From the personal experiences that inspired Magnetic North to the unexpected journey of turning a story of heartbreak and therapy into a memoir, Spetz shares candid reflections on writing, healing, and self-discovery. DBN Magazine recently had the opportunity to speak with Spetz about the inspiration behind his book, the challenges of sharing such a personal story, and his hope that readers will find comfort in knowing they are not alone.

When did you first discover that you enjoy writing and wanted to become a published author?

In the early 80s, I had joined a couple of fan clubs, which lead to me finding a few pen pals. In the course of these friendships, I found that I enjoyed writing, in fact, I sometimes wrote these long, probably rambling letters describing my day, things in my life and world, and how I felr about them. Looking back, I wasn’t half bad at it.

Matter of fact, one of them, Anna, who is in the book is still my friend and she was one of my feedback people. (She liked it.)

What is your favorite and the most challenging aspect of writing?

Seeing the pieces start to fit together. The hardest part with Magnetic North would have to be writing chapters 1-3. That was something that didn’t even make the original version that I sent to B.

At the time I was writimg the book, she and I were the only ones that knew of it.

Funny part about that was that I kinda had no problems with total strangers reading it, what with the pseudonym and all.

The hard part was family and friends reading it, especially Gina. Turned out everyone was good with it.

Tell us about your latest release.

When the time came for therapy, as I’ve mentioned in the book, I wrote what I considered to be the main story down as an intake document/introduction for my therapist, B.

After therapy was complete, well, as complete as therapy gets, now and again I’d pull up that original document and give it a read, just to see how it would hit. One day, Acrobat (it was a pdf) offered to do an AI summary of it. Just for fun, I agreed to it and where I just saw my story of a failed relationship and therapy, it saw a memoir, one that it claimed had a unique voice.

I thought about that for a while and decided to do a rewrite for myself, just to neaten it up. Upon getting further into it, I started to think ir might have some potential as a book. Now, here we are, it’s an actual book. I’m pretty pleased.

Ultimately, I think it was an actual continuation/proof of success of therapy in itself. I found myself having insights as I wrote it and thought, “huh, therapy worked, after all”.

How did you come up with the title of your book?

The working title was “A Ghost In Long Light” which has a warm, melancholy, slmost poetic feel.

Now, if you’ve read the book, you know it’s pretty far from poetic.
One day at work, the phrase “Magnetic North” popped into my head and I liked the sound of it, the feel of it.

I already had the compass metaphor from the therapy chapters, so it’d work.

Then Val got a last name to give it a little more relevance. This is why she’s the only character with a last name.

What do you hope readers are able to get from reading your story?

I hope it’s relatable, that someone may see themselves in it somewhere and perhaps feel a little better, knowing they’re not alone.

My beta reader had a similar experience to the “bad white shirt”, herself. That was a validating moment for ME.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Funny thing, I wrote a memoir but I don’t read memoir, really. I lean toward more sci-fi, action, mystery and I used to read a good bit of horror.

Some of my biggies are Stephen King (of course), Arthur C. Clarke, M.D.Cooper and some of the old standbys: Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell.

Do you have any advice for writers looking to get published?

Given how Magnetic North is currently performing, don’t come to me for marketing tips!

Seriously though. Just write it. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s good or not. Because once you’ve got it committed, then the fun part happens.

You get to improve it. However you want. If that doesn’t work, improve it some more. It’s infinite.

And don’t listen to the people with their “rules”. There are no rules! You gonna let other people tell YOU how to tell your story? Tell it your way.

Maybe. Just maybe. Listen to your editor. It’ll help, I imagine.

Write. It. Down.

It’s good for you.

Connect with Spetz: Book | Instagram | Threads | Facebook

About the Author

Spetz is an HVAC and BMS control technician who spends his days troubleshooting building systems and his nights working on a sci-fi/drama novel that is taking entirely too long to finish. Along the way, he accidentally wrote a memoir instead.

His debut book, Magnetic North, chronicles the fallout of telling a 1987 dating agency that he wanted “surprises”—a decision that led to green eyes, boomerang incidents, and a lifetime of conversational storytelling. He writes with a mix of dry humor, surreal heart, and zero pretension. He has one book on Amazon, zero replacement scarfs, and has finally come to the realization that he’s just going to have to buy his own damned baguette.