Conversations with Steven Gamella

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Gamella.

Hi Steven, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hello, Los Angeles! My name is Steven Gamella, and I am a traveling novelist and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter with a goal of adapting my epic sci-fi saga, “Sojourn: What Dreams Await,” into a T.V. series or saga of feature films. I am currently living on the East Coast of the U.S., in Philadelphia, PA, but have traveled all over the United States, including to LA, seeing the sights, meeting interesting people, and fishing. Lots and lots of fishing. I started my writing journey in high school, while growing up in New York State. I did not have the easiest adolescent years, so I often sought an escape from the stresses of school and social pressures. Science fiction and fantasy gave me that outlet. All throughout college, I wrote and perfected my craft in between studies and classes, and when I graduated with a B.A. in History and English Literature in 2013, I made the decision that I wanted to be a writer. The only question was: “What was I going to write?”

The answer came to me on February 14, 2014, when, after a night of hanging out with friends at a beach house in New Jersey, I saw a writing prompt on one of the WordPress blogs I followed at the time, that prompted: “It is the far future. Humanity has colonized the entire Local Group of galaxies using technology beyond anyone alive today’s wildest comprehension, but, the last T.V. show that you watched must be at least the loose inspiration for politics and culture in this society. What does this galaxy look like?” The two shows I had watched episodes of most recently before that prompt were the anime series “Death Note” and the CW young adult drama “Gossip Girl.” Thus, “Sojourn: What Dreams Await” was begun. Now, 12 years later, I have published 52 books in the “Sojourn” saga, under both my real name and a pseudonym, “Fidus Jungsturm,” and I have been a paid public speaker for Temple University in Philadelphia, traveled the country to broaden my horizons, and have enriched my own life and the lives of many others in ways that I never believed possible for me. I’m hoping to continue growing as an artist and a writer in the future.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As anyone who has aspirations of making it in “The Biz” can tell you, getting there is never a smooth road. For one, I have Autism Spectrum Disorder, a psychological condition that affects my social skills, sensory perception, and physical dexterity, the last one also known as dyspraxia. Unlike for neurotypical people, where conversational skills come innately, I had to undergo many years of social skills training and therapy to learn how to have an effective conversation with someone, which is vital in any career or job, but especially in fields where networking and “who you know” counts for a significant portion of opportunities gained. Also, growing up, I was bullied quite a bit, and so I had to learn how to be confident in myself regardless of what others thought.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
“Sojourn: What Dreams Await” is a colossal literary project that spans 52 volumes and counting. It is a dark, epic sci-fi series in the same genre as “Dune” or Brandon Sanderson’s work, with high concept drama, political intrigue, complex characters, extensive world-building, and huge, galaxy-spanning conflicts. This is the series I am most known for, and have won many awards and recognitions for, including being a 2023 Lifetime Member of Strathmore International Who’s Who, a 2025 Honored Listee for the Marquis Who’s Who in America list, and a 2023 listee on Stellar Publishing New York’s Top 300 Most Influential Professionals List, to name a few accolades. I have also had my visual art for the “Sojourn” saga traditionally published in international art books, including a 2023 edition of “Contemporary Celebrity Masters.”

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I’m very much an outdoorsman, I love fishing, hiking, camping, and nature watching, and I have a home library in my house of hundreds of nature books. So, I guess you can say that I’m the classic “outdoorsman-writer” archetype. I’m also an amateur nature photographer and amateur ornithologist and birdwatcher, and part of the joy I get from traveling is seeing all of the different wildlife that exists in different parts of the U.S.A. and the world. Probably the most incredible bird I have ever personally seen in the wild is a Wandering Albatross, when I was about nine years old. I’m also an avid fisherman, and my favorite places to fish are Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and Long Beach Island, New Jersey, though I am interested in heading to the East End of Long Island, New York, to fish The Hamptons or Montauk Point at some point. I love fishing for striped bass, and I have the distinction of having caught trophy-sized bass on both coasts, a 55-lb striped bass off of a dock in Menemsha, Martha’s Vineyard, and a 66-lb White Seabass off of San Diego. I am also an award-winning and internationally published visual artist, who has produced hundreds of illustrations of my characters from the “Sojourn” saga.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/stevengamella