Retired TV producer and composer/producer of music for television, Stephen Geez has mellowed into the lakeside-living life of a writer, editor, graphic-artist, and Fresh Ink Group publisher. His work includes novels, short fiction, personal-experience essays, blogs, GeezWriter How-To material for authors, podcasts, video scripts, marketing content, and more.

Geez has volunteer-taught scores of writing and story-telling classes to at-risk and disenfranchised populations. He is putting a lot of that knowledge and experience into the GeezWriter How-To ebooks, writers’ lessons, and shorts with an eye toward reviving and updating his GeezWriter.com website. He champions the writing of people who might not otherwise have a voice, but he cautions that they must work hard at this craft, as no 1st Amendment right to express their ideas also guarantees an audience. To earn that, all writers must strive for compelling ideas amid creative ways to express them.

Geez is the founding member of Fresh Ink Group, which is found at www.FreshInkGroup.com. Originally an organization for providing literary management to him and his writer friends, the group (FIG) has grown and morphed into author services and now a full publishing company producing and distributing worldwide hardcover, soft-cover, and multi-platform ebook editions along with supporting media such as book trailers. Now he divides his time between his own writing and working with other authors in all aspects of the industry from editing to graphic design to marketing.

Stephen Geez earned his double-bachelors’ and master’s degrees at the University of Michigan. (Go Blue!) He was pursuing a B.A. in psychology but taking advantage of the tremendous university resources in English language and literature classes when an English Department professor approached him, offering to sponsor him and be his advisor. The prof gave Geez one of the best bits of advice of his life: Do both… because nothing one ever pursues in life–no career, no hobby, no art–is beyond potential enhancement by skills and knowledge in communication. So, Geez simultaneously earned the B.A. in English lit, and he has marveled ever since at how many ways it aided his endeavors. (He never imagined his so-called “retirement years” would indeed focus on the many facets of serving as a writer!) After the double B.A. he went on to pursue a doctorate in Education & Community Development as a means toward helping large populations–which he did for several years–but he had also moved so far into the creative communities of television and music, and into the business world with pizzerias and other outlets, that he took the master’s degree and moved on.

Geez finds himself growing restless with any one kind of writing. Each of his novels, the wide swath of his short fiction, and even his essays and other narrative forms all tend to vary in style, presentation, genre, and even target audience. He’s never had much sympathy for people who want to be writers but who can’t think of anything to say, or can’t be bothered with the dedication and effort of revising and perfecting one’s drafts. 

One particular element does mark everything Geez writes, no matter how mainstream, esoteric, literary, short or long, true or fictional: He tries to say something. Maybe it’s illustrating a poignant way to see the world, a lesson many of us could learn, a subtle stab at defining universal truths about who and why we are. Maybe it’s a commentary on how institutions work–or don’t. Maybe it’s a gentle suggestion for how we can work together or stand alone as we face those difficult moments in life such as grief. Even with otherwise quotidian plots like good guys trying to defeat bad guys, Geez imbues his writing with something he hopes will give you pause, make you think, urge you to share.

And if you’re moved enough, he appreciates those reviews posted on the popular sites such as Amazon, encouraging others to read and share his work, and the occasional note from a reader who noticed something and experienced a “Hey!” Never stop reading, and Geez promises to write as long as he can.