Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! My name is Alicia Stills and I have just started to self-publish my writings as of the spring of 2020. I’ve always enjoyed the writing process and would craft stories even when I was little, but I didn’t decide to focus on writing in any serious manner until early 2019.
I grew up in a small town that was about as cold and isolated as you can find in the continental U.S. but am now a big city transplant. Now I’m surrounded by people who try to commiserate with me over being from a “small town,” who then go on to talk about how their high school class was nearly as large as my entire hometown. We had to drive for an hour to find fast food or a traffic light… so, not exactly in the same realm as growing up in the suburbs.
Perhaps if frostbite didn’t limit how much sledding and ice skating I could do in a day, I wouldn’t have been forced indoors to discover writing as my warmer activity. As it was, I found myself trying to put together stories as far back as I can remember, although never to share with others.
My world felt like it really expanded when I reached middle school, which is about the same time Internet reached my household. It expanded again when I graduated from high school early and left home to go to college in what felt like a large city at that time. All the while, I kept writing, but always just for myself. It was the thing I did to keep myself grounded while discovering myself in a world that felt like it was growing around me exponentially.
I finished college and worked for a year in a corporate tax firm, largely hating every minute of it and contemplating going to graduate school. I stopped writing as I focused on my career and potential grad school, but I also met my husband during this time, so I could never say it was all bad.
I ended up enrolling in grad school, taking my now-husband with me to a new, larger city. Writing continued to be nothing more than an afterthought as I finished school, embarked on a new career, got married, and started a family. It wasn’t until I had two kids and was several years into my career that I started writing again after receiving encouragement from my husband. I started writing very casually at first before deciding to focus on creating works that I deemed to be worthy of being published.
I live with my husband and two kids and am still slogging away in my corporate job while dreaming of being able to write full-time. My husband and I are very active with my writing, our jobs, and our kids, but we still make sure we are carving out time for the two of us.
I currently have one completed book with several more in the works.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hooky: One Act of Defiance Can Set Her Free.
It’s currently the only book I feel is ready to be published. I have a few others that have a completed manuscript (or a very nearly completed manuscript), but I put a hold on working on those books while I navigate all the finer points of completing a book and self-publishing.
When I began writing this story, I had envisioned it being a work of erotica, although it changed substantially as I let the story and the characters develop. Initially, I had intended on focusing almost exclusively on a brief encounter that I had towards the beginning of my relationship with my husband around a decade earlier. I was at the beach with my husband when we saw a woman who was about my age walking with three guys. We caught them playing grab-ass and it was clear we were walking through a cloud of sexual tension between this woman and all three guys. When we crossed paths, we turned to watch them continue away from us, seeing that they appeared happy to resume where they left off.
I contemplated trying to craft a story focused on this woman but ended up focusing on my own perspective, building a character and backstory to explain how the main character reached that point on the beach, why she was fascinated with a woman who would so boldly toy with multiple men in public, and what that effect would have.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on a sequel to Hooky, as well a couple of works relating to hotwifing.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Writing is a lot more work than most new authors realize, especially if you are going to go the self-publishing route. I’ve chatted with quite a few people considering writing as a part-time or full-time job, both in person and online, and most don’t realize that there’s a lot more that goes into writing than simply creating a manuscript. A lot don’t even seem to realize that a lot goes (or should go) into creating a manuscript. I was talking to a woman I went to college with who was sure that she could write a great story and that it would be a lot quicker for her because she wouldn’t have to do much editing. Her reasoning was that she’s a really good writer and she just edits as she goes. Therefore, there’s no real need to go back and edit or rewrite at the end.
I’m a good writer. And I edit as I go, too. As does every writer that has any success. But they also go back and read for clarity, content and edit any typos. And once that’s done, you have to format everything, create a book cover and title, and promote your book. Writing the manuscript may not even be half the battle.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Sometimes, good enough really is good enough.
I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, which isn’t necessarily a bad quality. At some point, though, there are diminishing returns, particularly with something that is as subjective as writing. Being able to accept when I’ve reached the point of being “good enough” has been a huge factor in helping me save my sanity through my early adulthood.
What are you reading now?
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My focus for right now is working on a successful launch for Hooky: One Act of Defiance Can Set Her Free since I feel there is a lot for me to learn as far as self-publishing is concerned. After that, I plan on focusing on my other completed manuscripts to get them to publication by the fall or winter of 2020.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Harry Potter 4, 6, and 7. I would say five, six, and seven, but I just like the fourth one better. For whatever reason, I’ve never gotten tired of reading the Harry Potter series.
I also would bring Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. That’s another book that I’ve been interested in every time I’ve read it.
Author Websites and Profiles
Alicia Stills Website
Alicia Stills Amazon Profile