simon Gervais. Our first book, The Second Son, is published by Thomas and Mercer. And that book came out officially December 1st, 2025. Already has been a bestseller on Amazon overall and has 6,000 reviews so far and growing in just over a month. So we’re really psyched and our second book in that series will come out in November. (06:50): It’s called The Marked Sun. So it’s a three-book year for me. And I’ve been mostly storing up energy to get ready for this year because of it. Debbi (07:00): Yeah. Wow. Well, congratulations. That’s absolutely fantastic. You’ve had some amazing success with Substack too.That’s really something. Ryan (07:11): Thank you. Debbi (07:14): What do you ascribe? What do you think has led to getting so many subscribers so quickly? Ryan (07:22): Well, I think with The Real Book Spy, there was just really no one-stop shop for all things thriller, and people were hungry for that. (07:32): I didn’t initially launch the site on Substack. It’s just therealbookspy.com still exists. We moved to Substack last August as a way to just build on what we’re doing. And it’s been a great move, not only for us, but for our audience, I think, and a better way to communicate and connect with people. But I look at it as my wife watches the Oscars every year, and I don’t. I’ll look and see who won Best Picture and this and that. I’ve never heard of any of the movies that win, by the way, let alone seen them. I’ve never even heard of them. And it’s funny to me that those are the ones that win, but I’ve seen every billion dollar franchise. I’ve seen every Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible or the Marvel movies, and those never win awards or accolades. And I really think that in our business and publishing, the equivalent of that is the thriller genre. (08:27): So they go out and sell really well and millions of readers, but they don’t ever win awards. They don’t win literary awards and things like that, but yet people love them. So I think just launching something to give readers more inside access, that was really my approach was to bring you an insider’s perspective to everything happening. So cover all the books for sure. I want you to know what books are coming out, but I also want you to know when authors sign new book deals and interview those writers and cover things a little differently than what anyone else was doing. And I think that really helped us take off for sure. Debbi (09:06): Yeah. Yeah. Doing something a little bit different than everybody else. Ryan (09:11): Yeah, that’s right. Debbi (09:11): Very specific too, for a specific audience. Those are good insights. Let’s see. How often do you publish Book Spy? Ryan (09:26): Frequently. I mean, whenever we have news, we’re trying to put something on Substack every day, every other day at the minimum. Sometimes maybe there’s not enough news going around. So a few times a week, but definitely with Substack, it’s a subscription model. If people are spending $8 a month or $80 a year, I want to make sure you get most bang for your books. So we are for sure rolling out content there. Big things too. I think we’re the only source on the internet that has a full lineup of 2026 releases, every mystery, every thriller in one spot. So it’s content like that. Sure, we’re doing reviews, book announcement, cover reviews, author interviews, but also different type of lists. Again, the goal is always to help good readers find good books. Debbi (10:15): How do you find the books that you feature on your Substack? Ryan (10:20): Oh man, I have a great relationship with a lot of the publishers. That’s required. Yep. I need to know them, trust the marketing teams and the publicists when they send me something, they think it’s probably a fit for our audience and then we need to evaluate is it? I would say that I’m not going to review books I don’t like. So the one thing I don’t do is a lot of bad reviews. And I know that there’s been times in the last 10, 11 years where people have said, “Man, do you just love every book you read because you post a lot of good reviews?” And I said, “Well, no, but I don’t finish books I don’t like.” There’s really no value in it. Writing a bad review doesn’t help me, doesn’t really help you, doesn’t help the author. I don’t want my approach to be, here’s all the books you shouldn’t check out. (11:04): I want it to be, here’s all the books that are available. Here’s the ones I think you’ll like, but everyone has their own taste. And so I might not review a book I don’t like, but I’m smart enough to know that just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. So we might add it to a monthly reading guide or something like that. But really, I think over 11 years, we got a pretty good feel for what our readers are looking for and we try to tailor everything to them. Debbi (11:30): Yeah, that’s good. That’s an excellent approach. Did you do a lot of surveys or anything of your readership before you launched the Substack? Ryan (11:41): No, not like official polls or surveys. I don’t think we need to because of just the volume of messages and comments and things that we receive and have received for over a decade. So therealbooksbuy.com existed for over a decade before we even launched the Substack. So I felt like people had weighed in enough over the years that we had a pretty good understanding of what it is they were looking for. Debbi (12:05): So you were just getting that feedback anyway? Ryan (12:07): Absolutely. Yeah. Debbi (12:09): That’s fantastic. What authors … Oh, you also do freelance editing. Ryan (12:18): Not so much anymore. I did for a long time, but these days I’m writing three books a year and still overseeing everything Book Spy related, I just don’t have the time. Debbi (12:28): I was going to say, how do you balance out your time? How do you structure your time to fit in this stuff? Ryan (12:35): Yeah, it’s already a challenge. Because again, being an author, being a Book Spy, my first job is really husband and father. So finding balance is something I’ve struggled with for over a decade. And it really wasn’t until last year I decided, look, stuff’s got to change. I have to priororitize this idea that you blink and you miss your kids growing up, it’s so real. (13:00): It’s so real. And the issue that I have is I feel like every time I lock away on deadline to finish a book, I come out of my office and my kids all look five years older. In my head, one of my sons, I literally still picture him as eight, maybe the oldest at 12, and he’s going to be 15 this year. It’s really hard for me. The emotional and sentimental side of me regrets maybe having tied up so much of my time in books over the years. And I wish I would’ve done a better job with balance. And that’s the advice I give a lot of people now is don’t feel like you have to go chase money or careers or this or that. You will blink and your kids are grown and you’ll miss it. You will not feel secure in your financial state. (13:45): You will wish that you were there for your children more. And so really it was last year I made an effort to prioritize that and am very protective of that in 2026. Debbi (13:55): That is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. I just think that is great advice. And everybody who writes should listen to you. Protect yourself, your time, your personal life, your family. All of these things matter, your community, whatever. Ryan (14:16): Well, there’s that saying the days are slow, but the years fly by, and it’s so true. Debbi (14:20): Very, very. Ryan (14:21): It’s just so true. And I look at that and already I was thinking about this interview last night and just how much my life has changed since I first became published in 2022. And I now have six novels out in that time, and I have three more coming out this year. So it’s been a lot. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. And it’s very easy to lose sight of your most important role as father, husband, if you have kids or a wife or family. But even beyond that, just protecting your personal time and personal relationships. I wish I’d have done a better job with that. And now I’m very vocal in advising others. Don’t make the mistakes that I did and prioritize family. Yeah. Debbi (15:09): Amen to that. Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear. Boy. What authors have you found to be most inspiring and influential on your work? Ryan (15:20): So Vince Flynn is my all- time favorite writer. He wrote the number one New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series. After his death in 2000, I think it was 12, Kyle Mills, who’s a friend of mine, another number one New York Times bestselling author, took over the Mitch Rapp series and wrote in that for about a decade, wrote nine books. And now Don Bentley, another New York Times bestselling author has sort of picked up the mantle and continued it forward and is doing an excellent job. Vince Flynn is by far the writer who’s influenced me the most because he’s the reason I fell in love with books. I have six kids and my youngest son’s name is Mitchell after Mitch Rapp, Vince’s character. And then second to him, CJ Box is just an all-time favorite of mine. Him and Vince are really my 1A and my 1B. (16:13): I look at his career and there’s nothing the guy can’t write. I think his Joe Pickett series is the best franchise in print today, regardless of genre, and I’m really in awe of what he can do. More recent writers, Jack Carr is really this day’s modern Tom Clancy of his generation. Jack Carr, number one New York Time bestselling author of The Terminal List series. Brad Thor is another guy I really enjoy. So for sure, a lot of writers were influential in me. I would say being where I’m at with my Redd series in Tyndale, Josie Rosenberg is an author that really I learned a lot from. And then of course, Ted Bell, who was a mentor to me, and now I write his series. Debbi (16:59): Yeah, yeah. Wow. Sounds like you’ve met some remarkable people too. That helps. Ryan (17:06): Oh, I’ve been so blessed. Yeah. Debbi (17:09): That’s fantastic. You aren’t on TikTok, are you? Ryan (17:14): I think so. Not a lot. Yeah, not a ton. Debbi (17:17): I was wondering if you did BookTok. Ryan (17:18): Yeah, no, I think it’s not as trendy for our genre with thrillers and mysteries and all that, but I do pay attention to it. Debbi (17:28): Well, it’s there. That’s all I can say. Ryan (17:31): It’s there. Yeah, you’re right about that. Debbi (17:33): I’m not there, but it’s there. And apparently publishing is relying on it for some reason. Let’s see. What have you read lately that was a real standout book for you, that really spoke to you in some special way? Ryan (17:52): Yeah. So Brad Thor and Ward Larson, another buddy of mine, they have their first co-written book together called Cold Zero, comes out in February, and I read an advanced copy of that a few months ago, and it is phenomenal. They just announced yesterday that it’s going to be a massive feature film on Netflix, by the way. The book is phenomenal. I’d recommend people check that out. Another