Today we’d like to introduce you to Dennis Crosby.
Hi Dennis, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was that kid in school who preferred essay exams and term papers to regular tests and final exams. I didn’t care if it was multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, or matching, I preferred to write. Thinking back, I was a bit of a cocky writer as a kid. If I’m being honest, I was pretty cocky about it through high school, too. My grades were always “A’s”, and as great as that was, it fed a monster. But the thought of writing a novel was not on my list of goals. At age thirteen I decided I wanted to be a cop and I’d mapped out my entire life journey. I’d go to college and major in Criminal Justice, join the FBI, work twenty-five years in their Behavioral Science Unit, then retire and open an ocean sidebar in Northern California, above which I’d operate a private investigation business. It seemed perfect at the time and I even managed to accomplish a couple of those things, but in the end, some life experiences along the way pushed me in a different direction.
After finishing high school, I was accepted to a few universities. I bounced around a bit, had a child along the way, and took almost two years off from pursuing a degree, but I eventually landed at the University of Illinois in Chicago. I finished in 1998 with a degree in Criminal Justice. At that point in my life, I was in my ninth year working in home improvement retail. The pay was good, the work was easy, and it seemed a steady way to make money and support myself and my family. The growth opportunity was endless, too.
Then came the party. Shortly after school was done, while hanging out with some classmates, I loudly and proudly proclaimed that I was writing a book. Of course, I was doing no such thing, but with everyone talking about the amazing things they were planning, it sounded good at the time, and eventually, I’d said it so much that I actually started to believe it. Then I started to write it. Then I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Writing a book was nothing like writing an essay or a three-page story for a creative writing lesson in English II. I started and stopped… often. I threw away pages in absolute disgust. At some point, I decided I’d just write diary entries from the point of view of a man turned vampire who worked in retail. In 2002, after banging my head against the wall, I moved to something shorter. I started writing poetry and I found it to be an amazing outlet and creative way for me to express my emotions. In the back of my mind, though, I knew there was an unfinished book calling my name. Worse, after talking about it so much, people were waiting… and waiting… and waiting.
The thought of working hard on my degree and doing nothing with it was nagging at me as well. So I transitioned from retail to private investigation. For a number of years, I felt at home, as if I’d found my calling. I pursued a Master’s degree in Forensic Psychology in the hopes that it would make me a stronger investigator, and during the course of my studies, I fell into non-profit work. Once again, I felt I’d found my calling. The work was challenging but fulfilling and I had a generous group of professionals to work with and learn from. The book was still looming in the shadows, like a Spector, just taunting me and six years into non-profit work I found myself in need of a drastic change, so I packed up and moved from Chicago to San Diego, CA.
And then my writing life changed. The writing community in San Diego is large and welcoming. I learned more about the craft of writing and the business of publishing in one year than I did in seventeen years of calling myself a writer. I got involved in workshops, writer’s groups and attended conferences where my network grew. The education was great, but it was the continued support that helped me get to this point. Along the way, I secured a second Master’s degree, this one in Fine Arts with a concentration on Creative Writing. In the end though, it was the support and inspiration from the writing community that fueled me to push forward toward publication of my debut novel, Death’s Legacy.
Everything I’ve experienced in life has informed my writing. Working in sales, private investigation, and mental health gave me greater insight into people. While I write Urban Fantasy, my story is not about magic, gods, and monsters, it’s about people and how they deal with the circumstances that arise from the aforementioned magic, gods, and monsters. My path to publication was long and winding but necessary to give my characters a life that readers would be able to connect with.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road was full of speed bumps and potholes. It was challenging. In fact, it still is at times. In the beginning, the challenge was my own ignorance. Not only did I not know enough about the craft, I wasn’t doing a lot to learn. I was stuck on my own adolescent success. The shift from retail, to investigations, to social service caused some financial struggle as well. I’d literally spend a day with a client talking to them about not letting their financial challenges weigh them down and then go home to do the exact same thing I counseled them not to do. I was great at motivating those I worked with and skilled in helping them create crisis plans and strategies to address their anxieties and depression, but I was terrible at doing the same for myself. I was able to function during the day, engage with friends and family well enough, but I was often unable to find the motivation within to write.
Even after getting my foot in the door in the writing world, there comes that nagging Imposter Syndrome. So my negative self-talk was not only telling me that I don’t have my life together, it was also telling me that my stories were terrible. I’d compare my writing to other authors, and I’d watch their journey and a part of me was more than happy to tell me that I’d never make it. Couple that with short story and novel rejections, it’s a wonder I made it here at all.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
When I think about my work life, I envision two different components. There’s my writing life and my social service life. Over the years it’s been increasingly important for me to find a job in the non-profit world that allows the mental space to also write. Currently, I serve as Director of Apprenticeship Programs with Kitchens for Good. Our organization provides culinary and hospitality training to adults who have experienced challenges that could be a barrier to employment. My team is responsible for recruiting apprentices, then assisting them on their 20-month journey toward completion. I can utilize my education and experiences to teach life skills, counsel apprentices who may have life challenges that interfere with their studies and subsequent employment, and I’m also able to provide education to our communities about the challenges that marginalized populations experience. Through that dialogue, we can develop partnerships with businesses and community leaders who can work with us to help people thrive in a career that they love.
In my writing life I like to create stories that help people escape from the real world. I write Urban Fantasy, so I use the backdrop of reality and then throw in some fantasy, to help add wonder and excitement. In that reality, in my universe, I incorporate real life experiences for my characters. In essence, instead of creating characters, I’m the conduit for the stories they want to share, and I take extra care in communicating their efforts to express how they’re addressing their challenges. So, in my novel, Death’s Legacy, Kassidy Simmons has supernatural powers and the weight of the world on her shoulders, while also dealing with addiction, relationship woes, and childhood trauma.
I’ve found a way to integrate the two components of my work life to enrich my personal journey. I can be my truest self and feed the needs I have to both give back and create worlds that allow people to escape or ask themselves, “What would I do if I had that power or lived in that strange world?”
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think mentorship is essential in any industry. Education is great and necessary, but it’s the practical application of what you learn under the guidance or tutelage of an expert that helps you master your craft. When it came to retail, my bosses were my mentors and under their guidance, I learned and advanced quickly. The same was true of my work in investigations. I learned from all the experienced investigators to learn the ropes and then borrowed from each of their investigative styles to develop my own. Without the patience and guidance of experienced counselors in the non-profit world, I probably wouldn’t have made it past the few months.
With my writing life, mentorship has been crucial. The craft of writing is a challenge in and of itself, but the business of publishing is often what causing new writers to walk away. Without the strong network of writers, and mentors both official and unofficial, I cannot say that I would have achieved what I over the last year. In the writing community, you’re bound to run across someone who has experienced a challenge you may currently be facing. I’ve been able to pose a question to a writing network and get answers quickly. At times I’ve posed questions and I’ve received answers from multiple people with shared or different experiences, and through that I’ve been able to make informed decisions about a path I should take.
Writing is mostly a solitary art, but the journey doesn’t have to be. Developing a network is essential for educating and for finding support and motivation when the Imposter Syndrome strikes or when the words seem to pour out like frozen molasses.
Contact Info:
- Email: denniskcrosby@gmail.com
- Website: www.denniskcrosby.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denniskcrosby/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Denniskcrosby
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/denniskcrosby
