by Timothy Pike

On our cover this month is Patrick MacPhee, a science fiction author and high school English teacher from Binbrook, Ontario—not far from Toronto, yet far enough from the big city that, according to Patrick, living there “makes breathing a little easier.”

Patrick recently won first place in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. The prize includes a trip to Hollywood, a week-long masterclass workshop, an awards event, and publication of his story in the international bestselling anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41.

In our interview, Patrick talks about how a previous rejection played a large part in his win, how much he writes while on vacation, and why he switched his major from engineering to English literature.

At the end, he gives his best advice for achieving success as an author, which you’ll definitely want to read.

Congratulations on your first-place win in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. That’s a big deal! We’d love to hear what went into winning this award.

A big part of my winning this award came from being rejected in the third quarter. I had previously received a couple of semifinal finishes in 2015, so I knew I could write. After a long hiatus from writing, and an even longer hiatus from the contest to focus on novels over stories, I submitted to the third quarter entry for Issue 41 a revamped prologue to my fantasy novel, a much stronger story than any of my previous entries. I polished and repolished each word and phrase before sending it off. I was very confident.

In hindsight, I realize the problems. The story was technically well done, but a prologue is more of a teaser trailer for a larger story, not the kind of complete beginning-middle-end story that I believe the contest prefers. My story also had some dark subject matter, which might work well to set up a novel but is a big no-no for the contest.

While I was initially disappointed, I knew I had to keep writing stories for the contest because now I had something to prove. My goal wasn’t necessarily to win but to at least place again.

I went through the online workshop on the Writers of the Future website. This time, I crafted a story completely from scratch. I focused a little less on writing something that was technically perfect and a lot more on writing something that was fun. I pictured my future readers sitting down with my complete beginning-middle-end story and having a good time reading. It took about a week to write it, and several more days for my wife to edit and for me to make revisions, then I sent it off and immediately began working on the next story.

To sum up, the years of learning to write via my novel gave me technical skill, but the online workshop helped to refine that skill. I highly recommend it. I literally went from rejection to first place from quarter to quarter.

For those of us who aren’t familiar with Binbrook, can you tell us about your hometown?

Binbrook is a suburb of Hamilton, Ontario, which is a fairly large city. The online stats don’t do it justice. I bet we’re pushing a million people in and around the city—it certainly feels that way during rush hour. Even for our size, we’re a shadow of Toronto about an hour up the highway. For many decades, Hamilton was known as a steel town. My father and father-in-law worked thirty years at one of the steel mills, and I worked a few summers there while paying my way through university.

Binbrook has plenty of farm country and conservation areas around it, so it’s close to nature and wilderness. While some people like being in the middle of a busy city, I love being near the edges. Knowing there are some empty spaces nearby makes breathing a little easier.

Did I hear you were about to study engineering but decided on a degree in English literature instead? Why the about face?

I advise my grade 12 students who are considering engineering that one needs a strong mathematical aptitude for it. It’s not just that you’re good at math, but it helps to enjoy it. Viewing a mathematical problem as a stimulating, intellectual puzzle that could be solved in creative ways will help one with engineering, which requires high levels of both creativity and meticulousness.

As for my own journey, it was a lot like a typical story where a character has a misbelief, or an unhealthy or unrealistic want, and fails to realize that they need something else. I wanted the wealth of being an engineer, but my personal soul archetype was that of an artist, and I disliked math. When I was supposed to be studying thick textbooks full of math (seriously, triple differentiation?), I frequently found myself writing.

My own journey was like a typical story where a character has an unrealistic want and fails to realize they need something else. I wanted the wealth of being an engineer, but my personal soul archetype was that of an artist.

Have any of the masters of English lit influenced your writing?

I’m a big fan of Dostoyevsky and Crime and Punishment. Before university, I had heard about it as this iconic piece of literature—and it is—but I had no idea how personable and accessible it would be. Raskolnikov remains one of the most compelling characters I’ve ever read, with tremendous psychological and moral depth, definitely up there with Hamlet.

Ironically, one of my bigger influences is not exactly a classic, but Neal Stephenson, whom I read in my Cyborgs in Literature class. Awesome class. Among other greats like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Neuromancer, I got to read Snow Crash, which introduced me to Stephenson. I love how his prose so often melts the edges of reality, which can make the fantastic seem more relatable or make the mundane seem more mysterious.

How often do you sit down to write?

Every day, usually a bit after work and more on weekends. When I’m on vacation, I like to get up early and put in a good 3–4 hours before lunch, then have time with family in the afternoon and evening. It doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s the goal.

Several years ago, when I restarted my big push to being a writer, I told myself 300 words a day. I still do that when starting new projects. I know that once momentum is established, I’ll write more. More recently, when working on the second book in my fantasy series, I had such a strong connection to the characters and world, that I wrote over 250,000 words in five months.