writer who’s very near and dear to me is Brad Meltzer, number one New York Times bestselling author of so many books and the host of History Channel’s Decoded and other TV shows. He also writes children books called … It’s the Ordinary People Save the World or something like that. I wish … now it escaped me, but I call them the I Am books because every title is I Am. And he has George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and just historical figures. (18:43): And it’s near and dear to me because I have a son, my son Ryan Jr., who’s autistic. We were told he would maybe never read. And for someone that works in publishing, I kind of refuse to believe that. And I’ll never forget the day I woke up and Ryan Jr. was sitting on the floor reading one of Brad Meltzer’s I Am books. He was reading I Am Abraham Lincoln out loud. And I’m a big softie with my kids, so I start crying and I couldn’t believe it was a big moment. And so I reach out to Brad Meltzer and he sent my son a video of himself, congratulating him. Then he sent a bunch of signed books to my kid. And later when PBS made a TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum based off of the I Am books, kids’ books that Meltzer writes, my son was so excited to see that and sent a video to Brad and Brad immediately got right back to him. (19:35): So I really love that guy. But in addition to being one of the best people in publishing, he is a phenomenal writer. And so he’s got a new book that just came out Tuesday, January 6th. Debbi (19:46):The Viper? Ryan (19:46): The Viper. Yeah. That’s a good one. Debbi (19:49): I have a copy. It’s sitting there waiting for me to read it. I’ve got to read this thing. Ryan (19:55): He is one of those guys that, because of what my job is, I always know what the book is about. It’s my job to cover and let you know this book is coming way before I even get to read it. But if I walked away from publishing tomorrow and I knew nothing and I walked in a store and I saw Brad Meltzer’s name on a book, I’d buy it, no questions asked. Debbi (20:14): Well, I have a story about Brad Meltzer. I have never met him actually, but it’s interesting. I have a story about his book, one of his books. (20:24): When I first self-published, this was after, this is a short story about me. I hope you don’t mind. I was with a small press back in 2005 that went out of business nine months after my book came out and I’m like, oh, now what? So then I decided to self-publish and I came out with a book. It’s called Identity Crisis. And the funny thing was there was another book called Identity Crisis out there by Brad Meltzer. I was like, oh my God, we both chose the title. Somebody chose the title, Identity Crisis for him or he chose it. I don’t know which. So I was just like, “Oh my God, we have the same title. How about that? ” So I’ve always felt this weird interest in him. What made you choose that title and what’s your book about? And I never did read it. Ryan (21:16): It’s a good book, I’ll tell you that. It is a good book. Everything he writes is phenomenal. Debbi (21:20): Oh my gosh. Well, I can’t say that mine was phenomenal. It was my first. So forgive me if it wasn’t phenomenal like yours, but still even so. Yeah. So I just think he’s always been kind of interesting to me. So now I have to definitely read that book. Ryan (21:38): Yeah, check out The Viper. It’s a good one. Debbi (21:40): The Viper. Alrighty. Do you read books in other genres or do you not have time for that? Ryan (21:46): Well, I mean, yeah, it’s tough because if I’m being perfectly honest with you, when I’m not working on The Book Spy, I’m not writing one of my books, the last thing I want to do is pick up a book. Generally, I’m more like, let’s do anything else. So yeah, I read nonfiction for sure. I read a lot of books that deal with theology and biblical content, things like that. I read the Bible, I read kids’ books with my children, stuff like that. But I don’t what I would call pleasure read very often, which is like, “Hey, I’m not covering this book. It’s outside of my genre, but it looks cool. I think I’ll check it out.” That’s pretty rare. Debbi (22:32): See, I can’t seem to limit myself. I have to go outside of the genre every now and then. Ryan (22:37): Sure. Debbi (22:38): This sounds like a fascinating sci-fi or fantasy or I got to read this Terry Pratchett book, I haven’t gotten to it yet. Things like that. Ryan (22:47): Yeah. Debbi (22:47): Just like, I don’t know. What advice would you give to someone who’s interested in a writing career? Ryan (22:57): Well, you have to love it. You have to love storytelling. Don’t write one book and then go, okay, I’m going to try to get an agent, try to get a publisher. And if I get one, I’ll keep writing. Writers write. It’s not an agent or book deal or publisher that validates you as a writer. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. So always be writing. That’s my number one piece of advice. Don’t finish a book and start querying it and then do nothing. Keep writing. While you query that book, while you query agents and you’re trying to land one, keep writing. Always be writing. And a lot of times, if you look up your favorite author and you maybe hear how they got into the industry, very few people ever break in with the first book they wrote. They’ll write several before an agent gives them any attention. (23:43): And another writer I really love and a guy I admire so much, Steve Berry. Steve, I think, wrote 12 manuscripts before he got published. I think a lot of people give up way too early. And so just keep writing and put your head down and go write. Debbi (23:58): Yes. Great advice. Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to add while we’re on that I haven’t covered? Ryan (24:08): Just that if you’re new to my books, I wrote them that you could, in a way, so you could jump in anywhere. I think there’s probably more value in starting at the beginning with Fields of Fire. So that way you’re familiar with the characters throughout. But if you’re in the bookstore and you see one and it’s not the first one, you really honestly can jump in anywhere and I try to write them so that each story stands on its own and you’ll kind of know what’s happening, but I hope you’ll check them out. And to you, Debbi, just thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Debbi (24:39): Well, it was my pleasure. Very much so, Ryan. Thank you for being here. And I will now switch over. Here I am. Okay, on video. Yes. Thank you very much for being here today, Ryan. I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping to make some changes to both my Patreon and Substack pages. So hopefully there’ll be changes for the better. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Patrons of the podcast get early ad-free episodes along with copies of the Crime Cafe story collections, which include a box set and short story anthology. There’s also a monthly newsletter where I include my reviews, new releases, and other items of possible interest to crime and mystery lovers. So check it out. And until next time when our guest will be Douglas J. Wood, take care and happy reading. Debbi (00:52): Hi everyone. Welcome to 2026. Our first show of the new year features the author of the Matthew Redd Thriller Series. He’s also a freelance developmental editor, which is an important thing to have if you’re self-publishing, and an author/publisher of The Real Book Spy on Substack. It’s my pleasure to introduce my guest Ryan Steck. Hi, Ryan. How are you doing today? Ryan (01:20): Hi, Debbi. Thank you so much for having me. Debbi (01:23): I am very happy to have you on, even though you are wearing a Yankees cap. Ryan (01:27): I know. Debbi (01:27): I can live with that. It’s cool. I have Yankee fan friends, even though I’m a Met fan and a Nationals fan. I’m a National League fan. I don’t know. Ryan (01:38): Well, I was telling you before we started to record, I’m actually a Tigers fan too, but I’m from Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is where Derek Jeter grew up. So I always loved the captain and rooted for the Yankees since I was a little kid. Debbi (01:51): Very cool. That’s a very cool reason to root for him, too. Ryan (01:55): Yeah. Debbi (01:55): There you go. So anyway, happy new year. Glad to have you on. Thanks for being with us. What inspired you to write a thriller series? Ryan (02:06): Oh, I think I’ve always loved to tell stories and I love thrillers. I love mysteries. Way before I was actually writing books, a fan of the genre, it was through talking with other authors. So I came from sports journalism and covering NFL teams, primarily the Detroit Lions, and then sort of made my transition into publishing. And at the time, I tried writing for other media outlets, writing book reviews and author interviews, but I didn’t love that I was told what books I had to review or which authors I had to talk to. I wanted to be in control of myself and my own boss. And so I was friends with a lot of the authors that I was covering. And the one thing I kept hearing from everybody is that there’s no one-stop shop for all things thriller. And it was a good friend of mine who was a mentor. (02:58): His name was Ted Bell, New York Time bestselling author, Ted Bell, of the Alex Hawk series. Ted’s a guy I worked with for a while and he really mentored me in writing. But he said, “Buddy, if you build a website, we’ll come. We’ll support you. We’ll be there.” So I launched The Real Book Spy at the end of 2014. And by 2016, we were averaging a million readers a year. And I think by 2018 … Yeah, I think it was 2018, we crossed two million readers for the first time and have hung around two and a half million readers a year or so on that. And I’m super proud of that. But at the same time, I’m so used to being on your side of the conversation that when I did become an author, it took time to learn to be on this side. And I just want to make another note too. The Matthew Redd series is my own books, but I also write now for the late Ted Bell’s estate. (03:49): So the guy that really mentored me that helped me launch The Book Spy passed away a few years ago and initially I took over his series for Penguin Random House. And now we just signed a new three-book deal with Blackstone to continue the Hawk series. So I get to write those too. And I guess what led to me wanting to write my own books, I just always wanted to tell stories. And I bring a different, I think, perspective. A lot of guys in my genre, they’re ex-military, ex-special forces, ex-law enforcement, that kind of a thing. And I’m a father. I have six kids. I’m married. I know family life. People say write what you know. And I don’t agree with that because if I did, my books would all be about a dad who’s trying to figure out how to make it to everyone’s gymnastics and how to volunteer at church and all these other things. (04:43): I believe in write what you want to read. And I love the West and I love lone wolf operators. And I felt like, man, we haven’t seen a lot of that. What does Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne