Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve actually written more books than I will likely ever publish. I’ve been writing since I was very young and picked up my first Stephen King novel, so I have a lot of books I hope will never see the light of day, and many more that I will probably just never have time to fully produce. Right now I have four episodes of a six part serial available on Amazon.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Episode Four of my Look Back in Anger serial. The serial was inspired by a number of things, but I think mostly it came about as I was trying to sort through personal baggage. I’d managed to come to terms with some serious childhood traumas, and I was still trying to make sense of it all as a mother of two children of my own. I do that best through fiction—a little distance provided by imaginary people does wonders for giving an author perspective.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Apparently, when I’m really into a scene, I mouth the dialogue and sometimes act out the characters as I type. I don’t generally notice until the unseen audience of my husband and kids start cracking up behind me. I’m a regular one woman play.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King was one of the first authors I ever read. His work clued me in to the existence of fiction, and I was hooked. I quickly found Clive Barker after that, and he opened me up to the idea of writing without fear and simply going for those scenes that most people would be too uncomfortable to write. Then I found Chuck Palahniuk, and it was like a whole different ballgame. I don’t think my writing has been the same since.
What are you working on now?
In the mid-90s, when I was still in high school, I started working on a paranormal series. I’d read The Vampire Lestat, and since I always found myself rooting for the supernatural monsters in books and movies anyway, I took Rice’s representation of vampires to mean I had permission to write stories with monster protagonists. I started creating characters and backstories for my shifters and vampires and everything else in between, and the world of Therianthrope was born. Although I have written in other worlds, I found myself returning to this one when I began my MFA at Seton Hill. Right now I have over half of the first book in this series released as a serial on Amazon, but this serial is the first of many. My plan is to focus almost exclusively on the Therianthrope world until I get a good number of the books released.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m really not very good at promotion. I spent most of my life writing, and that sort of implies a lot of isolation—I’m in no way an extrovert. I have a very hard time asking people to buy my work, to read my work. I often feel like one of those American Idol contestants who can’t sing a lick and yet no one will tell them that until they have already made a fool of themselves. I suppose that is probably a feeling that never goes away. For now I tend to let word of mouth do its thing, and I let people know on Facebook when I have a book coming out or something else writing related.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot. Write a lot. Don’t shy away from “icky” feelings. I am also a professional editor, and I have found that the advice I end up giving to my authors more often than not is to get deeper into their character’s POV and to not be afraid to type the words that make them cringe. Good writing comes from the heart. Awe inspiring comes from the gut, particularly if you’ve torn it out and drizzled it all over the paper—go there, say it, write it. The more difficult a scene feels to approach, the more important it is that you free yourself to write it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That has to be a tossup between:
“Listen, smile, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you were gonna do anyway.” ― Robert Downey Jr.
and
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” ―Mark Twain
What are you reading now?
I’ve been reading a good bit of Kevin Hearne and Jim Butcher lately. Kevin Hearne spoke to our class at Seton Hill once, and I picked up his books and fell in love with his wit and humor. My husband is a big fan of Butcher, and so my son and I have been making it a family affair to listen to his Dresden series on audiobook as I work on my book covers. It’s been a lot of fun.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have an epic fantasy series I wrote about a decade ago that I would like to get around to eventually, but that looks like it will be at least a year of so down the road, after I fully explore the Therianthrope series.
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?
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
And something long that I have never read or heard of.
Author Websites and Profiles
S.N. Graves Website
S.N. Graves Amazon Profile
S.N. Graves’s Social Media Links
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