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Steven Paul Leiva

Goodreads Author

Born

in Pasadena, CA, The United States

Website

http://emotionalrationalist.blogspot.com/

Twitter

StevenPaulLeiva

Genre

Thriller, Science Fiction, Fiction

Influences

Ray Bradbury W. Somerset Maugham Ian Fleming ...more

Member Since

April 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomuser_stevenpaulleiva

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A refugee from the silly fields of Hollywood where he cavorted with such luminaries as Bugs Bunny and Betty Boop (although the latter was but a brief affair), Steven Paul Leiva has authored nine novels and one novella since 2003. His work has been praised by literary great Ray Bradbury, Oscar-winning film producer Richard Zanuck, NY Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Diane Ackerman, and Star Trek actor John Billingsley, the greatest bookworm in Hollywood. He has received the Scribe Award from the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. A traveler among several genres, his books include his witty Hollywood thrillers, BLOOD IS PRETTY and HOLLYWOOD IS AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY, his novelization of the indie family film ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you come up with your ideas for books? Once you do, do you create a road map of what will occur to keep track of things?

Steven Paul Leiva Hi, Kimberly!

Each book has its own origin story. But in general, there is usually a core idea behind my books that I want to write about or a classic …moreHi, Kimberly!

Each book has its own origin story. But in general, there is usually a core idea behind my books that I want to write about or a classic "What if..." that compels me to frame an answer. And then again, my novel "Traveling in Space" started with a sentence: "Traveling in space is hardly traveling at all." It was an acknowledgment that the universe is vast, Somehow that sentence led to a First Contact novel written from the point of view of the aliens. My novel "Bully 4 Love" came from a desire to write about love but in as surprising a way as possible. So the idea of a man's high school bully nemesis declaring love for him in their adult years popped up. But what kind of love? My most recent novel, "The Definition of Luck" came from a years-long desire to write something about the human brain and mind and consciousness, which is all in the novel. And yet, the novel is also about friendship. Which is what? A meeting of minds, of course.

I do not create a road map, I prefer to be a wanderer in my own brain when I write. That said, the plot does unfold as I go along. Years ago, I work with Chuck Jones, the classic Looney Tunes director of Bug Bunny and Daffy Duck, and he always said that if you know your characters, then you know how they will react in any situation you put then in and that will drive the plot. I have fond that to be true for me.

I hope this answers your questions.

Cheers!(less)

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Who is your favorite fictional couple, and why?

Steven Paul Leiva That’s an interesting question as there have been so many fictional couples, especially if you don’t limit your thinking to male/female romantic coupl…moreThat’s an interesting question as there have been so many fictional couples, especially if you don’t limit your thinking to male/female romantic couples.

It’s also a question that deserves more than a knee-jerk answer. One needs to take some time and give thoughtful consideration.

I suppose one could start with that early-on-the-scene fictional couple, Adam and Eve. But I think we can eliminate them immediately as theirs was, after all, an arranged marriage. They were hardly soul mates. Rib mates, yes, but not soul mates. They were the first friends with benefits, who, had there been other choices around may not have even been friends, no matter what the benefits. So, not really a couple, except by default.

A great couple from early literature -- the earliest great work, in fact -- is Gilgamesh and Enkidu from The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2150-1400 BCE). Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk and may have been based on stories about an actual king of that name. Enkidu is a wild man sent by the gods to humble Gilgamesh, who had a rather elevated opinion of himself. They fight each other to a draw and become fast and true friends and share adventures. After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh is thrown into a deep grief and a long quest to find the meaning of life if there is any, and, hopefully, the secret to eternal life. Eternal life, of course, would be rather fruitless if there was no meaning to it, so Gilgamesh’s quest is not only epic but of relatable concern to all of us. He doesn’t find eternal life, but his deeds in the quest are magnificent. It can easily be said that his friendship with Enkidu brought out the best in Gilgamesh.

Also from ancient literature, one must consider Achilles and Patroclus from The Iliad (c. 1260–1180 BCE). Damn good friends, Patroclus stands by Achilles even when the great hero is in a funk and feels secure enough in their friendship to speak truth to him. And Achilles sacrifices all seeking revenge over the death of Patroclus. Of course, they were at war with Troy, death was always a possibility. But logic doesn’t matter with true friendship -- thus war after war after war.

In Homer’s other great work, The Odyssey (End of 8th Century BCE), we have one of the most solid married couples in literature: Odysseus and Penelope. Twenty years separated by war and wanderings, Penelope remains steadfast and true to Odysseus, fending off scores of suitors who would like her hand, and Odysseus’ land, in marriage. She does it by guile and wit, proving to be an equal match with her husband. And Odysseus wandered for ten years and suffered many setbacks and detours, all to get home to his beloved wife, Penelope. That’s marital devotion! But then, Odysseus had made their marriage bed from an olive tree still rooted to the ground. No Sleep Number bed for them! You can’t be much more committed than that.

I can’t think of any other couples from ancient literature to consider. Certainly, Jason and Medea and Agamemnon and Clytemnestra don’t qualify. Troubled marriages both.

Jumping over the Middle Ages -- so dark, so dreary -- we have to look at couples in Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet (around 1595), of course, but let’s not forget Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (around 1599). They may well be the template for great sparring partners in loathing and love. Macbeth (1606) and his Lady might have come in for consideration if they had just gone to bed earlier that night.

And across the channel in Spain, Shakespeare’s contemporary, Miguel de Cervantes, created a great couple that one must consider: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in The history of the valorous and wittie Knight-Errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha (1605 & 1615). Starting out as master and servant -- or knight and squire -- both men are rather foolish individuals riddled with human frailties. But they are brave, persevering, essentially good and kind, and, finally, loyal to each other as only true friends can be.

