Following his own path

Famous Spanish poet Antonio Machado once said, “There is no path, the path is made by walking.”

That’s been Stephen Markley’s philosophy as he’s tried to climb the literary world ladder – embracing the journey no matter where his travels may take him.

“I just take it to mean, I don’t know how you do it, you just keep going. You keep trying things. You keep taking shots on goals. That was my whole theory through my 20s – keep writing, keep working, keep pitching and never be satisfied,” Markley said. “Having that work ethic has always served me well.”

That work ethic kept him going as he worked to become a novelist. Even though many of the paths he was on seemed like they were leading nowhere, Markley kept putting one foot in front of the other in hopes of finding his emerald city.

The 2002 graduate of Mount Vernon High School has finally achieved his dream of being a novelist, writing several books that have become a hit in the literary world. “Ohio,” his first novel about a group of friends reconnecting in their hometown several years after graduation, was part murder mystery and part social critique, and became a bestseller.

His second book, “The Deluge,” charts an America in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. He is close to finishing his next book, which is part of a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster.

Markley got the writing bug early in his childhood, reading Stephen King novels and wanting to become a storyteller. He worked for the Mount Vernon Jacket Journal, writing stories on what his basketball team was doing, as well as humorous movie reviews. The feedback he got from classmates only strengthened his resolve to be a writer.

“I wrote a column one summer – a goofy, here’s what we’re up to in summer basketball (story). It was the first time I ever had a byline in a paper, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s the coolest thing ever,’” Markley said. “What was so awesome about it was people around town were reading it and they were coming up to me and my basketball coach and said, ‘hey, I read your thing. It was pretty funny.’ It’s that sort of sense, of people know your name. It’s those early markers of loving to see your name in print and loving the process of working on it. That was really important to me.”

He went on to Miami (Ohio) University, working on the student newspaper, then got a job with a free paper that was part of the Chicago Tribune. He realized that being a journalist was great, but he still longed to be a novelist. After six years in Chicago, Markley was accepted into the Iowa Writers Workshop, a large literary program at the University of Iowa aimed toward the publishing world. That’s where he wrote “Ohio” and “The Deluge,” selling “Ohio” in 2017.

“Every step of the way, there were always setbacks, but I just kept chugging away. It's hard to figure out how to do that (be a novelist). It takes a lot of time and energy and there’s no clear path,” Markley said. “I had been trying for so long. In high school, I was working on a novel. Now, I never let anybody see that novel – ever. I would not like that to see the light of day, but I was trying, at least, and just teaching myself.

“A novel is just an enormous construction project. It was sort of like teaching myself to build a house, from the ground up. After enough years, I felt like I had an idea and had the components. It took me several years to figure out how to put them together. At the University of Iowa, I dedicated myself to that and I’m still very proud of the product.”

The sale of those books led to the book-writing deal and also set the stage for a different chapter in his life – one where he’s a television show writer. Markley spent a couple of seasons in Los Angeles writing for “Only Murders in the Building” with Steve Martin and Martin Short, and now writes for “Paradise,” a show on Hulu starring Sterling K. Brown.

“It’s great. It’s crazy. A writer’s room is so different than writing a novel. To write a novel, it’s just me sitting there talking to myself. You go into a writer’s room and it’s a bunch of other smart, funny, interesting people, all of whom have good ideas. It really feels more like you’re getting together with your friends every day to goof off, which can be a blast,” Markley said.

“It’s exciting. Look, I grew up in Knox County. I’m not expecting to hang out with Sterling K. Brown, a TV star. I’ve worked with Martin Short and Steve Martin, and it feels surreal when you’re there. I think I’m still new enough to it that I do get a little, ‘Wow. At a loss for words.’ On the other hand, it’s an adventure like anything else and I’m having a really good time with it.”