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Contagious Victories is a community for individuals to share positive perspectives, artistic endeavors and miraculous moments with others. Whether it is through storytelling, art, music or word, the members of Contagious Victories create space for vulnerability and act as an audience for support in creative works. We all have something to courageously celebrate- and even small victories are contagious!
Welcome to the Contagious Victory's podcast. Each week, we talk inspiration, explore possibilities, and share insights from creative perspectives. I'm Tori Blackmon, and I'm here to remind you that your purpose in life is to celebrate the victories because victories are contagious. They say history repeats itself, but Dan Heiser is making sure we remember it in a whole new way. You know, it's tragic how easily most of us forget important past events and world changing figures who have shaped our lives.
Victoria B. Glass:But for historian and published author Dan Heiser, the past is anything but forgotten. That's because through his immersive 19 forties historical fiction, Heiser is bringing the stories of the past to life, reminding us of the struggles, triumphs, and lessons of those who came before us. But his work doesn't stop there. He's also been juggling life as an academic advisor and a full time student. That's right.
Victoria B. Glass:He's currently pursuing his PhD in history. He's expected to wrap that up and be completely finished in May of next year. Dan is a believer and truly goes with God's plan no matter what door the Lord opens for his life. So remember him when you say your prayers tonight because being a full time PhD student and an academic advisor and a published author, who is currently writing another book, Dan needs some prayer.
Victoria B. Glass:In this episode of the Contagious Victories podcast, Dan and I talk about his passion for writing and how he finds inspiration with other readers and writers, both online and in real life. Are you ready to dive into the mind of Dan Heiser? This episode is for anyone interested in gaining insight about writing and publishing a book, plus the importance of remembering and learning from our past. Before we jump into the conversation with Dan, I wanna give a quick shout out to Abby and Caleb from Captured Photography. They are a wife and hubby team of photographers from Ohio who found the show on Instagram, gave it a follow, and reached out to let me know how much they're enjoying these guest episodes.
Victoria B. Glass:So thank you so much, Abby and Caleb. We really appreciate it over here at Contagious Victories, and we are interested in hearing your victory story too. So be on the lookout for a conversation between me and Captured Photo very soon. And if you want me to shout out you or your business on the Contagious Victory's podcast, just follow the show on Instagram, DM me your name and business, and tell me what you like about the show. If you're someone who wants to just be an audience member, that's okay too.
Victoria B. Glass:But we would love to get to know you more over in the Contagious Victory's Facebook group, where you can share information about yourself, your business, or any victories that are happening in your life right now. So without further ado, let's step back in time and learn how Dan Heiser creatively brings fiction to life. Welcome back to another episode of Contagious Victories. I have a very special guest here today in person in the flesh. Today, we're talking with Dan Heiser, who is a historian and author and a whole lot of other things. A very interesting creative.
Dan Heiser:Too many things.
Victoria B. Glass:Too many things, which is what I love about you, Dan. And we are friends in real life. Like, we knew each other
Dan Heiser:A while.
Victoria B. Glass:Yes. For a couple years now.
Dan Heiser:5 years? no. Yeah. 5 years now! wow!!
Victoria B. Glass:yeah 2019? And so, we've been through a lot together, and I'm excited to have you on the show. Welcome!
Dan Heiser:And I'm glad to be. This is exciting.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, all of our lovely listeners who don't know you, can you give a little bit of a firsthand description about yourself?
Dan Heiser:Yeah. So briefly, ventured into a lot of things, traveled a lot, been a little spoiled because of it. But I'd say, after coming home from Ireland, after I took a gap year from college, went into my undergrad of game design, then changed to my master's in history. And now I'm pursuing my PhD in history, and I'll be graduating next year after my dissertation's completed. And then everything between that has been cosplayed to 30,000 followers on TikTok, and then I eventually quit that and left.
Dan Heiser:Hello, Winston.
Victoria B. Glass:Dog owner. Welcome Winston!
Dan Heiser:Dog owner, publishing 4 books, and then took a while off of that. Now I'm finally getting back into it.
Victoria B. Glass:So you're getting back into writing. I know you have an Instagram for book lovers that you share...
Dan Heiser:I do.
Victoria B. Glass:All of your writing and reads.
Dan Heiser:It's more so book memes at this point, but still.
Victoria B. Glass:Well and then a lot of writing stuff too. When you're going through that writing journey, you're telling little stories using reels and things to get to promote your writing. So you've got that. And the way we know each other is we worked together both at the TV station a few years back.
Dan Heiser:yep.
Victoria B. Glass:and met couple days before we hosted our own little show at Pentacon at a little convention.
Dan Heiser:Emergency hosting because I was terrified.
Victoria B. Glass:And I'll add this. In the meantime, this is February 2020, so the whole time while all this is going on
Dan Heiser:A month before everything hit the fan.
Victoria B. Glass:I remember seeing some news stories. and like, oh, that That's not gonna happen.
Victoria B. Glass:This whole 2020 thing.
Dan Heiser:It's China. No.
Dan Heiser:So we What happened? Like, a month later, everything went the hell in a handbasket.
Victoria B. Glass:Everything the world was completely different. We pulled through. Our creativeness got us through.
Dan Heiser:Our creativeness got us through it.
Victoria B. Glass:Yes. Got us through that whole year. Now we're both in different places doing different things, and you have quite a lot of victory stories to be proud about.
Dan Heiser:So As well as you.
Victoria B. Glass:Thank you. Well, we're not talking about me today. We're talking about you. And so I wanna I wanna take it back to the beginning. Can you tell me the first time that you really realized that you were gonna be an author or a writer.
Dan Heiser:You want the truth?
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:5 years old.
Victoria B. Glass:5 years old. Okay.
Dan Heiser:I've been writing since I can remember. Remember those, like, half days at school? So, like, my dad worked, my mother worked, so I'd go back with her to work. And I'd sit in her little office waiting to go home, making up these stupid children's stories about, like, farm animals and stuff.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:And that never died. That's the one thing that I've done creatively that has never died. Cosplay, I've done. It died.
