Interview With Author Steve R. Hartwig
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Steve R. Hartwig, an American author who has lived in Central America for more than twenty years, first in Panama and now in Nicaragua. Living here has had a tremendous influence on my writing, particularly the people, places, and cultures that find their way into my stories.
I have written four books: *The Little Chef*, *Challenge of the Heart*, *Ride the Fire*, and my newest book, *Mateo and the Secrets of the Eternal Word*. My books have taken me in different directions, but they share something important: I enjoy writing stories about young people discovering courage, purpose, faith, and more about themselves than they knew when the journey began.
*Mateo* has now grown into something larger than a single book. It is the beginning of a series that follows a twelve-year-old Nicaraguan boy who is mysteriously transported into biblical history, where he witnesses the events and people of the Bible firsthand. I’m currently writing Book Two, which continues Mateo’s journey from Abraham through Joseph.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is *Mateo and the Secrets of the Eternal Word: Book One — Genesis Thru Babel*. It began with a simple question: What if a young person could actually step inside the Bible and witness its stories firsthand?
That question became Mateo, a twelve-year-old boy living in the mountains of Nicaragua. He discovers an ancient Bible called Verbum Aeternum—the Eternal Word—and finds himself transported into the events he has only read about. Suddenly, Noah isn’t simply a name in a Bible story. Mateo can hear the construction of the ark, see the animals arrive, feel the rain begin to fall, and experience the Flood unfolding around him.
I wanted young readers to encounter biblical history through the eyes of someone their own age—with the same curiosity, questions, fears, and occasional sense of humor they might have. Mateo cannot change what happens; he is there to witness it. But what he sees changes him.
That idea became the foundation not only for the first book, which travels from Creation through the Tower of Babel, but for an ongoing series that will allow Mateo—and hopefully the reader—to continue the journey through the Bible.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I suppose my most unusual writing habit is the hour I keep. I may sit down to write at two o’clock in the morning. If the story is there, I don’t see much reason to tell it to come back at a more respectable hour.
I also don’t outline every detail before I begin. I usually know where the story needs to go, but I let the characters and the story lead me along the way. Sometimes a character says or does something I hadn’t planned, and suddenly the chapter takes a different direction. Those are often some of my favorite moments.
With the Mateo series, I have the Bible providing the destination, so I know where history is going. The fun is discovering how Mateo gets there, what he sees along the way, and how he reacts to it.
So perhaps my writing habit is simply this: start very early, know the destination, and enjoy getting lost a little on the way there.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The book that has influenced me most is the Bible. With the *Mateo* series, that influence is obviously at the heart of everything I write, but I don’t want simply to retell familiar Bible stories. I want to bring the world surrounding those stories to life.
That means I spend a great deal of time researching. I want to know what people ate, how they traveled, what their homes might have looked like, what animals they worked with, and what an ordinary day might have felt like. Then I try to place Mateo naturally into that world without changing the biblical events themselves.
I also read other books frequently, although these days much of my reading is either research or reviews of other authors’ work. I think every book teaches a writer something—even if sometimes the lesson is simply, “I wouldn’t have done it quite that way.”
Ultimately, though, the Bible provides both the foundation and the boundaries for the *Mateo* series. My imagination can fill in the world around Mateo, but Scripture determines the history he witnesses.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently writing Book Two of the *Mateo and the Secrets of the Eternal Word* series. The first book takes Mateo from Creation through the Tower of Babel. Book Two continues the journey with Abraham and follows the biblical story through Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
One of the things I’m enjoying most is that Mateo’s life in present-day Nicaragua continues alongside his journeys into biblical history. He has a family, friends, school, chores, and everyday problems waiting for him when he returns. In Book Two, some new people enter his life as well, and one of them creates an unexpected connection between Mateo’s modern world and the ancient people he is witnessing.
I’m already well into the manuscript, and the characters continue to surprise me—which probably explains why I shouldn’t bother making detailed outlines.
If all goes according to plan, this will be only the second step in a much longer journey. I hope to continue following Mateo through the Bible, eventually reaching the New Testament and the Apostle Paul. Whether Mateo and I both have enough stamina for that remains to be seen!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Hopefully, this one!
I’m still discovering what works best when it comes to promoting my books. I have my own author website and blog, and I use social media, but I also spend a lot of time looking for places where readers are already searching for new books—review sites, book bloggers, author networks, and sites like Awesome Gang.
I’ve learned that book promotion is largely a matter of experimenting. Something that looks promising may produce very little, while a small mention or link from somewhere unexpected can suddenly bring new visitors to my website.
For me, the most valuable promotion is still a genuine reader discovering one of my books, enjoying it, and telling someone else about it. You can’t manufacture that kind of recommendation.
So ask me again in a year. By then I may have a brilliant answer—or I may still say, “Hopefully, this one!”
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up.
Believe in yourself, and believe in the story you want to tell. There will be moments when you wonder whether anyone will ever read it, whether it’s good enough, or whether all the work is worth it. Don’t let a little discouragement derail what might become a wonderful story.
And listen to your heart and your characters. I’ve discovered that characters sometimes know where a story needs to go before I do. Give them room to surprise you. Follow them and see where they lead.
Most importantly, keep writing. A story that remains in your imagination can never find a reader.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t be afraid to start over.
Life rarely follows the path we expect. Sometimes a door closes, plans change, or you simply discover that there is another road you want to take. Starting over doesn’t mean everything that came before was wasted. You bring all of those experiences with you.
I certainly didn’t spend most of my life expecting to become an author. But eventually I began writing, one story led to another, and now I’m writing a series that I hope will keep me busy for years.
It’s never too late to discover something new that you’re meant to do.
What are you reading now?
At the moment, most of my reading is research for the second *Mateo* book. I’m spending a great deal of time reading about the biblical world of Abraham—where people lived and traveled, how they worked, what they ate, how caravans operated, and all the small details that can help make an ancient world feel real to a young reader.
Of course, the Bible itself is always open beside me. It provides the story and the boundaries; the research helps me understand the world surrounding it.
So I can’t give you the title of a novel I’m reading at the moment. Right now, Mateo is keeping me much too busy!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I hope to continue the *Mateo and the Secrets of the Eternal Word* series through the Bible. Book Two will take Mateo through the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, but there is an enormous journey still ahead of him.
There is Moses and the Exodus, the Promised Land, the kings and prophets, and eventually the New Testament. I would love for Mateo someday to witness the life of Jesus and then continue through the journeys of the Apostle Paul.
That’s an ambitious road, and I have no idea how many books it will take to travel it. I suppose the plan is simply to keep writing them for as long as Mateo has stories to tell—and, at my age, hope I live long enough to get him all the way to Paul!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible.
*How to Survive on a Desert Island.*
*Poisonous Plants and Animals to Avoid.*
And, if I’m allowed a fourth, *How to Build a Boat and Get Off a Desert Island.*
I think I’ll save the great works of literature until I’m safely back home.
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