I've been writing since my early teens, first as a hobby, but as the years passed, more as a serious creative pursuit. I'm an avid reader, with my main interests residing in history, mythology, and literary classics, along with some fantasy and science fiction in my earlier years. Although my college years were focused on a technical education, I always fostered my interest in literature, and I've searched to fill every gap on my bookshelves.
By nature I have a do-it-yourself type of personality, and my creative inclinations started with art and evolved to the written word. The process of creativity is a source of fascination for me, and the notion of bringing something to being that would not exist without personal effort and commitment serves not only as inspiration but as fulfillment as well. So whether it is writing, woodwork, or landscaping, my hands and mind are not often at rest.
Over the years I accumulated a dust laden catalog of my written works, and my reading audience was limited to family and friends. With a few half-hearted and failed attempts at publication behind me, it wasn't until 2007 that I decided to become serious about publication and the pursuit of a writing career. After deciding to approach this as a profession and not a hobby, I had the first glimmers of success. Since making that decision to move forward, I've secured publication for a number of short stories, received a nomination for inclusion in the Pushcart Anthology, built my own website, and made the leap to book publication.
In November 2010 I realized my first book publication, an anthology of three science fiction novellas, titled Remnant, from All Things That Matter Press. I returned in 2012 with my second anthology, Oddities & Entities, a blend of horror, supernatural and paranormal tales, also from All Things That Matter Press. In 2014 I followed with a third book, Prism, consisting of a blend of my published short fiction and new, unpublished fiction. In 2015 I ventured out with my own imprint, Tabalt Press, with two titles, a full length dystopian science fiction novel, The Digital Now, and my first venture into nonfiction with The Writer's Primer: A Practical Guide for Aspiring Authors Seeking Publication. Moving forward, late 2016 will see publication of my sixth book, Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels.
I'm happy to say the response to my books has been very positive. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and together my books have brought home more than a dozen national book awards from the likes of National Indie Excellence Awards, Foreword Reviews Book Awards, Readers' Favorite Book Awards, Feathered Quill Book Awards, and Pacific Book Review Book Awards.
My writing can best be described as depicting strange people involved in perhaps stranger situations. I'm not devoted to any one genre of writing. Instead, I prefers to let my stories follow their own path. Classification can follow after the fact, but if one is looking for labels, one would find my stories dwelling in several categories. Sometimes speculative, other times supernatural, at times horror, with journeys into mainstream fiction, and even some humor - or perhaps the bizarre. Despite the category, I aim to depict characters as real on the page as they are in my head, with prose of literary quality. My literary inspirations are as eclectic as my written works - from Poe to Kate Chopin, from Homer to Tolkien, from Flaubert to William Gibson, from Shakespeare to Tolstoy, as long as a piece is true to itself, I'm willing to go along for the ride. I hope to bring the same to my fiction.
To read my published short fiction and excerpts from my books, visit my website, www.rolandallnach.com. At the site I also post essays regarding the creative process behind each published work, and I have a page of advice for fellow burgeoning authors from lessons I've learned in my own journey through the publishing world. So drop by if you wish, and if you'd like to leave me a message, I'm at fiction@rolandallnach.com
As to my publications, here's a chronology (links are available at my website):
- “After the Empire”, Summer 2008 issue of The Armchair Aesthete
- “11”, Fall 2008 (Vol. 7/34) issue of Allegory
- “Icon”, January 2009 issue of Midnight Times
- “Creep”, Spring 2009 issue of The Storyteller (Pushcart nominee)
- “Return”, Fall 2009 issue of Lullwater Review
- “Flowers for Colleen”, April 2010 issue of Absent Willow Review
- “Memento”, appearing on the web for the 2010 issue of Reed Magazine
- “Shift/Change”, July/August 2010 issue of Aphelion
- “The Great Hunter”, September 2010 issue of Foliate Oak
- “Apogee”, Fall 2010 issue of Rose & Thorn Journal
- “The City of
Never - “Conquest’s End”, Issues 477-481 in Bewildering Stories; 'Editor's Choice', Q2 2012, 'Mariner Award', Annual Review 2012
- "Turn the Wheel", 'Garden Nettles' issue of Midwest Literary Magazine, 2012
- "Beheld", Summer post, Rapheal's Village, 2012
- "Soulmates", Kindle short via All Things That Matter Press, October 2013
- "Wayward", /ONE/, October 2013
Remnant, 2010, All Things That Matter Press
Oddities & Entities, 2012, All Things That Matter Press
Prism, 2014, All Things That Matter Press
The Digital Now, 2015, Tabalt Press
The Writer's Primer, 2015, Tabalt Press
Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels, coming later in 2016, All Things That Matter Press
Prism, 2014, All Things That Matter Press
The Digital Now, 2015, Tabalt Press
The Writer's Primer, 2015, Tabalt Press
Oddities & Entities 2: Vessels, coming later in 2016, All Things That Matter Press
By the way, if anyone is wondering where the little quote under the blog's title originates, it comes from yours truly, which is why there is no accreditation.