Dan Heiser:I wanna get back into it, but I haven't like, the only time I really do is when I get into Flynn Rider for Renaissance Fairs, and that's it.
Victoria B. Glass:I like that character a lot.
Dan Heiser:Who doesn't?
Victoria B. Glass:I know. He's great.
Dan Heiser:Honestly, he's he's the best. Like, it I will say this till the day I die. Tangled is the last good Disney movie ever made.
Victoria B. Glass:I love Tangled. That one's my favorite, and it has a special place in my heart.
Dan Heiser:100%.
Victoria B. Glass:So what I'm hearing you say is that you have always enjoyed making up elaborate stories. You know, even from such a really young age, the writing thing has been something that has brought you joy.
Dan Heiser:Yeah. It's escapism, but it's freedom, and it's able to give back to everybody. It's it's, hey. Whatever you're going through, read.
Victoria B. Glass:And you're currently in the middle of writing a book right now.
Dan Heiser:I am. I am.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, tell me a little bit about that.
Dan Heiser:Yeah. So I've I've dabbled a lot in fantasy. One day, I want to actually publish one of my fantasy works, but I have that an idea pops up. It can't fit into this, so it creates a new project. But what I really fall back into every time is historical fiction.
Dan Heiser:Okay. And so what I'm working on now, is it starts right after the war.
Victoria B. Glass:Which war?
Dan Heiser:World War 2. Okay. An RAF, Royal Air Force, POW, comes home after being a POW for 5 years and ends up basically finding out his wife remarried. He literally just married her, like, right before the war starts.
Victoria B. Glass:Aw man.
Dan Heiser:Yeah. It's bad. He finds out right after his assumed assumed dead, and so, basically, he divorces his wife, runs to America, meets up with one of his friends he made in the POW camp, falls in love with his guy's sister. And then when he comes back home, he has to choose between becoming the next line in the earldom or her.
Victoria B. Glass:And she's in a different country. She's an American. Yeah.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, that sounds really interesting. And, you are taking a lot of inspiration from interests that you have. Yep. And it you're a historian, so talk a little bit about that. I've never had a historian on the show.
Dan Heiser:Okay. It really started when I was 4 years old.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay, So even before the writing you liked history?
Dan Heiser:Yeah. Way before the writing. I saw Titanic in 1997. My my parents showed a 4 year old. The VHS covered the eyes the inappropriate parts.
Victoria B. Glass:I remember my mom did the same thing to me. She was like, you need to see this movie.
Dan Heiser:but not this part!
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.
Dan Heiser:I, yeah. I can still remember that day by day. And, so, yeah, I got obsessed with Titanic. I studied that ship forward and backwards for, oh God, 20 years.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, are any of your books themed around that?
Dan Heiser:My first one. Okay. The one that not many can actually get because it's out of publishing right now because it's a horrible write.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, I think the first of anything, you learn a lot after when you do the first one. But guess what?
Dan Heiser:You do.
Victoria B. Glass:I was gonna say, you can't let the fear of the first one keep you from doing it.
Dan Heiser:No. You can't!
Victoria B. Glass:So now you're on your 4th.
Dan Heiser:You also learn lessons. You're on your 5th, right? I'm on the I'm on 5th.
Victoria B. Glass:You're on the 5th. You have 4 books.
Dan Heiser:The first book is These Four Days. That's the Titanic one. The second one is Where I've Been. The third one is It Begins in Rye, which was supposed to be a 6 book series, but I kinda lost the entire second book.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, no. Like, Physically?
Dan Heiser:Do to Winston.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, no. Winston is his dog. And, oh, my goodness. He ate your homework?
Dan Heiser:He did.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, no.
Dan Heiser:He really did. Yeah. So my mother found like, I asked her for my laptop that had my capstone project on it, and she gave it to me for a brief time because I gave it to her. And I found the book, took it off, and put it on a flash drive.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:Winston got bored one day and ate the flash drive.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, no. And, Dan, you must love Winston because he is still here.
Dan Heiser:He's still alive 2 years later.
Victoria B. Glass:You didn't give him away.
Dan Heiser:Like I'm actually kinda glad.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, and there he is. Winston has a lot to say about it, I guess.
Dan Heiser:I'm actually kinda glad because when I first wrote it, it wasn't believable. Because, like, I'm I'm the historical fiction author who believes every historical event in the book has to be a 100% factual. Like, you can't you can't change it, any of that. So the first draft was completely historically accurate, but just unbelievable.
Dan Heiser:The second draft, which I was really liking, was eaten by Winston. And I'm glad it did because now I can eventually and this was supposed to be published back in, like, 2019. Okay. We're, what, 5 years later?
Victoria B. Glass:I see what you're saying about having the historical part of the historical fiction and really being passionate about that because you're a historian. So, you know, we both we both share a love for theater, but one of the things about theater that I remember learning is that you have to have those real parts be a 100% real because your audience is gonna know. And then you'd rather it be, you know, a fictional story, but using the real things that happened and have them be correct and interesting.
Dan Heiser:Yep.
Victoria B. Glass:And have those that audience base love that because it's real stuff that you're talking about, and you can envision the stories just taking place during that time even if they came from your imagination. So that's really interesting, and I think that it's very, admirable that you are taking it so seriously and say and making sure that, you know, you haven't put something out there as a second volume of it...
Dan Heiser:Just to get it out.
Victoria B. Glass:Just to get it out. That you wanna wait. And, there's been a couple other books that have come out since that one or since the first of that series, and those don't have anything to do with that series. And these are different. Tell us about those.
