Meet The Author

Born in Blue Island, Illinois, Del Staecker grew up in two very different worlds: The surreal artist’s community of Chicago’s Old Town (where the likes of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan hung out at his Uncle Erling’s exotic bird shop), and the small town normalcy of Boy Scouts, Little League baseball, and working on his relatives’ farms. At fifteen Del survived leukemia and penned his own bucket list. He has been a soldier, a farmer, a teamster, lived on a boat, traveled much of the world, and completed all but one item on his list of adventures. Currently, this Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Executive Committee member of the International Association of Crime Writers lives in his Pennsylvania home, which is shared by his wife, the stories that must be told, and the colorful characters in his head. Del Staecker’s crime/thrillers are fast-paced, character filled, and as addictive as M&M’s.

1. What do you like best about writing?
Sharing insights about the human condition.

2. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
When I read Jack Finney’s short story, OF MISSING PERSONS

3. Which author has inspired you the most?
John D. MacDonald. He is overlooked and almost forgotten.

4. Who is your favorite author to read for pleasure?
Thomas Hardy/John D. MacDonald

5. Do you write on a specific schedule or as the mood strikes?
When the muse strikes.

6. Do you outline your books or see where the story leads?
I never outline.

7. What do you admire most in books you read by other authors?
Phrasing that makes me tingle and think.

8. What irritates you the most in books you read by other authors?
A slow beginning. I love a good hook.

9. What’s the favorite compliment or accolade you’ve received for your writing?
From Underrated Reads: “Tremendously touching and skillfully written, Del Staecker’s Sailor Man is succinct yet powerful. And it stunned me. Staecker’s small book was like none other I’d read, proving once again, that less is more. Sailor Man should be required reading in boot camp… in high school….somewhere! ”

10. What’s your favorite quote about writing?
"It is inexplicable and without method." . . . from STRANGER THAN FICTION

Del Staecker