In any consideration of great couples, one must put onto the list in boldface, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). Standing in for, obviously, prejudice and pride, they also represent love struggling to survive society. In this story, love survives and the eventual Mr & Mrs. Darcy are the warriors we honor for the victory.

Coming ahead in time, one starts to think of couples in genre literature. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, of course, although it may be that they are a stronger couple in all the media adaptations and extensions of their partnership. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels and stories (1887 to 1927) Dr. Watson is, as Holmes calls him, the “Boswell” in the relationship, the recorder of the main life and subject of the stories. I don’t know how great a couple can be when one is in awe of the other. Possibly a superior couple would be Nick and Nora Charles in Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man (1934), probably known better for their film versions brought gloriously to life by William Powell and Myrna Loy. They were not only married, they actually loved each other on a level playing field of wit and charm.

Jumping out of genre literature and on a more serious note, I’m adding to the list of consideration Mr. and Mrs. Bridge in Evan S. Connell’s companion novels Mrs. Bridge (1959) and Mr. Bridge (1969). A double portrait of an upper-middle-class, bourgeois couple in Kansas City between the First and Second World Wars. The books could be taken as a condemnation of the well ordered yet vapid lives of comfortable Americans, but Connell has, I believe, great empathy for his couple, and I find them strangely attractive. Although I might not in real life. But we are talking fiction here.

I would be remiss as an author with a fondness for his own characters not to add two couples of mine to the list of consideration. From my Hollywood satiric thriller, Blood is Pretty (2010) there’s The Fixxer and Roee. The Fixxer is a mysterious character who is paid a great deal of money to “fix” the stupid problems that the beggars and choosers of Hollywood find themselves with. Roee is his companion. He does all the cooking and supervises the housekeeping of the rather nice floor they occupy in a Los Angeles high-rise. But Roee is also an ex-Israeli intelligence officer proficient in many ways to quickly and silently (sometimes) do away with antagonists. He is also gay and a failed avant-garde playwright. The Fixxer is not gay. But he trusts and relies on no one as much as he relies on Roee. And may like no one more. There’s a bit of Nick and Nora in them. But who is Nick and who is Nora, I couldn’t say.

And in Traveling in Space (2012), my science fiction first contact novel written from the POV of the aliens, I’m quite fond of Life-Seeder (later known as Leif) and She, the Pleasurepal (later known as Sheila). At first, their couplings are purely a matter of the business of pleasure. But they are brought together in a partnership of exploration and examination of Earth and Earthlings, who they call Otherlife. The “arranged marriage” changes them both for the better.

Well, that’s the list. Certainly not a complete and comprehensive one. But it will have to do. If I had to pick just one couple as my favorite? Right now, after this consideration, it would have to be Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. They are such a poignant example of oh-so-human companionship. But, tomorrow, or the next day, or next week, upon further consideration, I might well pick another couple.

I think then, the answer is in flux. So, readers, please comment on your favorite fictional characters.

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Steven Paul Leiva’s books

Average rating: 3.83 · 569 ratings · 87 reviews · 19 distinct works • Similar authors

	Traveling In Space 3.81 avg rating — 314 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Journey to Where 3.73 avg rating — 89 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Creature Feature 3.68 avg rating — 44 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blood is Pretty 3.50 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2010 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	By the Sea 3.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2015 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bully 4 Love: A Rather Odd Love Story 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Searching for Ray Bradbury: Writings about the Writer and the Man 3.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Made on the Moon 4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Definition of Luck or The Post-Modern Prometheus: A Novel of the Near Future it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army (The Fixxer Book 2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Steven Paul Leiva's Blog

AN IMMODEST PROPOSAL

I recently published a novel under my Magpie Press imprint, The Person Who Hated People, the 14th work of fiction I have published.

Yes, I published it, which means that I self-published it. But I reject the current term “Self-published Author,” which stumbles out of so many tongues and trips not so lightly off the typing fingers of so many writers. My immodest proposal is that we drop this term a

Steven is Currently Reading

Steven Paul Leiva is currently reading

The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street

by Josh Pachter (Goodreads Author)

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Feb 13, 2021 09:51PM

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Aspects of the Novel

by E.M. Forster

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Jul 05, 2020 04:18PM

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A Long Time Dead: A Mike Hammer Casebook (Mike Hammer Novels)

by Mickey Spillane

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Mar 16, 2020 03:29PM

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Steven Paul Leiva liked an answer from Amor Towles: Any chance that Rules of Civility might be made into a movie? I am an avid film fan but so disappointed with nothing but super-hero movies of late. You novel would be a treat on the big screen and actors would be squaring off to land a role! Dear Kathy, For a few years, RULES OF CIVILITY has been in development at Lionsgate to make a feature film. Recently, however, Lionsgate has shifted course and decided to make it into a long form television movie/series - so that they don't have to cu See Amor’s answer. Amor Towles
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Steven Paul Leiva liked an answer from Amor Towles: Mr. Towles - We loved The Lincoln Highway but were shocked and disappointed to see you casually traffic in grossly antisemitic tropes. The statements (p.214) of Jews that "could hardly be trusted to give him a fair price" and needing to ensure that Billy "wasn't taken advantage of" by Jews (p.215) were entirely gratuitous and beneath a man of your intellect and sophistication. Why would you use such language? Dear Andrew, The language you quote is stated by a character who is transparently an ugly, immoral, and reprehensible figure. These are exactly the sorts of things that he would think and say. As a result, the book calls attention to the reprehensible See Amor’s answer. Amor Towles
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