Dan Heiser:The one that follows It Begins in Rye, because that was the 3rd published, is Dear Tarquin.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:It's a short story. It's, like, 50 pages. Can be read in an hour. That one, it's about 50 or so pages long, and the only reason why I wrote it is because I am dead set. And I pray to God, the day I get married, whoever that lucky woman is, she will go with what I said, because I've dreamed about my kids, and I know their names. I really the firstborn, Tarquin Charles, and I named the book after Tarquin.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, okay. Aww
Dan Heiser:That's that's probably why I stuck with it. But it's it's a short story about basically a dad who writes his son letters. Like, every chapter opens up with the letter, so it's first person. And then the rest of the chapter is actually being there. So it's American visualing from visualization from, I believe, D Day to the end of the war.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, wow. And it's from the dad, right, into his son? Yep. That is so interesting. I like that.
Dan Heiser:It's gotten mixed reviews.
Victoria B. Glass:Like, I could see
Dan Heiser:I think it's sitting at a 4 point 5 on Amazon right now. Okay. it's mostly the reason why is because of the change of POV. Literally, the first page is the letter, and then the rest of the chapter is the third person point of view of the war. Like, some people like it. Some people hate it. But that's anything.
Victoria B. Glass:I need to read it. I think that I would like that. I think that sounds really interesting and very different.
Dan Heiser:It was a travel down when I actually wrote it myself. So it was, like, something I never tried and never actually saw in any form of reading material. And I was like, I'm down. I'm gonna try it. I don't care if it flops. I'm still gonna publish it.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, that's a really good attitude to have as a young author because I feel like, like we were saying earlier, the first or second, you know, few things that we try, we have to learn from them. And I think that you never really learn if you never try. And so you have to you have to get that out and get it out of you, whether it's a book, a song, whatever you're writing or creating.
Dan Heiser:And that's also the beauty of self publishing.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Okay.
Dan Heiser:You're not you're not restricted to the traditionalist. Like, I want to do traditional, and I'm gonna try for this one, but the first start is getting an agent. That's not the easy part.
Victoria B. Glass:I was gonna say I know nothing about publishing and writing books other than just it takes a lot of patience with yourself, a lot of creativity. I want you to talk a little bit about self publishing. We might have someone who is thinking about doing that one day or, writing a book themselves. And do you have any advice to give to someone like that?
Dan Heiser:It's not hard
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. Really?
Dan Heiser:no. It's not. Everybody makes it out to seem like it is. I'm not the type to do crowd fundings. I want to just to, like, actually have the like, for the next one, the stability of actually being able to afford the book. Because putting, like the hardest part of self publishing is you're putting your own money into everything. You gotta buy you gotta pay the, cover artists. You gotta pay an editor if you get one, which I always recommend. So the horror story of the first book, it comes down to the person I hired as the publisher. He ran through the whole like, this is how I actually know how to actually self publish because he helped me.
Dan Heiser:The problem was that he told me, edit it yourself. The first draft, edit yourself. Of course. Yeah. Like, read it, make sure it makes sense, make sure it flows, make sure, like, you catch the grammatical errors that you can catch on your own, but you definitely need to hire someone. Because they're gonna like, a fresh pair of eyes is gonna see something different that you didn't catch. You can always reject the comments or accept the comments, but having a second pair of eyes is always a must. So that's going to cost money. The cover art's going to cost money. If you decide to buy an ISBN, which is the little barcode number at the end.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:That's gonna cost money. The price may have gone up now, because I haven't done it since 2018, but it was it was quite a bit, for, like, one alone.
Victoria B. Glass:Do you have to get an, a separate one for each?
Dan Heiser:Every single book.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, wow.
Dan Heiser:But that's why that's why they recommend buying, like, packs of 5 and 10 because you can eventually just, like, either give it to a friend or put it on your own.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. I didn't even know that.
Dan Heiser:The important part is and Amazon offers free ones, which is even better.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, okay.
Dan Heiser:The problem with Amazon's free ones, though, is you can't sell it in Books A Million, Barnes and Noble. It's only on Amazon.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Well, as we know, Amazon didn't start off as a marketplace that sold everything. It was just books.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:And earlier, you mentioned that you have your books on Amazon. Yep. So if someone's curious and they wanna go and read some of the books that we've been talking about.
Dan Heiser:The fastest way that I've searched it is if you, like, look up where I've been and then Dan Heiser
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:It'll be the first thing that pops up.
Victoria B. Glass:Alright.
Dan Heiser:Where I've been by itself, not so much.
Victoria B. Glass:But if you type in where I've been by Dan Heiser And we're gonna have that all listed in the show notes, so you'll be able to just scroll down and click a link, and we'll have that there so you can check out Dan's work. But we are talking about self publishing. And do you have any thoughts or challenges that came up when you were in that space for the first time? So, you know, I know you and I being good friends, you've heard me talk about things like imposter syndrome or you know?
Victoria B. Glass:And and you were just sharing that there's always funding that people have, that's kinda like a hurdle whether, you know, whether you have it or not. There's always a challenge.
Dan Heiser:You mentioned you mentioned impostor syndrome. I only experienced that, like, playing, like, Lord of the Rings tabletop games and all that stuff.
Victoria B. Glass:Really? Okay.
Dan Heiser:Like, when I'm actually leading them. But, like, when it's the writing, I'm, like, no... this is, like when it went out, I'm, like, oh my God. I'm an author. This is actually like, I'm no longer a writer.
Dan Heiser:I'm an author.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:Because the second, in in my opinion, and this goes, I think, amongst the whole Bookstagram, BookTok industry, all of that stuff where it's like the second the differentiation between an author and a writer. A writer is someone who writes. An author is someone who's actually been published.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. See, I didn't know that. That's good information. So you're a writer when you're working on something and doing it personally.
Victoria B. Glass:But once you've had-
Dan Heiser:The second you're published, whether it's news, articles, and magazines
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:Whatever, the second your name is published, you're an author.
Victoria B. Glass:But that makes a lot of sense. Well, I knew that you'd been published, so I thought, of course, you're an author.
