Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a starving artist who loves being a starving artist. I write in many different mediums to bring my stories to life–screenplays, musicals, poems, songs, and novels. I started out with traditional publishing with a small company and realized that I preferred to have creative, financial, and marketing control over my writing, so I decided to go the Indie route. Four books later, I’m very pleased. The possibilities are now endless. I lost my writer’s block and my writing has flourished because I can finally reach my target audience.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Twisted Tales Trilogy: “With a Kiss,” “At Midnight,” “As the Sun Sets”
I released all three books at the same time. It’s a series following a huge faery crown war while also serving as a set of of fairy tale remakes–and then of course, I had to throw some Celtic and Arthurian legends in for good measure. I wrote the books because my nieces were really into fairy tale remakes and they wanted me to write a novel just for them. The first book in the series was so fun that I made a trilogy of it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love gum. So when I’m writing a novel, sometimes I forget to eat and if I stick gum in my mouth and if I swallow it without thinking, that’s a sign that I need to eat.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
All Jane Austen historical type books (the romance and characterization)
James Herriot: “All Creatures Great and Small” (the humor)
DragonLance–Okay, I admit it. I totally was into DragonLance as a kid…and yes, heaven help me, it has influenced my writing.
What are you working on now?
Hawke Prophecies (dystopian romance in the new adult category)
Suck on that (title subject to change, but it’s a vampire spoof for young adults)
Out of the Mouth of Babes (a romantic comedy about a–spoiler–soon-to-be couple who have parenthood thrust on them).
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Free, free, FREE!!! Offering things for free: novellas, information, chapters, even a free Spanish translation of my books.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t give up. There are so many ways to get your voice heard, so write the book that you’ve always wanted to write and don’t worry about pleasing certain readers who aren’t your target audience.
Also: take advice and critique, but don’t let it cramp your writing or your book.
And finally: Before you publish your manuscript, you need three kinds of readers: ones who love everything you write (they help your writing self-esteem), ones who seem to have an objective eye (they’re quite useful), and ones who hate everything you write (they give you thick skin).
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Yes, some people are genre readers. We always seem to hear agents and publishers say that they want the next new original thing BUT even if you are writing your story in a creative and unique way, story ideas still get taken. This seems to happen to me all the time. It became the joke that if ‘Stephanie’ was working on a project that we would see a preview about a movie or a series or a book coming out with that same storyline. I used to dump projects because of this, but then someone introduced me to the idea of the ‘genre reader.’ If people like a story similar to yours, they might like your story too. That’s when I realized I was a genre reader too. I’ll always pick up Jane Austen-ish romances to read.Of course, with that said, I’m not sure if I’ll write my zombie romance right now. I mean, warm bodies anyone. Grrr.
What are you reading now?
“World War Z,” “On Little Wings” (again), and “Lorna Doone” (I’m doing research).
What’s next for you as a writer?
I want to see where this Indie thing takes me. I’m also writing a musical called “The Raven” with the composer, Hilary Hornberger. We’ve workshopped it in Canada and are doing some massive rewrites. I would love to write some mini-series for BBC or Netflix and/ or give them to my director siblings to film in Scotland, and Britain.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Too many!!!
“On Little Wings” is my latest favorite.
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