How did you become a writer?

I’ve been trying to write for as long as I can remember. Can you imagine a neighborhood newspaper with seven unpaid subscribers?

Most of my writing has been journalistic, as a newspaper reporter and columnist and as a broadcast journalist and talk show host. I turned my reporting on a horrendous family murder case into a New York Times best-seller. Most recently I co-authored another true crime book with Edith Brady-Lunny.  

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Aside from In Cold Blood, I purposefully never read a true crime book before I authored Reasonable Doubt. I didn’t want my approach to be influenced by the genre as it exists.  Otherwise, the vast majority of my reading has been non-fiction, though I admit I marvel at the way Dan Brown and Irving Wallace entwine their plots and pacing.  

When and where do you write?

When I’m really motivated, I’ll get in some morning exercise, then crank up some classical music and work until I feel I’ve produced something I’ll be reasonably happy with when I read it the next morning. I write in my study. The view is of a relatively quiet street. Even then, I can get distracted. 

What are you working on now?

An historical fiction effort based on the true story of a remarkable 19th Century American woman and her family. It begins with pioneer emigration from New England to Cincinnati, involves the Underground Railroad, West Point, Harriett Beecher Stowe, Elijah Lovejoy and Abraham Lincoln.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Never. Hope this doesn’t jinx me.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Write what you know.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Write what you know. Oh, you already saw that. Seriously, readers will sniff out inauthenticity within a chapter or two—maybe sooner. At some point, we must stop researching and start writing. But my experience has been that efficient exploration yields dividends and produces surprises.  

Steve Vogel’s New York Times best-selling Reasonable Doubt has been produced in six editions, most recently updated last year and in audio form. His The Unforgiven: The Untold Story of One Woman’s Search for Love and Justice, co-authored with Edith Brady-Lunny, was published earlier this year. Steve is an Illinois native with degrees from Illinois Wesleyan and Northwestern universities. Learn more at www.stevevogelauthor.com.