Dan Heiser:The the funny thing is I haven't actually said I'm an author in years.
Victoria B. Glass:See, like, I know how hard that is, but you are an author, and that's one of the reasons I wanted you on this podcast.
Dan Heiser:I think I think it's probably because, like, it's a vanity thing.
Victoria B. Glass:But it's not.
Dan Heiser:But it's not. But it is.
Victoria B. Glass:But I think too it's just like yeah. Sometimes it's hard I know as an artist, it's hard to call myself an artist. And I'm like, okay. I forgot that I was an artist a few weeks ago. Dylan had my degree framed. And so I just relearned, like, who I was, and I was like, I don't even need to, like, shy away from this because I paid good money to get that degree.
Dan Heiser:You did.
Victoria B. Glass:To say that I'm an artist. And you have put in the hours, and you've got degrees and multiple I mean, you're working on your PhD. So you have the time, the you know, the lifestyle. You've put in the work to call yourself that, and we all should not shy away from calling ourselves what we are, whether it is a author, an artist, a photographer, a you know, whatever you are, a wooden spoon maker. I don't know what you do, but, like, if you do it and you do it a lot with your whole heart, that's what you are!
Dan Heiser:Or an adorable sleeping dog. I mean, look at that.
Victoria B. Glass:Or a sweet little beagle named Winston. Yes. He's finally settled.
Dan Heiser:Oh my goodness. He is so happy.
Victoria B. Glass:He's so sweet. I wanna get into what you're doing now. So let's talk about your bookstagram. Am I saying that right? Bookstagram?
Dan Heiser:I think it's bookstagram.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. Building an audience of people who are writers or authors.
Dan Heiser:Supposed to be a writing author aspect.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:You know? My Instagram's, like I said at the beginning, it's memes.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. So book memes
Dan Heiser:It's more so, like, just comedic audios of, like, oh, when your friend reads I think one of my most popular right now is, like, when your friend reads your book right after you finish the first draft, and they go, are you okay?
Victoria B. Glass:I saw that one. I do remember. And you're like, are you, you're good. Right? Like, I'm like, no.
Dan Heiser:I mean Internally, no.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. That's so funny.
Dan Heiser:But it's stuff like that. It's it's connecting to, like, trying to push myself out there, but at the same time, it's like, I'm here for just the fun.
Victoria B. Glass:I think that, although I'm not a writer or author, but I do well, maybe I am, and I didn't know it.
Dan Heiser:You're a bit of a writer.
Victoria B. Glass:Well okay. But, anyways, I was gonna say not so much like books and stuff, but I do appreciate your your writing journey. And I feel like your bookstagram is a place where other fellow writers can really receive that, relatability of, like, the struggles of writing a book or, you know, what it is like to have these characters exist in your head.
Dan Heiser:Yes, What it makes you fall in love with a character.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:And they're the secondary character and you have to kill them, and then you're like, God. I don't wanna kill this character.
Victoria B. Glass:And I think they're fun when I can only imagine just like you said, having a character exist and then for the plot to keep going, you've gotta kill them off. And you're the creator doing that, and you're like, oh, no. I'm gonna miss them!
Dan Heiser:It's easy when you don't fall in love with them.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Exactly.
Dan Heiser:But those are the, in my opinion, the ones that fail the most.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. Well, why's that?
Dan Heiser:So if you don't love the character enough and you have no problem with it dying, then the reader's not gonna care. There's there's also a lot of authors who just kill the character for drama effect. AKA the entire, Game of Thrones series.
Victoria B. Glass:See, that would be hard. I feel like.
Dan Heiser:Killing off a character for plot reasons makes no sense.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:There has to be a reason you're killing the character off, not just to piss off your reader.
Victoria B. Glass:Or make the drama.
Dan Heiser:Yeah. Exactly. And I feel like that's a lot of what authors do these days, where it's like, oh, this is the most loved character. I'm writing him out. It's like, why would you do that?
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. You gotta have that, intentionality behind it. Like, what was your intention with it?
Dan Heiser:There has to be a reason to actually kill them off. Otherwise, it's gonna flop hard.
Victoria B. Glass:That makes sense. I see where you would say that.
Dan Heiser:Book's not gonna be picked up again or, like a lot of my friends, thrown across the room.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, I don't know if I've done that to a book. Maybe.
Dan Heiser:I've thrown plenty of books, not for the reason of getting mad, just because I wanna get it away from water.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Yeah. Well, tell me a little bit about your books, what you hope that the characters take away from reading them. Or not characters. I'm sorry. The readers. What do you hope that the reader takes away?
Dan Heiser:The readers? Honestly, it's the diving into realism. So the first off, hopefully, whoever reads it gets interested in actually history, like, actually wants to look more into the historical value behind the book. For example, with It Begins in Rye, I'm not gonna spoil a scene, but there's a mention of the HMS Royal Oak. And that is a very big impact -
Victoria B. Glass:Is that a ship?
Dan Heiser:It's a ship.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. I thought so.
Dan Heiser:Big impact in the book and big impact in the beginning of World War 2, probably right after the phony war when World War 2 really amps up, right after the Battle of Britain. And so I just really want people to go, okay. This is a interesting tidbit that's in the book. Let's actually look into the real history behind it.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:The second thing I hope readers take from it is, like, just feeling the emotions that it, like, actually gives. Because it's like it's like, hey. You've read this. What did you feel?
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:Did you actually feel the emotions that, like, it's trying to give, or did it fall flat?
Victoria B. Glass:So I think that when you're writing anything, whether it's a song, a book, a poem, you hope to communicate those feelings that might not be everyday feelings that people feel.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:So when you're writing, you know, a lot of people I mean, there might be a couple, but there's a lot of most of us alive right now have not experienced war to the extreme of what World War 2 or any other battle.
Dan Heiser:Yeah. Knock on wood!
