Glenn Sasscer

Glenn Sasscer, Jr. (born 1966) is an American author of several fiction novels and other literary works. His writing typically spans a variety of genres, from horror to thrillers to suspense to fantasy to romance to Christian fiction. Currently under contract to Geez Press Publications, Sasscer's Suffering Madness is the first of his several novels to be published.

Biography
Early Life
Glenn Sasscer is the first born to Glenn and Opal Sasscer, living in Maryland at the time of his birth. Before grade school, his family moved to Toledo, Ohio. Glenn lived with his parents in Toledo until the age of 21, moving to Oregon, Ohio two months before his marriage to Karen Heskett.

Writing Development
Glenn's interest in writing began early, telling stories and making up fantasy worlds as a child, never giving up on his imagination. He continued to create stories, poems, and other literary works, claiming at times,

"...the best part of any job is when I get to write a letter, memo, or even technical instructions..."

Glenn began taking his creativity seriously when making up a few upsurd stories at a social gathering to entertain some friends. One of them motioned to his wife,

"... you should get him to write a few of those ideas down on paper."

He began writing children's stories, stating the readers were closer to his maturity level. He continued to develop his skills by targeting fiction magazines with short stories, never quite getting past the rejection letters.

Glenn joined three different writing critique groups to better understand the techniques of writing and story telling. By working with each one simultaneously, he spent upwards of twenty hours a week for over four years writing, critiquing others, and honing his skills for telling stories. The exchange with each group during these formative years provided focus on differing areas, where one group's strength was writing technique, another was the art of story telling, and character development was the focus for the third.

Through these groups, Glenn formed a lasting friendship with two critique partners, JoAnn Mitchell Benten and Patricia Spork.

His influences include Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Robert Ludlum, Richard Matheson, David Morrell, and Max Lucado.

Christian Life and Ministry
Glenn is membered with Grace Community Church, Oregon, Ohio. He is recognized as a church leader, leads the children's program, and ministers monthly with his family at Heartland Assisted Care - an elderly nursing home and physical rehabilitation facility.

Family Life
Glenn married Karen Heskett in 1987. They have three children and live in Northwest Ohio.

Writing Style
Glenn combines suspense, thriller, and horror writing aspects to produce engaging, believable stories. Glenn's novels contain less blatant Christian content, writing from a Christian worldview without getting preachy or pushing religion. While his novels contain "darker" themes, including graphic violence, language references, deplictions of evil, alcoholics, drugs, and addictions, he defends his themes to say...

"My characters are not role-models or perfect... if they were, who could relate to them? They are set in situations we all encounter in life and when is life perfect or squeaky clean? I am not interested in writing a story where a reader cannot become engaged, relating to the characters or situations. These are characters questioning God, questioning their faith, or denying the existance of God altogether... do you know anyone fitting this description?"

Besides writing novels, Glenn also writes short-stories, inspirational themes, gift books, and devotional stories. Past literary agents and publishers have noted a difficulty in establishing a "brand name" for Glenn, as his novels are much less "Christianized" and carry more secular styles while his devotionals put you right into the arms of Jesus Christ.

Geez Press Publishers embrace the philosophy readers want more than one genre, more than one style of writing, and can accept a writer with a focus on more than one market. Glenn is currently under contract with Geez Press, an imprint of Geez Press Publishers for Suffering Madness (2008), Riding the Blues (2009), and In A Photo (2010), with additional projects being considered.

Bibliography
Other Publishing Credits
* (2001) A Father's View, published in TAPSAC Magazine
* (2002) In His Eyes, published in Christian Chronicle Magazine
* (2002) In His Eyes, published in Evangel Magazine
* (2002) Freelance Reporter, The Suburban Press
* (2003) Back To Basics, Column, The Suburban Press
Novels
* (2008) Suffering Madness, by Geez Press
Works In Progress
*Riding the Blues (2009)
*In a Photo (2010)
*A Desert Grave (No Publishing Date)
*Gracely Manor (No Publishing Date)

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