What’s your best advice for achieving success as an author?

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear” is a popular saying in mysticism. I think the same is true with writing. It doesn’t mean that teachers and mentors will magically appear in your life. It means that, when you are ready, you will resonate with and understand teachers who were always there but perhaps you hadn’t noticed before.

When you’re young and/or new to writing, read. Read a bunch. Read what you enjoy and maybe a little bit of what other people think you should enjoy. You might not like a book, but if it’s a classic or a bestseller, then you should at least understand it.

After reading a lot, I reached a kind of speculative fiction critical mass and felt a strong desire to write. The second bit of advice is great for that: write. Write a whole bunch and don’t stop writing.

After you’ve written a lot, you’ll begin to see your individual style, voice, and themes. I realized after I’d been writing for years that I tend to focus on coming of age, growing up, and the search for meaning in an often-hostile world, and that this often gets into spiritual and philosophical territory. I greatly enjoy these types of stories, and I’ve embraced them as my personal writer’s brand: stories with meaning.

About ten years ago, I gave up on writing. Or so I thought. This might sound weird, but my characters wouldn’t let me move past it. I had these imaginary people in my head that I knew better than a lot of real people.

If you write a lot, you’ll also hopefully get some feedback. Family and friends are fine, but ideally, you get some feedback from people who don’t know you. Professionals in the industry, like editors and established authors, are the best kind of feedback, but don’t let any one person’s advice overwhelm you.

Feedback can be painful, especially if you’re getting feedback about a story near and dear to you. Sometimes it’s best to send out stories that don’t mean as much to you, so you can be more receptive to feedback. Getting negative feedback can be rough, especially if you’re new. The ego is a writer’s worst enemy. Sure, a little ego is necessary to have the audacity to think you can write something other people will enjoy, but it’s a lot like fire: some is warming, too much is scorching.

Once you’ve received enough positive feedback from other professionals, it’s easier. I realized I had plenty of strengths but also plenty of blind spots. Pacing and dialogue used to be big problems when I was younger, but I consider them to be among my biggest strengths now.

Now that I’m hopefully writing consistently at a professional level, Heinlein’s third rule, “You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order,” makes a lot more sense. Over-editing can kill a story, especially the dialogue portions.

Sure, a little ego is necessary to have the audacity to think you can write something other people will enjoy, but it’s a lot like fire: some is warming, too much is scorching.

Could you tell us about a time when it wasn’t smooth sailing in your writing life? How did you move past it?

About ten years ago, I gave up on writing. I didn’t think I would ever get published traditionally, and I came to view it as a waste of time, a childish thing to be put aside in adulthood. I stopped writing entirely and focused on my career and other hobbies.

Or so I thought. This might sound weird, but my characters wouldn’t let me move past it. I had these imaginary people in my head that I knew better than a lot of real people. As time moved on, I realized they weren’t going away. I also realized that I would profoundly regret it if my characters never had a chance to become real in the only way characters can: in the imaginations of as many readers as possible.

I decided then that this story would be told. I devoured all kinds of writing books, courses, YouTube videos—anything that might help me write the story that I knew my characters deserved. My goal was traditional publishing, both because the gatekeeping forces me to write better and because I believe I’m more likely to get a wider reach upon publication.

I’m proud to say I’ve completed that novel, a fantasy that combines some of the grittiness of A Song of Ice and Fire with more spiritual ideas that one might find in The Alchemist.

I’m sending it around for representation, but even now, I feel in my bones that this is indeed the novel that my characters deserve.

What’s your favorite way to pass the time when you’re not writing?

When I’m not writing or teaching high school English, I enjoy playing board games and video games with my wife and kids. We regularly play family Civilization and sometimes my son and I will do a few rounds of Call of Duty zombies.

The lockdowns inspired a lot of hobbies. We now make pizza from scratch every Friday. We have a vegetable garden and aspire to retire to a small farm one day. I also go to the gym regularly and I’ve come to enjoy the feeling of putting my body through a tough but invigorating workout.

As a young child, Patrick MacPhee frequently saw his mother engrossed in a forest’s worth of fantasy and science fiction novels. Wanting to join in the fun, he read his first “big person” novel, The Fellowship of the Ring, when he was eight. This magical experience hooked him on speculative fiction forever.

His stories mainly focus on questions of meaning: “Who am I? Where and how do I fit into my family, world, galaxy, cosmos, etc.?” He enjoys novel writing primarily, but his stories have appeared in a variety of magazines, including Neo-opsis and Sci Phi Journal.

Visit Patrick at his website, and connect with him on Instagram and X.