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah - Knock on wood. But, you know, I remember my grandfather who passed away early on in life. He was in World War 2, and there was a really special little ceremony we did at school. And there was only, you know, like, probably couple handfuls of grandparents who were left. And I read about it or see it in the news a lot.
Victoria B. Glass:There there's not a whole lot of people left like that, so those stories are only getting passed down in that way from people like you who have done the research to understand what exactly, you know, went on, not just from a factual the ship sunk, but from the people who, like, you know, who experienced it. And it's secondhand, but you've read those diary entries or those stories about, you know, those nonfiction, even though you're a fictional writer, a historical fictioner.
Dan Heiser:Yeah, the memoirs.
Victoria B. Glass:You've read those memoirs, and, you know, I feel like it's a really responsible and powerful position that you're in because if you don't communicate those feelings that war might bring or, you know, bigger points in history might bring, then we're just we're not gonna take that seriously. We're not gonna take those times and really give them the respect they deserve because we don't know.
Dan Heiser:And we're doomed to repeat it.
Victoria B. Glass:And we're doomed to repeat it, right. But I was gonna say because we don't know. Like, we don't know what all really happened.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:And so to paint those stories from your own interest in history and being a historian, plus your love for writing, plus your love for other books and reading, and taking all that and combining it into a passion and a career, that's a really responsible thing to do because, I mean, it communicates that to younger audiences, to new people who haven't experienced that stuff first firsthand. So that's a victory story, and I feel like, you know, you won already because it's you that is both interested in it, and it's you that's creating it, so you get to be creative and so yeah.
Dan Heiser:And off of that, No, you're right. I know I've sold, like, maybe a good chunk of copy. I don't I honestly have not kept track. I intend to kind of keep track with the newest one once I actually publish it, and I wanna see if I can.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:But the reviews themselves, it's just going because, like, there's days when I'm like, I'm bored. I'm gonna go I'm gonna go back and actually read the reviews. and, like, just the impact that it had on people where it's like, he's actually a good writer. He actually makes these people believable.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:It's impressive to actually bring something that happened 80 years ago to today.
Victoria B. Glass:I love that. Yeah. I mean, it's amazing because it's impacting people today who weren't even alive, probably not even, like, you know, thought about. Like, you know, and now they're reading your work about something that happened, affected everyone, alive or not. You know? Like, I mean, we still we all talk about it. We learn about it.
Dan Heiser:We watch movies about it. Movies are still being made about it.
Victoria B. Glass:Exactly! Yeah. And, like you said too, it's really important to have even a like, even if you're just watching the movies and stuff, have an idea of what it took to for that stuff to happen because you don't want it to happen again. Yeah. So, that's really cool. And I also wanna add this. I know as a creative myself that finding the strength and courage to go back and read reviews, to go and keep up with, you know, the numbers and the analytics of things. Most creatives I mean, I'm not I don't wanna speak for everyone, but most creatives, that's not the first thing that they think about. Like, you're trying to get something out of you when you create something, and you, you know, want to do that first and foremost, to the best of your ability, create. So a lot of times we put that I'm sure everyone I know everyone cares about what people think. Like, it's something that in human nature we should we all are looking whether we wanna admit it or not. We're looking for....
Dan Heiser:Attention.
Victoria B. Glass:Approval, attention, you know, acceptance, I think, is a big part. That's really where I was going is we all wanna be accepted. So when we put our heart out there and it's something that we really care about, it does matter that people like it and that it's received well. But I was getting to, too ... It's not usually the first thing that we're like, "okay. how many copies? How many reviews? How much money? How many numbers?" Like, that I go to that number thing.
Dan Heiser:I feel like everybody goes to the number thing because it's just the one thing they're like, it's either the money or how many.
Victoria B. Glass:But that doesn't matter.
Dan Heiser:No. I don't care.
Victoria B. Glass:It doesn't. That's not the victory that I'm... that's what I was getting to is, like, I know that you were saying with this next one, you wanna, you know, look at that a little bit more, and I think that shows in your own writing career from a from an outside perspective, like just maturity because it's like, okay, I've done this, I've gotten it's hard to even produce or publish something.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:So to have those, you know, couple, you know, 2, 4 out of the way, now you're looking at this from a new point of view, which is I'm gonna make another one, and this time, I'm gonna maybe look at some other things and keep this in the back of my head of, like, you know, trying to check up on things. I do it with my podcast. I'm like, I mean, for real. I've really just now started being like, alright. Let's look at the analytics.
Dan Heiser:Yep.
Victoria B. Glass:Which topics do people enjoy? And it's like but for the first, what, 60 few episodes, it's like I'm doing this because I've got something inside of me that needs to be out.
Dan Heiser:Exactly.
Victoria B. Glass:And I think as a writer, you know..
Dan Heiser:Honestly, that's that's how you should look at everything. But here's the thing. Like, if you look at everything as that stupid dopamine chase
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:I'm guilty of it, I will say. Like, every time I post a stupid reel on Instagram, I'm like, oh, I gotta see who liked it. Yeah. And it's like you're like just one person. It's like so I'm trying to get to that aspect of not even paying attention to that and, like, walking away and letting it grow and come back to it and go, oh, 10 people like it.
Victoria B. Glass:Your people are gonna find you.
Dan Heiser:Oh, eventually. Yes. Always.
Victoria B. Glass:They will find you. And,
Dan Heiser:though, it it goes back to, like, not just Instagram, not just everything. Like, I I will brag a little where, like, looking at the reviews, I have not seen anything under 4 stars.
Victoria B. Glass:That's awesome!!
Dan Heiser:The only reason why 4 stars showed up is because the second book that was published, Where I've Been, which I take much pride in it because I really consider that the first one Because it was, like, professionally edited, everything. I did it myself. The only reason why it was a 4 stars is because it reminded the reader of All is Quiet on the Western Front, and I'm like, but it's not. Because where I've been is literally the World War one aspect of a cavalry fighter.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:He literally has his horse taken from him, and then he's like, you know what? I'm I'm going with the horse. You can't stop me.
