Steven LaChance Blog

I wanted to share something a little more personal with everyone.

This interview was conducted by a very close colleague, and it touches on some things I don’t often discuss publicly.

I hope you get something out of it, and perhaps you’ll get a better understanding of the work I’m doing at the moment, particularly with MOSAIC.

More than anything, I hope it gives you a chance to get to know the person behind the books. This is the first in a series of conversations.

— Steven A. LaChance

10 QUESTIONS WITH STEVEN LACHANCE

Interviewed by Miss Freda

FREDA: Steven, you’ve spent much of your life telling stories about darkness, both the supernatural kind and the darkness people are capable of creating. But you’ve also built a life filled with love, family, laughter, and extraordinary experiences.

1. When you look back at the person you were at twenty-one, what do you think would surprise that young man most about the person you’ve become?

STEVEN: That I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do, for the most part. Not always in the way I imagined it would happen, but it did happen.

You know, I’ve been recognized for my work in so many ways. I’ve received honors and awards of the same kind given to presidents, actors, broadcasters, writers, and more.

That’s humbling. When things like that happen, I have this feeling of, do I really deserve this praise?

And then reality hits, and I say, fuck yes! I’ve worked very hard in this life. I deserve it.

2. People see the awards, the books, the television appearances, and the accomplishments. But success rarely tells the whole story. What has achieving those dreams cost you personally, and is there anything you sacrificed along the way that you wish you could get back?

STEVEN: The thing people don’t get about me is that all of that is secondary to me. My family and their well-being come first and always will.

So any sacrifices were okay because those were for them.

3. You’ve spent much of your life being the person other people depend on. The father, the husband, the protector, the one who figures out what needs to be done. When you’re the one who’s hurting, frightened, or simply exhausted from holding everything together, who takes care of you? And do you actually let them?

STEVEN: My husband Rick now. Our kids, too.

We hold each other together.

4. You’ve been a public figure for years. People have formed opinions about you, admired you, criticized you, and sometimes decided who you are without ever really knowing you. What is the one thing about Steven LaChance that you believe people have misunderstood most profoundly?

STEVEN: The thing we were just talking about. That drive to accomplish everything.

You know, every time I’ve achieved something or been given something, I tell myself this is most likely the last thing, and that’s okay.

It allows me to appreciate the moment, and it also keeps you humble.

5. You’ve lived through experiences that might have left another person bitter, withdrawn, or unable to trust anyone again. Yet you’ve continued to love people, build relationships, and make room for joy. Was there ever a point in your life when you genuinely believed you might lose the person you wanted to be? And what brought you back?

STEVEN: You know, I call my twenties and thirties the Dark Ages because that is where I did lose myself.

My husband Rick brought me back to life. I can’t stress that enough.

You know, on our first wedding anniversary, my mother called me to give her best wishes, and then she told me that Rick brought her son she had lost back to her.

I was there all along. I was just very damaged.

6. When you think about the man you were during those darkest years, do you feel compassion for him today, or are there still things about that version of yourself you struggle to forgive?

STEVEN: You know, I don’t recognize him. It’s like looking at someone else.

Compassion? Sure. He had a tough time of it.

I don’t need to forgive anything about him. He did the best he could in the worst of possible circumstances.

7. You’ve spent decades telling other people’s stories, investigating extraordinary experiences, and putting yourself in front of audiences. Now you’re writing MOSAIC, perhaps the most personal thing you’ve ever attempted. When the people who know you best finally read your entire story, is there anything you’re afraid they might discover about you?

STEVEN: That I’m very human in every way.

I don’t worry about opinions like that. If they get something from it, great. But you know what? There is some eighteen-year-old gay kid like I was out there needing to hear what I have to share.

That’s powerful, and I’m not holding back for the pearl clutchers.

8. If you could sit across from that eighteen-year-old gay boy you once were, knowing everything you know today, what would you tell him that nobody had the courage or compassion to tell him back then?

STEVEN: You’re not the only one.

There are millions of gay guys out here your age. Passion is there. Sex is there. But most importantly, love is there too, if you want it and allow it in.

9. At sixty-one, with everything you’ve experienced and everything you’ve achieved, what are you still searching for? What is the one thing you haven’t found yet?

STEVEN: At this point, it’s leaving a legacy of self.

I mean, the books are there. Some of them are in the Library of Congress and in major institutional libraries around the world. That legacy is there.

Then there is television and film. Once you put anything on film, it will outlast you. Well, if the work is good. So that legacy is there.

What I want is to fulfill my responsibility to people like myself and write my part of that history.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not solely a gay story. It’s gay because I am, but I am much more than just the sum of one part.

I want people to know the me they have never gotten to meet. And after that, I want to take one last tour to see them face to face.

Then I’m going home to write plays and screenplays.

Not that I have it planned or anything.

10. When the books are closed, the cameras are turned off, and the public has finally stopped paying attention, who is Steven LaChance when nobody is watching?

STEVEN: Just a regular guy trying to find his way through this crazy journey we’re all on.

Just me.

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10 Questions with Steven LaChance is an ongoing interview series exploring the life, work, and experiences of author Steven LaChance.

© Steven LaChance