look like out West? And I wanted to explore that. So I was very blessed to have a literary agent. And I said to him one day, “I think I want to write Jason Bourne.” Or I said to him, “I want to write Vince Flynn meets CJ Box, two of my all time two favorite authors.” I remember my agent at the time said, “What’s that look like? ” And I said, “I don’t know, give me a year. I’m going to figure it out. ” And I wrote my first novel, Fields of Fire set in Montana starring a former Marine raider named Matthew Redd and have been fortunate enough to write three books that are already published after that. (05:32): And I’m under contract for two more with the next one coming out this year called Target Down. Debbi (05:40): Wow. So you have something coming out this year, and what are you working on now? Ryan (05:48): Yeah, so it’s actually a big year for me. I have three books out this year. Debbi (05:52): Wow. Ryan (05:53): So I have my second Alex Hawk novel that again, I took over for the late Ted Bell, who’s a mentor and dear friend of mine. Ted Bell’s Warmonger comes out March 31st. And then sometime this summer, my fifth Matthew Redd novel, that’s my own series. And then the franchise I’m most passionate about comes out … I would think we’re targeting July, August, September range. I don’t think we have a pub date just yet. And then my third book is … Actually, the second book I co-wrote with a friend of mine named Simon Gervais. Our first book, The Second Son, is published by Thomas and Mercer. And that book came out officially December 1st, 2025. Already has been a bestseller on Amazon overall and has 6,000 reviews so far and growing in just over a month. So we’re really psyched and our second book in that series will come out in November. (06:50): It’s called The Marked Sun. So it’s a three-book year for me. And I’ve been mostly storing up energy to get ready for this year because of it. Debbi (07:00): Yeah. Wow. Well, congratulations. That’s absolutely fantastic. You’ve had some amazing success with Substack too.That’s really something. Ryan (07:11): Thank you. Debbi (07:14): What do you ascribe? What do you think has led to getting so many subscribers so quickly? Ryan (07:22): Well, I think with The Real Book Spy, there was just really no one-stop shop for all things thriller, and people were hungry for that. (07:32): I didn’t initially launch the site on Substack. It’s just therealbookspy.com still exists. We moved to Substack last August as a way to just build on what we’re doing. And it’s been a great move, not only for us, but for our audience, I think, and a better way to communicate and connect with people. But I look at it as my wife watches the Oscars every year, and I don’t. I’ll look and see who won Best Picture and this and that. I’ve never heard of any of the movies that win, by the way, let alone seen them. I’ve never even heard of them. And it’s funny to me that those are the ones that win, but I’ve seen every billion dollar franchise. I’ve seen every Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible or the Marvel movies, and those never win awards or accolades. And I really think that in our business and publishing, the equivalent of that is the thriller genre. (08:27): So they go out and sell really well and millions of readers, but they don’t ever win awards. They don’t win literary awards and things like that, but yet people love them. So I think just launching something to give readers more inside access, that was really my approach was to bring you an insider’s perspective to everything happening. So cover all the books for sure. I want you to know what books are coming out, but I also want you to know when authors sign new book deals and interview those writers and cover things a little differently than what anyone else was doing. And I think that really helped us take off for sure. Debbi (09:06): Yeah. Yeah. Doing something a little bit different than everybody else. Ryan (09:11): Yeah, that’s right. Debbi (09:11): Very specific too, for a specific audience. Those are good insights. Let’s see. How often do you publish Book Spy? Ryan (09:26): Frequently. I mean, whenever we have news, we’re trying to put something on Substack every day, every other day at the minimum. Sometimes maybe there’s not enough news going around. So a few times a week, but definitely with Substack, it’s a subscription model. If people are spending $8 a month or $80 a year, I want to make sure you get most bang for your books. So we are for sure rolling out content there. Big things too. I think we’re the only source on the internet that has a full lineup of 2026 releases, every mystery, every thriller in one spot. So it’s content like that. Sure, we’re doing reviews, book announcement, cover reviews, author interviews, but also different type of lists. Again, the goal is always to help good readers find good books. Debbi (10:15): How do you find the books that you feature on your Substack? Ryan (10:20): Oh man, I have a great relationship with a lot of the publishers. That’s required. Yep. I need to know them, trust the marketing teams and the publicists when they send me something, they think it’s probably a fit for our audience and then we need to evaluate is it? I would say that I’m not going to review books I don’t like. So the one thing I don’t do is a lot of bad reviews. And I know that there’s been times in the last 10, 11 years where people have said, “Man, do you just love every book you read because you post a lot of good reviews?” And I said, “Well, no, but I don’t finish books I don’t like.” There’s really no value in it. Writing a bad review doesn’t help me, doesn’t really help you, doesn’t help the author. I don’t want my approach to be, here’s all the books you shouldn’t check out. (11:04): I want it to be, here’s all the books that are available. Here’s the ones I think you’ll like, but everyone has their own taste. And so I might not review a book I don’t like, but I’m smart enough to know that just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. So we might add it to a monthly reading guide or something like that. But really, I think over 11 years, we got a pretty good feel for what our readers are looking for and we try to tailor everything to them. Debbi (11:30): Yeah, that’s good. That’s an excellent approach. Did you do a lot of surveys or anything of your readership before you launched the Substack? Ryan (11:41): No, not like official polls or surveys. I don’t think we need to because of just the volume of messages and comments and things that we receive and have received for over a decade. So therealbooksbuy.com existed for over a decade before we even launched the Substack. So I felt like people had weighed in enough over the years that we had a pretty good understanding of what it is they were looking for. Debbi (12:05): So you were just getting that feedback anyway? Ryan (12:07): Absolutely. Yeah. Debbi (12:09): That’s fantastic. What authors … Oh, you also do freelance editing. Ryan (12:18): Not so much anymore. I did for a long time, but these days I’m writing three books a year and still overseeing everything Book Spy related, I just don’t have the time. Debbi (12:28): I was going to say, how do you balance out your time? How do you structure your time to fit in this stuff? Ryan (12:35): Yeah, it’s already a challenge. Because again, being an author, being a Book Spy, my first job is really husband and father. So finding balance is something I’ve struggled with for over a decade. And it really wasn’t until last year I decided, look, stuff’s got to change. I have to priororitize this idea that you blink and you miss your kids growing up, it’s so real. (13:00): It’s so real. And the issue that I have is I feel like every time I lock away on deadline to finish a book, I come out of my office and my kids all look five years older. In my head, one of my sons, I literally still picture him as eight, maybe the oldest at 12, and he’s going to be 15 this year. It’s really hard for me. The emotional and sentimental side of me regrets maybe having tied up so much of my time in books over the years. And I wish I would’ve done a better job with balance. And that’s the advice I give a lot of people now is don’t feel like you have to go chase money or careers or this or that. You will blink and your kids are grown and you’ll miss it. You will not feel secure in your financial state. (13:45): You will wish that you were there for your children more. And so really it was last year I made an effort to prioritize that and am very protective of that in 2026. Debbi (13:55): That is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. I just think that is great advice. And everybody who writes should listen to you. Protect yourself, your time, your personal life, your family. All of these things matter, your community, whatever. Ryan (14:16): Well, there’s that saying the days are slow, but the years fly by, and it’s so true. Debbi (14:20): Very, very. Ryan (14:21): It’s just so true. And I look at that and already I was thinking about this interview last night and just how much my life has changed since I first became published in 2022. And I now have six novels out in that time, and I have three more coming out this year. So it’s been a lot. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. And it’s very easy to lose sight of your most important role as father, husband, if you have kids or a wife or family. But even beyond that, just protecting your personal time and personal relationships. I wish I’d have done a better job with that. And now I’m very vocal in advising others. Don’t make the mistakes that I did and prioritize family. Yeah. Debbi (15:09): Amen to that. Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear. Boy. What authors have you found to be most inspiring and influential on your work? Ryan (15:20): So Vince Flynn is my all- time favorite writer. He wrote the number one New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series. After his death in 2000, I think it was 12, Kyle Mills, who’s a friend of mine, another number one New York Times bestselling author, took over the Mitch Rapp series and wrote in that for about a decade, wrote nine books. And now Don Bentley, another New York Times bestselling author has sort of picked up the mantle and continued it forward and is doing an excellent job. Vince Flynn is by far the writer who’s influenced me the most because he’s the reason I fell in love with books. I have six kids and my youngest son’s name is Mitchell after Mitch Rapp, Vince’s character. And then second to him, CJ Box is just an all-time favorite of mine. Him and Vince are really my 1A and my 1B. (16:13): I look at his career and there’s nothing the guy can’t write. I think his Joe Pickett series is the best franchise in print today, regardless of genre, and I’m really in awe of what he can do. More recent writers, Jack Carr is really this day’s modern Tom Clancy of his generation. Jack Carr, number one New York Time bestselling author of The Terminal List series. Brad Thor is another guy I really enjoy. So for sure, a lot of writers were influential in me. I would say being where I’m at with my Redd series in Tyndale, Josie Rosenberg is an author that really I learned a lot from. And then of course, Ted Bell, who was a mentor to me, and now I write his series. Debbi (16:59): Yeah, yeah. Wow. Sounds like you’ve met some remarkable people too. That helps. Ryan (17:06): Oh, I’ve been so blessed. Yeah. Debbi (17:09): That’s fantastic. You aren’t on TikTok, are you? Ryan (17:14): I think so. Not a lot. Yeah, not a ton. Debbi (17:17): I was wondering if you did BookTok. Ryan (17:18): Yeah, no, I think it’s not as trendy for our genre with thrillers and mysteries and all that, but I do pay attention to it. Debbi (17:28): Well, it’s there. That’s all I can say. Ryan (17:31): It’s there. Yeah, you’re right about that. Debbi (17:33): I’m not there, but it’s there. And apparently publishing is relying on it for some reason. Let’s see. What have you read lately that was a real standout book for you, that really spoke to you in some special way? Ryan (17:52): Yeah. So Brad Thor and Ward Larson, another buddy of mine, they have their first co-written book together called Cold Zero, comes out in February, and I read an advanced copy of that a few months ago, and it is phenomenal. They just announced yesterday that it’s going to be a massive feature film on Netflix, by the way. The book is phenomenal. I’d recommend people check that out. Another writer who’s very near and dear to me is Brad Meltzer, number one New York Times bestselling author of so many books and the host of History Channel’s Decoded and other TV shows. He also writes children books called … It’s the Ordinary People Save the World or something like that. I wish … now it escaped me, but I call them the I Am books because every title is I Am. And he has George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and just historical figures. (18:43): And it’s near and dear to me because I have a son, my son Ryan Jr., who’s autistic. We were told he would maybe never read. And for someone that works in publishing, I kind of refuse to believe that. And I’ll never forget the day I woke up and Ryan Jr. was sitting on the floor reading one of Brad Meltzer’s I Am books. He was reading I Am Abraham Lincoln out loud. And I’m a big softie with my kids, so I start crying and I couldn’t believe it was a big moment. And so I reach out to Brad Meltzer and he sent my son a video of himself, congratulating him. Then he sent a bunch of signed books to my kid. And later when PBS made a TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum based off of the I Am books, kids’ books that Meltzer writes, my son was so excited to see that and sent a video to Brad and Brad immediately got right back to him. (19:35): So I really love that guy. But in addition to being one of the best people in publishing, he is a phenomenal writer. And so he’s got a new book that just came out Tuesday, January 6th. Debbi (19:46):The Viper? Ryan (19:46): The Viper. Yeah. That’s a good one. Debbi (19:49): I have a copy. It’s sitting there waiting for me to read it. I’ve got to read this thing. Ryan (19:55): He is one of those guys that, because of what my job is, I always know what the book is about. It’s my job to cover and let you know this book is coming way before I even get to read it. But if I walked away from publishing tomorrow and I knew nothing and I walked in a store and I saw Brad Meltzer’s name on a book, I’d buy it, no questions asked. Debbi (20:14): Well, I have a story about Brad Meltzer. I have never met him actually, but it’s interesting. I have a story about his book, one of his books. (20:24): When I first self-published, this was after, this is a short story about me. I hope you don’t mind. I was with a small press back in 2005 that went out of business nine months after my book came out and I’m like, oh, now what? So then I decided to self-publish and I came out with a book. It’s called Identity Crisis. And the funny thing was there was another book called Identity Crisis out there by Brad Meltzer. I was like, oh my God, we both chose the title. Somebody chose the title, Identity Crisis for him or he chose it. I don’t know which. So I was just like, “Oh my God, we have the same title. How about that? ” So I’ve always felt this weird interest in him. What made you choose that title and what’s your book about? And I never did read it. Ryan (21:16): It’s a good book, I’ll tell you that. It is a good book. Everything he writes is phenomenal. Debbi (21:20): Oh my gosh. Well, I can’t say that mine was phenomenal. It was my first. So forgive me if it wasn’t phenomenal like yours, but still even so. Yeah. So I just think he’s always been kind of interesting to me. So now I have to definitely read that book. Ryan (21:38): Yeah, check out The Viper. It’s a good one. Debbi (21:40): The Viper. Alrighty. Do you read books in other genres or do you not have time for that? Ryan (21:46): Well, I mean, yeah, it’s tough because if I’m being perfectly honest with you, when I’m not working on The Book Spy, I’m not writing one of my books, the last thing I want to do is pick up a book. Generally, I’m more like, let’s do anything else. So yeah, I read nonfiction for sure. I read a lot of books that deal with theology and biblical content, things like that. I read the Bible, I read kids’ books with my children, stuff like that. But I don’t what I would call pleasure read very often, which is like, “Hey, I’m not covering this book. It’s outside of my genre, but it looks cool. I think I’ll check it out.” That’s pretty rare. Debbi (22:32): See, I can’t seem to limit myself. I have to go outside of the genre every now and then. Ryan (22:37): Sure. Debbi (22:38): This sounds like a fascinating sci-fi or fantasy or I got to read this Terry Pratchett book, I haven’t gotten to it yet. Things like that. Ryan (22:47): Yeah. Debbi (22:47): Just like, I don’t know. What advice would you give to someone who’s interested in a writing career? Ryan (22:57): Well, you have to love it. You have to love storytelling. Don’t write one book and then go, okay, I’m going to try to get an agent, try to get a publisher. And if I get one, I’ll keep writing. Writers write. It’s not an agent or book deal or publisher that validates you as a writer. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. So always be writing. That’s my number one piece of advice. Don’t finish a book and start querying it and then do nothing. Keep writing. While you query that book, while you query agents and you’re trying to land one, keep writing. Always be writing. And a lot of times, if you look up your favorite author and you maybe hear how they got into the industry, very few people ever break in with the first book they wrote. They’ll write several before an agent gives them any attention. (23:43): And another writer I really love and a guy I admire so much, Steve Berry. Steve, I think, wrote 12 manuscripts before he got published. I think a lot of people give up way too early. And so just keep writing and put your head down and go write. Debbi (23:58): Yes. Great advice. Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to add while we’re on that I haven’t covered? Ryan (24:08): Just that if you’re new to my books, I wrote them that you could, in a way, so you could jump in anywhere. I think there’s probably more value in starting at the beginning with Fields of Fire. So that way you’re familiar with the characters throughout. But if you’re in the bookstore and you see one and it’s not the first one, you really honestly can jump in anywhere and I try to write them so that each story stands on its own and you’ll kind of know what’s happening, but I hope you’ll check them out. And to you, Debbi, just thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Debbi (24:39): Well, it was my pleasure. Very much so, Ryan. Thank you for being here. And I will now switch over. Here I am. Okay, on video. Yes. Thank you very much for being here today, Ryan. I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping to make some changes to both my Patreon and Substack pages. So hopefully there’ll be changes for the better. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Patrons of the podcast get early ad-free episodes along with copies of the Crime Cafe story collections, which include a box set and short story anthology. There’s also a monthly newsletter where I include my reviews, new releases, and other items of possible interest to crime and mystery lovers. So check it out. And until next time when our guest will be Douglas J. Wood, take care and happy reading. Debbi (00:52): Hi everyone. Welcome to 2026. Our first show of the new year features the author of the Matthew Redd Thriller Series. He’s also a freelance developmental editor, which is an important thing to have if you’re self-publishing, and an author/publisher of The Real Book Spy on Substack. It’s my pleasure to introduce my guest Ryan Steck. Hi, Ryan. How are you doing today? Ryan (01:20): Hi, Debbi. Thank you so much for having me. Debbi (01:23): I am very happy to have you on, even though you are wearing a Yankees cap. Ryan (01:27): I know. Debbi (01:27): I can live with that. It’s cool. I have Yankee fan friends, even though I’m a Met fan and a Nationals fan. I’m a National League fan. I don’t know. Ryan (01:38): Well, I was telling you before we started to record, I’m actually a Tigers fan too, but I’m from Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is where Derek Jeter grew up. So I always loved the captain and rooted for the Yankees since I was a little kid. Debbi (01:51): Very cool. That’s a very cool reason to root for him, too. Ryan (01:55): Yeah. Debbi (01:55): There you go. So anyway, happy new year. Glad to have you on. Thanks for being with us. What inspired you to write a thriller series? Ryan (02:06): Oh, I think I’ve always loved to tell stories and I love thrillers. I love mysteries. Way before I was actually writing books, a fan of the genre, it was through talking with other authors. So I came from sports journalism and covering NFL teams, primarily the Detroit Lions, and then sort of made my transition into publishing. And at the time, I tried writing for other media outlets, writing book reviews and author interviews, but I didn’t love that I was told what books I had to review or which authors I had to talk to. I wanted to be in control of myself and my own boss. And so I was friends with a lot of the authors that I was covering. And the one thing I kept hearing from everybody is that there’s no one-stop shop for all things thriller. And it was a good friend of mine who was a mentor. (02:58): His name was Ted Bell, New York Time bestselling author, Ted Bell, of the Alex Hawk series. Ted’s a guy I worked with for a while and he really mentored me in writing. But he said, “Buddy, if you build a website, we’ll come. We’ll support you. We’ll be there.” So I launched The Real Book Spy at the end of 2014. And by 2016, we were averaging a million readers a year. And I think by 2018 … Yeah, I think it was 2018, we crossed two million