Victoria B. Glass:Aw.
Dan Heiser:And for the first half of the book, you follow him, and then, I think I've actually shown it to you, the the silver, award, the little silver dish? I've had framed?
Victoria B. Glass:Oh Yeah.
Dan Heiser:That actually inspired the second half of the book because he gets injured, sent home, gets the war badge.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh! Where did you get that?
Dan Heiser:Umm... eBay.
Dan Heiser:Most of my World War 1 and 2 collection comes from Ebay.
Victoria B. Glass:I love that. So you're a collector too. We hadn't even talked about that. I mean
Dan Heiser:Actually, we haven't. I haven't collected in a while. I think I stopped after my trip to Normandy. Got the sands from Normandy and Dunkirk, and then I just didn't wanna put money into it anymore.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, I love that you've, again, taken your interest with history and made something out of that interest. So it's not just a passion that you have, but you're also sharing it with other people.
Dan Heiser:Trying to.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Well, like we mentioned, the people are gonna find you. You just have to keep showing up.
Dan Heiser:Eventually, Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:And when you're working on different projects, whether it's a PhD, a book, making a new website, I don't know, whatever creatively you're working on, not you, but just as a creative, yeah, you're gonna be introduced to new audiences, new people, new influences, and things like that. So I think once it sounds like you've got a great handle on it. Once you figure out what it is you like, , there's gonna be people there. It's not gonna be the whole world. Like, you know it.
Dan Heiser:but You you find your people.
Victoria B. Glass:But you find your people. Right!! And when you do find those people, then it's so much easier to start making content, whether it be a book.
Dan Heiser:When it comes to that is always write for you.
Victoria B. Glass:Write for you. Yes
Dan Heiser:Do it for you and the people will follow afterwards.
Victoria B. Glass:And I'm gonna add to that because I've loved this lately. Is find it once you find your people, you're like, oh, they're similar to me, and I can keep making this ... For them! with them in mind.
Dan Heiser:Yeah, 100%. Yep!
Victoria B. Glass:I like that you're you're working on your PhD.
Dan Heiser:Yeahhh 100% Yep.
Victoria B. Glass:You're you've got another book in the works. Well, I have a question. . So this just came to me. So if we have any aspiring authors who are listening, maybe they're writing and stuff, and they have ideas come to them all the time, how do you decipher what you should actually put time and energy into making a reality, writing?
Victoria B. Glass:And how do you say, okay. That character is awesome, but not this time, and put that character kinda back in the..
Dan Heiser:And shelve them?
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:Oh, I hate that feeling so much.
Victoria B. Glass:Is there any advice you would give to people who are flooded with ideas and they maybe need some help to weed out the good ones, maybe put some on the back burner until they kinda develop more? How do you pick which ones you're gonna write first?
Dan Heiser:Yeah So it comes down to flushing out an idea. I used to be a pantser writer.
Victoria B. Glass:What does that mean?
Dan Heiser:Basically, someone who just writes and doesn't plot anything.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:And I still am because I don't like outlines. I never liked outlines. So I don't like outlines.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:When I have to do them for homework projects, I, like, they're great because at first, I saw I find them completely useless, and then, like, actually, when I'm writing the paper, I'm like, like, oh, this is what I wanna do, and I can write this faster because I'm actually following this. Yeah. But when it comes down to your question, it's find two things. The first, generally, like, plot out the whole thing.
Dan Heiser:Like, it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be front, excuse me, front to end. It has to be have a beginning, have a middle, have an end. Like, pinpoint that. And then if you're a pants writer, just write as you go, write your feeling, whatever. But at least have an idea. The second thing I'm gonna say is when it comes down to taking priority, whatever is coming out the most, whether it be a character that, like, doesn't fit the plot, adapt him a little. Like, if you're attached to this character, adapt him to fit the plot.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:If you are if you have too many ideas like I do, where in like I do....
Victoria B. Glass:That's where I feel like most of us are.
Dan Heiser:It's the worst.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:It's the worst because, like, you sit there, you get go hung on, like, project a, and then, like, you get, like, 3 chapters in, and then a new idea blossoms, and you're like, okay. If it's a strong enough idea to take over, let it take over.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:If it's a strong if it's a weak idea, adapt it to fit what you're working with.
Victoria B. Glass:Ooooh, okay!!
Dan Heiser:That is that is what I always do. If it's a strong if it's an idea that can actually fit into the plot that I'm working with, change it and fit it in. It becomes a secondary story.
Victoria B. Glass:Can you give me an example of how you've done that in some of your writing?
Dan Heiser:So recently, an abandoned project that I hope to return to was supposed to be a modern day Rumpelstiltskin.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. I love the story of Rumpelstiltskin.
Dan Heiser:Like, Not many people do.
Victoria B. Glass:I do.
Dan Heiser:I don't know why.
Victoria B. Glass:Because it's not really a good movie or a good story for mothers.
Dan Heiser:It's the message. It's a good message. Don't trust random strangers who have promised you a fortune.
Victoria B. Glass:It's a good message.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah, well..it worked out with me and you. Like, you're a random stranger, and I was a random stranger. And look at us. 5 years later, we're still friends. But, no, I get what you mean.
Dan Heiser:Right?!
Victoria B. Glass:That's a cool idea.
Dan Heiser:So that idea blossomed, and I was like, okay. And then I had another fantasy idea that popped up, and it had to do with teleportation and all that stuff. So the whole plot of this modern day Rumpelstiltskin that I still wanna write, is he has lived, like, 6 centuries, maybe more. He's, like, everything that happened in the original Grimm's tale is true except the part where he dies. Like, currently, he has 6 children because he's made deals in the modern time. Oh, okay. Yeah. And like, his oldest knows, so he's trying to become the new Rumpel Silskin.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. That's interesting.
Dan Heiser:He has this really because, like, we're in that era of, like, everybody wants to be their own entrepreneur, all that stuff. So he has his own business where he, like, makes millionaires by, like, getting rid of their debt, all that stuff. And he finds people who have, like, major debts and all that stuff and makes them go from negatives to millionaires.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. Okay.
Dan Heiser:And so he finds this chick, falls in love with her by accident, and he takes her on a date. And in the middle of it, like, aft like, after the 2 days he spent with her, she's gone from, like, 0 to half a million. And they're on this date, and she goes, you know who you remind me of? Rumpelstiltskin.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh my goodness. Okay.
Dan Heiser:And he goes, "What? Excuse me," and goes to the bathroom and then teleports to Germany because anytime you say his name, he goes back to Germany .
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, yeah. That's right. So he's gone...?
Dan Heiser:Yeah. So the whole teleportation idea that I took from whatever that plot was supposed to be, I twisted it into that book.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. I like that. And now it's 2 ideas that have been merged into 1.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:I really do like that.
Victoria B. Glass:That's good advice.
Dan Heiser:That is my always go to. It's it's if you have a good idea and it can't be by itself, do it. If you have a good idea but it can mix into what you're doing, mix it.
Victoria B. Glass:Adapt the ideas because there's a reason they're coming to you. Like, you know?
Dan Heiser:And they don't stop.
Victoria B. Glass:And they don't stop. You're right. Well, that is really good advice, and I think it inspires me to go and take a look at my ideas list and,
Dan Heiser:You have a good couple ones. .
Victoria B. Glass:Reevaluate.
Dan Heiser:We've talked about a couple of them tonight.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. We have. Well, I know that you are currently working on a couple things that we've talked about, but we haven't really talked about things that have influenced you. Do you have any songs, books, authors, movies that you are really inspired by and influenced by, whether it be in your writing style or with your love for history that maybe you think someone listening hasn't seen or heard of yet?
Dan Heiser:I found an artist on Instagram
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:That is... I've never heard anything like this. He's
Victoria B. Glass:Is it a Music artist?
Dan Heiser:Music.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:Elias Alexander.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay. And why do you like him?
Dan Heiser:He's taken, like, Scottish fiddle and bagpipes and put it into pop music.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh.
Dan Heiser:Right? right?
Dan Heiser:What?
Victoria B. Glass:I'm gonna have to hear it.
Victoria B. Glass:But don't play it now because I don't wanna get copyright.
Dan Heiser:Oh, Yeah. Right.
Victoria B. Glass:What's his name again?
Dan Heiser:So Elias Alexander.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay, and he's on Instagram?
Dan Heiser:And he's on Instagram.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:And he's awesome. And, like, I think Tuesday after work, I just he he doesn't have a lot of stuff on YouTube, but I put his YouTube on and just started writing. And it he is good.
Victoria B. Glass:Does it... is it lyrics? or is it just the music?
Dan Heiser:There's a couple lyrics, but it's just mostly the music.
Victoria B. Glass:So you listen to it while you're writing?
Dan Heiser:I'll listen to music while I write. Most usually, it's probably Viralynn, anything 1940's , because it just gets you in the setting.
Victoria B. Glass:We hadn't even talked about your love for the 1940's.
Dan Heiser:No. We haven't.
Victoria B. Glass:Which I'm glad you brought it up, because I did wanna mention that we talked about how much you love history, and you have a love for a lot of different things, whether it's writing. I know we've talked a lot about ...
Dan Heiser:And you caught me on a day where I'm not dressed like it.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. When I first met Dan, he only wore 1940's nice, very nice button downs, very dapper!
Victoria B. Glass:Is that right to say? Dapper? Very dapper.
Dan Heiser:Yes! Waistcoats.
Victoria B. Glass:you have a very nice wardrobe.
Victoria B. Glass:It takes, again, your love for something and then incorporates it into your real life in a way that is not seen very often anymore, but can be appreciated when you ask why.
Victoria B. Glass:So, like, what is it that you love about when you put on these clothes? Is it that you've like, tell me, what is it that you feel?
Dan Heiser:It's a confidence booster!
Victoria B. Glass:It's a confidence booster?! Okay. So to elaborate a little bit.
Dan Heiser:So when you change your aspect of anything, like, whether it's your clothing, your hair, whatever, it's usually to make yourself feel better. And now it's even harder to get back into it because it's like it you're comfortable.
Victoria B. Glass:I can see that. I've had even this year, had to really start, you know, ... I work from home. I have a home office.
Dan Heiser:Same.
Victoria B. Glass:Really start, like, putting in the effort to be like, okay. I am going to an office today. I need to put on what I would wear if I was going to, like, an outside of the house office. Because if you do I mean, there's nothing wrong with wearing, like, your sweats at your home office. Like, there's nothing wrong with that. But I do know you do that enough, and, yeah, and you start to get comfortable, like you said. And so, I love that you wear things that not only embody, like, that those characters from your stories or those, you know, people that you hear about and read about from the memoirs or from, like, history movies and things like that, but you also receive that confidence boost of, like, this is nice and I stand out in a good way.
Dan Heiser:Oh, big time! People compliment me!
Victoria B. Glass:I wanna know, do you where do you get those clothes? Like, when you do you see them? Do you order them from a special site, do you thrift?
Dan Heiser:Most of my button downs came from my dad.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:So he's president of a custom clothing. And, like, so I'd order my shirts from him because it's family discount.
Victoria B. Glass:Ohhh okay! A little, no shame plug there.
Dan Heiser:No shame plug there.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:And then the waistcoats are genuine, vintage. So all of them like, I only have 2. There one's from 1945. The other, I think, is from 1938.
Victoria B. Glass:You're the perfect person to have them. Like, I know
Dan Heiser:I want more. I want more.
Victoria B. Glass:They found the right home. Like, I love that.