readers for the first time and have hung around two and a half million readers a year or so on that. And I’m super proud of that. But at the same time, I’m so used to being on your side of the conversation that when I did become an author, it took time to learn to be on this side. And I just want to make another note too. The Matthew Redd series is my own books, but I also write now for the late Ted Bell’s estate. (03:49): So the guy that really mentored me that helped me launch The Book Spy passed away a few years ago and initially I took over his series for Penguin Random House. And now we just signed a new three-book deal with Blackstone to continue the Hawk series. So I get to write those too. And I guess what led to me wanting to write my own books, I just always wanted to tell stories. And I bring a different, I think, perspective. A lot of guys in my genre, they’re ex-military, ex-special forces, ex-law enforcement, that kind of a thing. And I’m a father. I have six kids. I’m married. I know family life. People say write what you know. And I don’t agree with that because if I did, my books would all be about a dad who’s trying to figure out how to make it to everyone’s gymnastics and how to volunteer at church and all these other things. (04:43): I believe in write what you want to read. And I love the West and I love lone wolf operators. And I felt like, man, we haven’t seen a lot of that. What does Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne look like out West? And I wanted to explore that. So I was very blessed to have a literary agent. And I said to him one day, “I think I want to write Jason Bourne.” Or I said to him, “I want to write Vince Flynn meets CJ Box, two of my all time two favorite authors.” I remember my agent at the time said, “What’s that look like? ” And I said, “I don’t know, give me a year. I’m going to figure it out. ” And I wrote my first novel, Fields of Fire set in Montana starring a former Marine raider named Matthew Redd and have been fortunate enough to write three books that are already published after that. (05:32): And I’m under contract for two more with the next one coming out this year called Target Down. Debbi (05:40): Wow. So you have something coming out this year, and what are you working on now? Ryan (05:48): Yeah, so it’s actually a big year for me. I have three books out this year. Debbi (05:52): Wow. Ryan (05:53): So I have my second Alex Hawk novel that again, I took over for the late Ted Bell, who’s a mentor and dear friend of mine. Ted Bell’s Warmonger comes out March 31st. And then sometime this summer, my fifth Matthew Redd novel, that’s my own series. And then the franchise I’m most passionate about comes out … I would think we’re targeting July, August, September range. I don’t think we have a pub date just yet. And then my third book is … Actually, the second book I co-wrote with a friend of mine named Simon Gervais. Our first book, The Second Son, is published by Thomas and Mercer. And that book came out officially December 1st, 2025. Already has been a bestseller on Amazon overall and has 6,000 reviews so far and growing in just over a month. So we’re really psyched and our second book in that series will come out in November. (06:50): It’s called The Marked Sun. So it’s a three-book year for me. And I’ve been mostly storing up energy to get ready for this year because of it. Debbi (07:00): Yeah. Wow. Well, congratulations. That’s absolutely fantastic. You’ve had some amazing success with Substack too.That’s really something. Ryan (07:11): Thank you. Debbi (07:14): What do you ascribe? What do you think has led to getting so many subscribers so quickly? Ryan (07:22): Well, I think with The Real Book Spy, there was just really no one-stop shop for all things thriller, and people were hungry for that. (07:32): I didn’t initially launch the site on Substack. It’s just therealbookspy.com still exists. We moved to Substack last August as a way to just build on what we’re doing. And it’s been a great move, not only for us, but for our audience, I think, and a better way to communicate and connect with people. But I look at it as my wife watches the Oscars every year, and I don’t. I’ll look and see who won Best Picture and this and that. I’ve never heard of any of the movies that win, by the way, let alone seen them. I’ve never even heard of them. And it’s funny to me that those are the ones that win, but I’ve seen every billion dollar franchise. I’ve seen every Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible or the Marvel movies, and those never win awards or accolades. And I really think that in our business and publishing, the equivalent of that is the thriller genre. (08:27): So they go out and sell really well and millions of readers, but they don’t ever win awards. They don’t win literary awards and things like that, but yet people love them. So I think just launching something to give readers more inside access, that was really my approach was to bring you an insider’s perspective to everything happening. So cover all the books for sure. I want you to know what books are coming out, but I also want you to know when authors sign new book deals and interview those writers and cover things a little differently than what anyone else was doing. And I think that really helped us take off for sure. Debbi (09:06): Yeah. Yeah. Doing something a little bit different than everybody else. Ryan (09:11): Yeah, that’s right. Debbi (09:11): Very specific too, for a specific audience. Those are good insights. Let’s see. How often do you publish Book Spy? Ryan (09:26): Frequently. I mean, whenever we have news, we’re trying to put something on Substack every day, every other day at the minimum. Sometimes maybe there’s not enough news going around. So a few times a week, but definitely with Substack, it’s a subscription model. If people are spending $8 a month or $80 a year, I want to make sure you get most bang for your books. So we are for sure rolling out content there. Big things too. I think we’re the only source on the internet that has a full lineup of 2026 releases, every mystery, every thriller in one spot. So it’s content like that. Sure, we’re doing reviews, book announcement, cover reviews, author interviews, but also different type of lists. Again, the goal is always to help good readers find good books. Debbi (10:15): How do you find the books that you feature on your Substack? Ryan (10:20): Oh man, I have a great relationship with a lot of the publishers. That’s required. Yep. I need to know them, trust the marketing teams and the publicists when they send me something, they think it’s probably a fit for our audience and then we need to evaluate is it? I would say that I’m not going to review books I don’t like. So the one thing I don’t do is a lot of bad reviews. And I know that there’s been times in the last 10, 11 years where people have said, “Man, do you just love every book you read because you post a lot of good reviews?” And I said, “Well, no, but I don’t finish books I don’t like.” There’s really no value in it. Writing a bad review doesn’t help me, doesn’t really help you, doesn’t help the author. I don’t want my approach to be, here’s all the books you shouldn’t check out. (11:04): I want it to be, here’s all the books that are available. Here’s the ones I think you’ll like, but everyone has their own taste. And so I might not review a book I don’t like, but I’m smart enough to know that just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. So we might add it to a monthly reading guide or something like that. But really, I think over 11 years, we got a pretty good feel for what our readers are looking for and we try to tailor everything to them. Debbi (11:30): Yeah, that’s good. That’s an excellent approach. Did you do a lot of surveys or anything of your readership before you launched the Substack? Ryan (11:41): No, not like official polls or surveys. I don’t think we need to because of just the volume of messages and comments and things that we receive and have received for over a decade. So therealbooksbuy.com existed for over a decade before we even launched the Substack. So I felt like people had weighed in enough over the years that we had a pretty good understanding of what it is they were looking for. Debbi (12:05): So you were just getting that feedback anyway? Ryan (12:07): Absolutely. Yeah. Debbi (12:09): That’s fantastic. What authors … Oh, you also do freelance editing. Ryan (12:18): Not so much anymore. I did for a long time, but these days I’m writing three books a year and still overseeing everything Book Spy related, I just don’t have the time. Debbi (12:28): I was going to say, how do you balance out your time? How do you structure your time to fit in this stuff? Ryan (12:35): Yeah, it’s already a challenge. Because again, being an author, being a Book Spy, my first job is really husband and father. So finding balance is something I’ve struggled with for over a decade. And it really wasn’t until last year I decided, look, stuff’s got to change. I have to priororitize this idea that you blink and you miss your kids growing up, it’s so real. (13:00): It’s so real. And the issue that I have is I feel like every time I lock away on deadline to finish a book, I come out of my office and my kids all look five years older. In my head, one of my sons, I literally still picture him as eight, maybe the oldest at 12, and he’s going to be 15 this year. It’s really hard for me. The emotional and sentimental side of me regrets maybe having tied up so much of my time in books over the years. And I wish I would’ve done a better job with balance. And that’s the advice I give a lot of people now is don’t feel like you have to go chase money or careers or this or that. You will blink and your kids are grown and you’ll miss it. You will not feel secure in your financial state. (13:45): You will wish that you were there for your children more. And so really it was last year I made an effort to prioritize that and am very protective of that in 2026. Debbi (13:55): That is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. I just think that is great advice. And everybody who writes should listen to you. Protect yourself, your time, your personal life, your family. All of these things matter, your community, whatever. Ryan (14:16): Well, there’s that saying the days are slow, but the years fly by, and it’s so true. Debbi (14:20): Very, very. Ryan (14:21): It’s just so true. And I look at that and already I was thinking about this interview last night and just how much my life has changed since I first became published in 2022. And I now have six novels out in that time, and I have three more coming out this year. So it’s been a lot. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. And it’s very easy to lose sight of your most important role as father, husband, if you have kids or a wife or family. But even beyond that, just protecting your personal time and personal relationships. I wish I’d have done a better job with that. And now I’m very vocal in advising others. Don’t make the mistakes that I did and prioritize family. Yeah. Debbi (15:09): Amen to that. Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear. Boy. What authors have you found to be most inspiring and influential on your work? Ryan (15:20): So Vince Flynn is my all- time favorite writer. He wrote the number one New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series. After his death in 2000, I think it was 12, Kyle Mills, who’s a friend of mine, another number one New York Times bestselling author, took over the Mitch Rapp series and wrote in that for about a decade, wrote nine books. And now Don Bentley, another New York Times bestselling author has sort of picked up the mantle and continued it forward and is doing an excellent job. Vince Flynn is by far the writer who’s influenced me the most because he’s the reason I fell in love with books. I have six kids and my youngest son’s name is Mitchell after Mitch Rapp, Vince’s character. And then second to him, CJ Box is just an all-time favorite of mine. Him and Vince are really my 1A and my 1B. (16:13): I look at his career and there’s nothing the guy can’t write. I think his Joe Pickett series is the best franchise in print today, regardless of genre, and I’m really in awe of what he can do. More recent writers, Jack Carr is really this day’s modern Tom Clancy of his generation. Jack Carr, number one New York Time bestselling author of The Terminal List series. Brad Thor is another guy I really enjoy. So for sure, a lot of writers were influential in me. I would say being where I’m at with my Redd series in Tyndale, Josie Rosenberg is an author that really I learned a lot from. And then of course, Ted Bell, who was a mentor to me, and now I write his series. Debbi (16:59): Yeah, yeah. Wow. Sounds like you’ve met some remarkable people too. That helps. Ryan (17:06): Oh, I’ve been so blessed. Yeah. Debbi (17:09): That’s fantastic. You aren’t on TikTok, are you? Ryan (17:14): I think so. Not a lot. Yeah, not a ton. Debbi (17:17): I was wondering if you did BookTok. Ryan (17:18): Yeah, no, I think it’s not as trendy for our genre with thrillers and mysteries and all that, but I do pay attention to it. Debbi (17:28): Well, it’s there. That’s all I can say. Ryan (17:31): It’s there. Yeah, you’re right about that. Debbi (17:33): I’m not there, but it’s there. And apparently publishing is relying on it for some reason. Let’s see. What have you read lately that was a real standout book for you, that really spoke to you in some special way? Ryan (17:52): Yeah. So Brad Thor and Ward Larson, another buddy of mine, they have their first co-written book together called Cold Zero, comes out in February, and I read an advanced copy of that a few months ago, and it is phenomenal. They just announced yesterday that it’s going to be a massive feature film on Netflix, by the way. The book is phenomenal. I’d recommend people check that out. Another writer who’s very near and dear to me is Brad Meltzer, number one New York Times bestselling author of so many books and the host of History Channel’s Decoded and other TV shows. He also writes children books called … It’s the Ordinary People Save the World or something like that. I wish … now it escaped me, but I call them the I Am books because every title is I Am. And he has George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and just historical figures. (18:43): And it’s near and dear to me because I have a son, my son Ryan Jr., who’s autistic. We were told he would maybe never read. And for someone that works in publishing, I kind of refuse to believe that. And I’ll never forget the day I woke up and Ryan Jr. was sitting on the floor reading one of Brad Meltzer’s I Am books. He was reading I Am Abraham Lincoln out loud. And I’m a big softie with my kids, so I start crying and I couldn’t believe it was a big moment. And so I reach out to Brad Meltzer and he sent my son a video of himself, congratulating him. Then he sent a bunch of signed books to my kid. And later when PBS made a TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum based off of the I Am books, kids’ books that Meltzer writes, my son was so excited to see that and sent a video to Brad and Brad immediately got right back to him. (19:35): So I really love that guy. But in addition to being one of the best people in publishing, he is a phenomenal writer. And so he’s got a new book that just came out Tuesday, January 6th. Debbi (19:46):The Viper? Ryan (19:46): The Viper. Yeah. That’s a good one. Debbi (19:49): I have a copy. It’s sitting there waiting for me to read it. I’ve got to read this thing. Ryan (19:55): He is one of those guys that, because of what my job is, I always know what the book is about. It’s my job to cover and let you know this book is coming way before I even get to read it. But if I walked away from publishing tomorrow and I knew nothing and I walked in a store and I saw Brad Meltzer’s name on a book, I’d buy it, no questions asked. Debbi (20:14): Well, I have a story about Brad Meltzer. I have never met him actually, but it’s interesting. I have a story about his book, one of his books. (20:24): When I first self-published, this was after, this is a short story about me. I hope you don’t mind. I was with a small press back in 2005 that went out of business nine months after my book came out and I’m like, oh, now what? So then I decided to self-publish and I came out with a book. It’s called Identity Crisis. And the funny thing was there was another book called Identity Crisis out there by Brad Meltzer. I was like, oh my God, we both chose the title. Somebody chose the title, Identity Crisis for him or he chose it. I don’t know which. So I was just like, “Oh my God, we have the same title. How about that? ” So I’ve always felt this weird interest in him. What made you choose that title and what’s your book about? And I never did read it. Ryan (21:16): It’s a good book, I’ll tell you that. It is a good book. Everything he writes is phenomenal. Debbi (21:20): Oh my gosh. Well, I can’t say that mine was phenomenal. It was my first. So forgive me if it wasn’t phenomenal like yours, but still even so. Yeah. So I just think he’s always been kind of interesting to me. So now I have to definitely read that book. Ryan (21:38): Yeah, check out The Viper. It’s a good one. Debbi (21:40): The Viper. Alrighty. Do you read books in other genres or do you not have time for that? Ryan (21:46): Well, I mean, yeah, it’s tough because if I’m being perfectly honest with you, when I’m not working on The Book Spy, I’m not writing one of my books, the last thing I want to do is pick up a book. Generally, I’m more like, let’s do anything else. So yeah, I read nonfiction for sure. I read a lot of books that deal with theology and biblical content, things like that. I read the Bible, I read kids’ books with my children, stuff like that. But I don’t what I would call pleasure read very often, which is like, “Hey, I’m not covering this book. It’s outside of my genre, but it looks cool. I think I’ll check it out.” That’s pretty rare. Debbi (22:32): See, I can’t seem to limit myself. I have to go outside of the genre every now and then. Ryan (22:37): Sure. Debbi (22:38): This sounds like a fascinating sci-fi or fantasy or I got to read this Terry Pratchett book, I haven’t gotten to it yet. Things like that. Ryan (22:47): Yeah. Debbi (22:47): Just like, I don’t know. What advice would you give to someone who’s interested in a writing career? Ryan (22:57): Well, you have to love it. You have to love storytelling. Don’t write one book and then go, okay, I’m going to try to get an agent, try to get a publisher. And if I get one, I’ll keep writing. Writers write. It’s not an agent or book deal or publisher that validates you as a writer. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. So always be writing. That’s my number one piece of advice. Don’t finish a book and start querying it and then do nothing. Keep writing. While you query that book, while you query agents and you’re trying to land one, keep writing. Always be writing. And a lot of times, if you look up your favorite author and you maybe hear how they got into the industry, very few people ever break in with the first book they wrote. They’ll write several before an agent gives them any attention. (23:43): And another writer I really love and a guy I admire so much, Steve Berry. Steve, I think, wrote 12 manuscripts before he got published. I think a lot of people give up way too early. And so just keep writing and put your head down and go write. Debbi (23:58): Yes. Great advice. Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to add while we’re on that I haven’t covered? Ryan (24:08): Just that if you’re new to my books, I wrote them that you could, in a way, so you could jump in anywhere. I think there’s probably more value in starting at the beginning with Fields of Fire. So that way you’re familiar with the characters throughout. But if you’re in the bookstore and you see one and it’s not the first one, you really honestly can jump in anywhere and I try to write them so that each story stands on its own and you’ll kind of know what’s happening, but I hope you’ll check them out. And to you, Debbi, just thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Debbi (24:39): Well, it was my pleasure. Very much so, Ryan. Thank you for being here. And I will now switch over. Here I am. Okay, on video. Yes. Thank you very much for being here today, Ryan. I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping to make some changes to both my Patreon and Substack pages. So hopefully there’ll be changes for the better. And if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Patrons of the podcast get early ad-free episodes along with copies of the Crime Cafe story collections, which include a box set and short story anthology. There’s also a monthly newsletter where I include my reviews, new releases, and other items of possible interest to crime and mystery lovers. So check it out. And until next time when our guest will be Douglas J. Wood, take care and happy reading. Debbi (00:52): Hi everyone. Welcome to 2026. Our first show of the new year features the author of the Matthew Redd Thriller Series. He’s also a freelance developmental editor, which is an important thing to have if you’re self-publishing, and an author/publisher of The Real Book Spy on Substack. It’s my pleasure to introduce my guest Ryan Steck. Hi, Ryan. How are you doing today? Ryan (01:20): Hi, Debbi. Thank you so much for having me. Debbi (01:23): I am very happy to have you on, even though you are wearing a Yankees cap. Ryan (01:27): I know. Debbi (01:27): I can live with that. It’s cool. I have Yankee fan friends, even though I’m a Met fan and a Nationals fan. I’m a National League fan. I don’t know. Ryan (01:38): Well, I was telling you before we started to record, I’m actually a Tigers fan too, but I’m from Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is where Derek Jeter grew up. So I always loved the captain and rooted for the Yankees since I was a little kid. Debbi (01:51): Very cool. That’s a very cool reason to root for him, too. Ryan (01:55): Yeah. Debbi (01:55): There you go. So anyway, happy new year. Glad to have you on. Thanks for being with us. What inspired you to write a thriller series? Ryan (02:06): Oh, I think I’ve always loved to tell stories and I love thrillers. I love mysteries. Way before I was actually writing books, a fan of the genre, it was through talking with other authors. So I came from sports journalism and covering NFL teams, primarily the Detroit Lions, and then sort of made my transition into publishing. And at the time, I tried writing for other media outlets, writing book reviews and author interviews, but I didn’t love that I was told what books I had to review or which authors I had to talk to. I wanted to be in control of myself and my own boss. And so I was friends with a lot of the authors that I was covering. And the one thing I kept hearing from everybody is that there’s no one-stop shop for all things thriller. And it was a good friend of mine who was a mentor. (02:58): His name was Ted Bell, New York Time bestselling author, Ted Bell, of the Alex Hawk series. Ted’s a guy I worked with for a while and he really mentored me in writing. But he said, “Buddy, if you build a website, we’ll come. We’ll support you. We’ll be there.” So I launched The Real Book Spy at the end of 2014. And by 2016, we were averaging a million readers a year. And I think by 2018 … Yeah, I think it was 2018, we crossed two million readers for the first time and have hung around two and a half million readers a year or so on that. And I’m super proud of that. But at the same time, I’m so used to being on your side of the conversation that when I did become an author, it took time to learn to be on this side. And I just want to make another note too. The Matthew Redd series is my own books, but I also write now for the late Ted Bell’s estate. (03:49): So the guy that really mentored me that helped me launch The Book Spy passed away a few years ago and initially I took over his series for Penguin Random House. And now we just signed a new three-book deal with Blackstone to continue the Hawk series. So I get to write those too. And I guess what led to me wanting to write my own books, I just always wanted to tell stories. And I bring a different, I think, perspective. A lot of guys in my genre, they’re ex-military, ex-special forces, ex-law enforcement, that kind of a thing. And I’m a father. I have six kids. I’m married. I know family life. People say write what you know. And I don’t agree with that because if I did, my books would all be about a dad who’s trying to figure out how to make it to everyone’s gymnastics and how to volunteer at church and all these other things. (04:43): I believe in write what you want to read. And I love the West and I love lone wolf operators. And I felt like, man, we haven’t seen a lot of that. What does Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne look like out West? And I wanted to explore that. So I was very blessed to have a literary agent. And I said to him one day, “I think I want to write Jason Bourne.” Or I said to him, “I want to write Vince Flynn meets CJ Box, two of my all time two favorite authors.” I remember my agent at the time said, “What’s that look like? ” And I said, “I don’t know, give me a year. I’m going to figure it out. ” And I wrote my first novel, Fields of Fire set in Montana starring a former Marine raider named Matthew Redd and have been fortunate enough to write three books that are already published after that. (05:32): And I’m under contract for two more with the next one coming out this year called Target Down. Debbi (05:40): Wow. So you have something coming out this year, and what are you working on now? Ryan (05:48): Yeah, so it’s actually a big year for me. I have three books out this year. Debbi (05:52): Wow. Ryan (05:53): So I have my second Alex Hawk novel that again, I took over for the late Ted Bell, who’s a mentor and dear friend of mine. Ted Bell’s Warmonger comes out March 31st. And then sometime this summer, my fifth Matthew Redd novel, that’s my own series. And then the franchise I’m most passionate about comes out … I would think we’re targeting July, August, September range. I don’t think we have a pub date just yet. And then my third book is … Actually, the second book I co-wrote with a friend of mine named Simon Gervais. Our first book, The Second Son, is published by Thomas and Mercer. And that book came out officially December 1st, 2025. Already has been a bestseller on Amazon overall and has 6,000 reviews so far and growing in just over a month. So we’re really psyched and our second book in that series will come out in November. (06:50): It’s called The Marked Sun. So it’s a three-book year for me. And I’ve been mostly storing up energy to get ready for this year because of it. Debbi (07:00): Yeah. Wow. Well, congratulations. That’s absolutely fantastic. You’ve had some amazing success with Substack too.That’s really something. Ryan (07:11): Thank you. Debbi (07:14): What do you ascribe? What do you think has led to getting so many subscribers so quickly? Ryan (07:22): Well, I think with The Real Book Spy, there was just really no one-stop shop for all things thriller, and people were hungry for that. (07:32): I didn’t initially launch the site on Substack. It’s just therealbookspy.com still exists. We moved to Substack last August as a way to just build on what we’re doing. And it’s been a great move, not only for us, but for our audience, I think, and a better way to communicate and connect with people. But I look at it as my wife watches the Oscars every year, and I don’t. I’ll look and see who won Best Picture and this and that. I’ve never heard of any of the movies that win, by the way, let alone seen them. I’ve never even heard of them. And it’s funny to me that those are the ones that win, but I’ve seen every billion dollar franchise. I’ve seen every Fast and the Furious or Mission Impossible or the Marvel movies, and those never win awards or accolades. And I really think that in our business and publishing, the equivalent of that is the thriller genre. (08:27): So they go out and sell really well and millions of readers, but they don’t ever win awards. They don’t win literary awards and things like that, but yet people love them. So I think just launching something to give readers more inside access, that was really my approach was to bring you an insider’s perspective to everything happening. So cover all the books for sure. I want you to know what books are coming out, but I also want you to know when authors sign new book deals and interview those writers and cover things a little differently than what anyone else was doing. And I think that really helped us take off for sure. Debbi (09:06): Yeah. Yeah. Doing something a little bit different than everybody else. Ryan (09:11): Yeah, that’s right. Debbi (09:11): Very specific too, for a specific audience. Those are good insights. Let’s see. How often do you publish Book Spy? Ryan (09:26): Frequently. I mean, whenever we have news, we’re trying to put something on Substack every day, every other day at the minimum. Sometimes maybe there’s not enough news going around. So a few times a week, but definitely with Substack, it’s a subscription model. If people are spending $8 a month or $80 a year, I want to make sure you get most bang for your books. So we are for sure rolling out content there. Big things too. I think we’re the only source on the internet that has a full lineup of 2026 releases, every mystery, every thriller in one spot. So it’s content like that. Sure, we’re doing reviews, book announcement, cover reviews, author interviews, but also different type of lists. Again, the goal is always to help good readers find good books. Debbi (10:15): How do you find the books that you feature on your Substack? Ryan (10:20): Oh man, I have a great relationship with a lot of the publishers. That’s required. Yep. I need to know them, trust the marketing teams and the publicists when they send me something, they think it’s probably a fit for our audience and then we need to evaluate is it? I would say that I’m not going to review books I don’t like. So the one thing I don’t do is a lot of bad reviews. And I know that there’s been times in the last 10, 11 years where people have said, “Man, do you just love every book you read because you post a lot of good reviews?” And I said, “Well, no, but I don’t finish books I don’t like.” There’s really no value in it. Writing a bad review doesn’t help me, doesn’t really help you, doesn’t help the author. I don’t want my approach to be, here’s all the books you shouldn’t check out. (11:04): I want it to be, here’s all the books that are available. Here’s the ones I think you’ll like, but everyone has their own taste. And so I might not review a book I don’t like, but I’m smart enough to know that just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean someone else won’t. So we might add it to a monthly reading guide or something like that. But really, I think over 11 years, we got a pretty good feel for what our readers are looking for and we try to tailor everything to them. Debbi (11:30): Yeah, that’s good. That’s an excellent approach. Did you do a lot of surveys or anything of your readership before you launched the Substack? Ryan (11:41): No, not like official polls or surveys. I don’t think we need to because of just the volume of messages and comments and things that we receive and have received for over a decade. So therealbooksbuy.com existed for over a decade before we even launched the Substack. So I felt like people had weighed in enough over the years that we had a pretty good understanding of what it is they were looking for. Debbi (12:05): So you were just getting that feedback anyway? Ryan (12:07): Absolutely. Yeah. Debbi (12:09): That’s fantastic. What authors … Oh, you also do freelance editing. Ryan (12:18): Not so much anymore. I did for a long time, but these days I’m writing three books a year and still overseeing everything Book Spy related, I just don’t have the time. Debbi (12:28): I was going to say, how do you balance out your time? How do you structure your time to fit in this stuff? Ryan (12:35): Yeah, it’s already a challenge. Because again, being an author, being a Book Spy, my first job is really husband and father. So finding balance is something I’ve struggled with for over a decade. And it really wasn’t until last year I decided, look, stuff’s got to change. I have to priororitize this idea that you blink and you miss your kids growing up, it’s so real. (13:00): It’s so real. And the issue that I have is I feel like every time I lock away on deadline to finish a book, I come out of my office and my kids all look five years older. In my head, one of my sons, I literally still picture him as eight, maybe the oldest at 12, and he’s going to be 15 this year. It’s really hard for me. The emotional and sentimental side of me regrets maybe having tied up so much of my time in books over the years. And I wish I would’ve done a better job with balance. And that’s the advice I give a lot of people now is don’t feel like you have to go chase money or careers or this or that. You will blink and your kids are grown and you’ll miss it. You will not feel secure in your financial state. (13:45): You will wish that you were there for your children more. And so really it was last year I made an effort to prioritize that and am very protective of that in 2026. Debbi (13:55): That is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. I just think that is great advice. And everybody who writes should listen to you. Protect yourself, your time, your personal life, your family. All of these things matter, your community, whatever. Ryan (14:16): Well, there’s that saying the days are slow, but the years fly by, and it’s so true. Debbi (14:20): Very, very. Ryan (14:21): It’s just so true. And I look at that and already I was thinking about this interview last night and just how much my life has changed since I first became published in 2022. And I now have six novels out in that time, and I have three more coming out this year. So it’s been a lot. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. And it’s very easy to lose sight of your most important role as father, husband, if you have kids or a wife or family. But even beyond that, just protecting your personal time and personal relationships. I wish I’d have done a better job with that. And now I’m very vocal in advising others. Don’t make the mistakes that I did and prioritize family. Yeah. Debbi (15:09): Amen to that. Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear. Boy. What authors have you found to be most inspiring and influential on your work? Ryan (15:20): So Vince Flynn is my all- time favorite writer. He wrote the number one New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series. After his death in 2000, I think it was 12, Kyle Mills, who’s a friend of mine, another number one New York Times bestselling author, took over the Mitch Rapp series and wrote in that for about a decade, wrote nine books. And now Don Bentley, another New York Times bestselling author has sort of picked up the mantle and continued it forward and is doing an excellent job. Vince Flynn is by far the writer who’s influenced me the most because he’s the reason I fell in love with books. I have six kids and my youngest son’s name is Mitchell after Mitch Rapp, Vince’s character. And then second to him, CJ Box is just an all-time favorite of mine. Him and Vince are really my 1A and my 1B. (16:13): I look at his career and there’s nothing the guy can’t write. I think his Joe Pickett series is the best franchise in print today, regardless of genre, and I’m really in awe of what he can do. More recent writers, Jack Carr is really this day’s modern Tom Clancy of his generation. Jack Carr, number one New York Time bestselling author of The Terminal List series. Brad Thor is another guy I really enjoy. So for sure, a lot of writers were influential in me. I would say being where I’m at with my Redd series in Tyndale, Josie Rosenberg is an author that really I learned a lot from. And then of course, Ted Bell, who was a mentor to me, and now I write his series. Debbi (16:59): Yeah, yeah. Wow. Sounds like you’ve met some remarkable people too. That helps. Ryan (17:06): Oh, I’ve been so blessed. Yeah. Debbi (17:09): That’s fantastic. You aren’t on TikTok, are you? Ryan (17:14): I think so. Not a lot. Yeah, not a ton. Debbi (17:17): I was wondering if you did BookTok. Ryan (17:18): Yeah, no, I think it’s not as trendy for our genre with thrillers and mysteries and all that, but I do pay attention to it. Debbi (17:28): Well, it’s there. That’s all I can say. Ryan (17:31): It’s there. Yeah, you’re right about that. Debbi (17:33): I’m not there, but it’s there. And apparently publishing is relying on it for some reason. Let’s see. What have you read lately that was a real standout book for you, that really spoke to you in some special way? Ryan (17:52): Yeah. So Brad Thor and Ward Larson, another buddy of mine, they have their first co-written book together called Cold Zero, comes out in February, and I read an advanced copy of that a few months ago, and it is phenomenal. They just announced yesterday that it’s going to be a massive feature film on Netflix, by the way. The book is phenomenal. I’d recommend people check that out. Another writer who’s very near and dear to me is Brad Meltzer, number one New York Times bestselling author of so many books and the host of History Channel’s Decoded and other TV shows. He also writes children books called … It’s the Ordinary People Save the World or something like that. I wish … now it escaped me, but I call them the I Am books because every title is I Am. And he has George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and just historical figures. (18:43): And it’s near and dear to me because I have a son, my son Ryan Jr., who’s autistic. We were told he would maybe never read. And for someone that works in publishing, I kind of refuse to believe that. And I’ll never forget the day I woke up and Ryan Jr. was sitting on the floor reading one of Brad Meltzer’s I Am books. He was reading I Am Abraham Lincoln out loud. And I’m a big softie with my kids, so I start crying and I couldn’t believe it was a big moment. And so I reach out to Brad Meltzer and he sent my son a video of himself, congratulating him. Then he sent a bunch of signed books to my kid. And later when PBS made a TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum based off of the I Am books, kids’ books that Meltzer writes, my son was so excited to see that and sent a video to Brad and Brad immediately got right back to him. (19:35): So I really love that guy. But in addition to being one of the best people in publishing, he is a phenomenal writer. And so he’s got a new book that just came out Tuesday, January 6th. Debbi (19:46):The Viper? Ryan (19:46): The Viper. Yeah. That’s a good one. Debbi (19:49): I have a copy. It’s sitting there waiting for me to read it. I’ve got to read this thing. Ryan (19:55): He is one of those guys that, because of what my job is, I always know what the book is about. It’s my job to cover and let you know this book is coming way before I even get to read it. But if I walked away from publishing tomorrow and I knew nothing and I walked in a store and I saw Brad Meltzer’s name on a book, I’d buy it, no questions asked. Debbi (20:14): Well, I have a story about Brad Meltzer. I have never met him actually, but it’s interesting. I have a story about his book, one of his books. (20:24): When I first self-published, this was after, this is a short story about me. I hope you don’t mind. I was with a small press back in 2005 that went out of business nine months after my book came out and I’m like, oh, now what? So then I decided to self-publish and I came out with a book. It’s called Identity Crisis. And the funny thing was there was another book called Identity Crisis out there by Brad Meltzer. I was like, oh my God, we both chose the title. Somebody chose the title, Identity Crisis for him or he chose it. I don’t know which. So I was just like, “Oh my God, we have the same title. How about that? ” So I’ve always felt this weird interest in him. What made you choose that title and what’s your book about? And I never did read it. Ryan (21:16): It’s a good book, I’ll tell you that. It is a good book. Everything he writes is phenomenal. Debbi (21:20): Oh my gosh. Well, I can’t say that mine was phenomenal. It was my first. So forgive me if it wasn’t phenomenal like yours, but still even so. Yeah. So I just think he’s always been kind of interesting to me. So now I have to definitely read that book. Ryan (21:38): Yeah, check out The Viper. It’s a good one. Debbi (21:40): The Viper. Alrighty. Do you read books in other genres or do you not have time for that? Ryan (21:46): Well, I mean, yeah, it’s tough because if I’m being perfectly honest with you, when I’m not working on The Book Spy, I’m not writing one of my books, the last thing I want to do is pick up a book. Generally, I’m more like, let’s do anything else. So yeah, I read nonfiction for sure. I read a lot of books that deal with theology and biblical content, things like that. I read the Bible, I read kids’ books with my children, stuff like that. But I don’t what I would call pleasure read very often, which is like, “Hey, I’m not covering this book. It’s outside of my genre, but it looks cool. I think I’ll check it out.” That’s pretty rare. Debbi (22:32): See, I can’t seem to limit myself. I have to go outside of the genre every now and then. Ryan (22:37): Sure. Debbi (22:38): This sounds like a fascinating sci-fi or fantasy or I got to read this Terry Pratchett book, I haven’t gotten to it yet. Things like that. Ryan (22:47): Yeah. Debbi (22:47): Just like, I don’t know. What advice would you give to someone who’s interested in a writing career? Ryan (22:57): Well, you have to love it. You have to love storytelling. Don’t write one book and then go, okay, I’m going to try to get an agent, try to get a publisher. And if I get one, I’ll keep writing. Writers write. It’s not an agent or book deal or publisher that validates you as a writer. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. So always be writing. That’s my number one piece of advice. Don’t finish a book and start querying it and then do nothing. Keep writing. While you query that book, while you query agents and you’re trying to land one, keep writing. Always be writing. And a lot of times, if you look up your favorite author and you maybe hear how they got into the industry, very few people ever break in with the first book they wrote. They’ll write several before an agent gives them any attention. (23:43): And another writer I really love and a guy I admire so much, Steve Berry. Steve, I think, wrote 12 manuscripts before he got published. I think a lot of people give up way too early. And so just keep writing and put your head down and go write. Debbi (23:58): Yes. Great advice. Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to add while we’re on that I haven’t covered? Ryan (24:08): Just that if you’re new to my books, I wrote them that you could, in a way, so you could jump in anywhere. I think there’s probably more value in starting at the beginning with Fields of Fire. So that way you’re familiar with the characters throughout. But if you’re in the bookstore and you see one and it’s not the first one, you really honestly can jump in anywhere and I try to write them so that each story stands on its own and you’ll kind of know what’s happening, but I hope you’ll check them out. And to you, Debbi, just thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Debbi (24:39): Well, it was my pleasure. Very much so, Ryan. Thank you for being here. And I will now switch over. Here I am. Okay, on video. Yes. Thank you very much for being here today, Ryan. I do appreciate it. And I’m hoping to make some changes to both my Patreon and Substack pages. So hopefully there’ll be changes for the better. 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