Dan Heiser:The the black one is easier to wear because the other one's tweed, and you can't wear that in summer.
Victoria B. Glass:Do you have, like, a soldier?
Dan Heiser:Oh, I do.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah.
Dan Heiser:I've got actually a couple. I think the army shirt that I've worn a couple times, is 1942.
Dan Heiser:Wow.
Dan Heiser:Bomber jacket of 7th is 1945, 44.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, that's amazing.
Dan Heiser:And then the wow. You got me thinking.
Victoria B. Glass:I was gonna say these people, like, I feel like this adds
Dan Heiser:Some of them actually have names in them, and I wanna
Victoria B. Glass:No way!!
Dan Heiser:Yeah. I wanna look into them further.
Victoria B. Glass:I love that. Like, that is so interesting and that makes me so curious!
Dan Heiser:And that silver badge from that I was talking about earlier, has an actual ID number of an like, I went down that rabbit hole so deep that I actually found his name, his wife, his children
Victoria B. Glass:What?
Dan Heiser:How he got the award. And I found everything, and I framed it all around.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, that's so interesting. Are you inspired by those items to write any of your characters?
Dan Heiser:I'd say a little bit.
Victoria B. Glass:Okay.
Dan Heiser:More so those items are just to remember them. Like, for example, my prize possession is a 1938 to 40 pilot logbook. These are the hardest things to find.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh WOW! A Real pilot logbook? Oh my goodness!!
Dan Heiser:Pilot logbooks are really hard to obtain because they're really expensive. And this is Charles Albert Leslie Bevans. He's a sergeant of the Royal Air Force, and I have his picture. I have 2 of his medals. I have his RAF cap badge and his pilot logbook and his information on where he's buried. Because that actually sparked my capstone project for my master's.
Victoria B. Glass:Oh, okay.
Dan Heiser:I put him in there, and I'm also putting him in my dissertation. I think he's in chapter 1, and he'll probably go further in-depth into chapter 3 or 4
Victoria B. Glass:Wow.
Dan Heiser:Because it's gonna be about the actual planes that he flew.
Victoria B. Glass:The the actual ones in the log books?
Dan Heiser:Yeah. So they cut him off, and I think he flew an he flew 2 planes. 1 was just for training, the other was a bomber, and then he died April 22, 1940. But it's it's actually logged at the end of the book where, like, it says killed in action April 22nd.
Victoria B. Glass:This takes the it really does circle all the way back around.
Dan Heiser:It really does.
Victoria B. Glass:To the beginning of our conversation, which was the responsibility that you have when you have been God gifted you with a passion for history and also paired it with a passion and talent for writing. And the way that you have taken your love for both of those things and have paired it with real things, real people, and the things they actually did, like the logbook. And now you're keeping what they did alive. Like, you're you're respecting it not only with, you know, your interest and stuff, but you're keeping their stories alive. You're appreciating it the way that I feel like it takes a very special person to be able to appreciate because it's like you're putting yourself in that story.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:And you weren't even alive when it happened, but you still are connected to it. And that to me is so beautiful, and it's just this big picture of life that I feel like shows, you know, how God uses us to, to make the world a better place, to continue to share stories like his, and then to also give you a new edge because you're writing these incredible fiction books
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:But they're based on real people and real things. And so, yeah, that's just a very interesting victory story. And you have your own victory. There's no war or battle, but there are. You know, here when you're-
Dan Heiser:Internally, maybe.
Victoria B. Glass:Maybe. Yeah. I was gonna say, as a writer, probably internally.
Dan Heiser:There's a lot of arguments you have with your characters.
Victoria B. Glass:Yeah. I can only imagine. But you do a really good job, and I'm so proud of you as a friend. And, and so that's why I wanted to have you on is because I feel like it's just a completely new perspective of being a creator that I haven't talked to on the show before, and there's so many people out there that do what you do. Just in my world, you're the first. And so I appreciate you for doing what you do, for loving it the way that you love it, and being the creative that you are.
Dan Heiser:It's been a pleasure. This has been great.
Victoria B. Glass:Well, my fellow artists who tune in and creatives that tune in, I know they're gonna appreciate that you're doing what you do. And if you want to go and follow him so you can see what he does next, Dan, where can we find you online?
Dan Heiser:Yeah. Really only one place, which is gonna be Instagram, dans.book.corner
Victoria B. Glass:That's cool. And I love that you share your book recommends and share more about the writing process over on your Instagram.
Dan Heiser:Yep.
Victoria B. Glass:So if you're listening now and you want to hear more about Dan's book interest and recommends, hear more about his upcoming projects, keep up with him as he finishes his PhD, and you can find him at dans.book.corner. Thank you, Dan, for coming on.
Dan Heiser:Thank you very much.
Victoria B. Glass:Is there anything else you wanna say while you got a mic in your hand?
Dan Heiser:Don't give up on yourselves.
Victoria B. Glass:Awesome.
Dan Heiser:I mean, this world does it constantly. Stop doing it.
Victoria B. Glass:Believe in yourself. Advocate for yourself. Don't give up on yourself.
Dan Heiser:Yeah.
Victoria B. Glass:I love it. Thank you so much, Dan, for coming on, and we will talk to you again soon, hopefully.
Dan Heiser:Oh my gosh. Yes.
Victoria B. Glass:Alright. Until next time. Tori B. Glass here with Dan Heiser, author, writer, creator, artist, awesome friend. Until next time.
Dan Heiser:It's been a pleasure.
Victoria B. Glass:Alright. Bye.
Victoria B. Glass:Thanks for joining us for this week's episode of the Contagious Victory Podcast. If the show inspired you to share your own victory story, I'm here to tell you the world deserves to hear it. Submit it to me
Victoria B. Glass:online at toriblackmon.com. Review and Subscribe, if that feels right. And telling a friend about the show will help Contagious Victories to grow! Plus, we all appreciate a little sunshine. I'm Tori B. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you soon.