Author Bio:
I was born in San Francisco but raised in the San Fernando Valley in L.A. , something I think was a mistake because San Francisco has more character, in my opinion. I was a loner who climbed trees and hung out with my black cat Mr. Smith and, yes, (cliche) read a lot. I love stories of any kind: books, movies, someone telling a tale. I can be very dark in my topics but lately have ventured into paranormal comedy with my Day for Night series, book II of which hopefully will come out later in 2020. I figure laughing is better than crying, so I dove into a world of vampires and aliens and a mixed-race wannabe L.A. actress who just wants to go back to school but gets mixed up in all their drama instead.
What inspires you to write?
I can get inspiration from anywhere–music, literature, movies, a conversation, an idea, and it's really great when inspiration comes out of the blue from an unexpected source. Like an ex co-worker sent me an excerpt from his favorite author's book recently which stimulated my synapses immediately. Just seeing a few lines: "Past the flannel plains and blacktop graphs and skylines of canted rust, and past the tobacco-brown river overhung with weeping trees and coins of sunlight through them on the water downriver, to the place beyond the windbreak, where untilled fields simmer shrilly in the A.M. heat…" excited me enough to pull out an old story idea and begin reworking it.
Tell us about your writing process.
First I write my ideas out in a free-flowing kind of stream of consciousness about the general story and where I want it to go.
Then I begin to edit it down and work out kinks and add details. Then it's time to go chapter by chapter with a summary of what goes on. By the time I actually start writing, the book is already laid out–I just have to fill in the gaps. Chapters remain more or less the same with tweaks and minor changes along the way. Sadly, I can't write by hand anymore because it cramps up, so I do everything in the computer.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don't listen or talk to any of my characters. Maybe I should. But I see them in my head pretty clearly. It's like watching a movie. A movie that I'm watching and writing at the same time. I see everything from a distance as if I'm in a dream watching things unfold or standing on a corner observing.
Who are your favorite authors?
I have a mix of favorite writers including classics like Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Cunningham and then maybe not as well known Mary Gaitskill, T.C. Boyle, Richard Kadrey, Dan Simmons. Richard Kadrey will make me laugh all night with his paranormal/action comedies and Dan Simmons with, say, his eerie, well-detailed period piece The Terror and Elizabeth Bennett's Longbourn with its beautiful, exquisite writing will keep me up ten nights in a row with no sleep and no regrets. Except maybe if I started screwing up at work due to lack of sleep and got a pink slip shortly thereafter. I would kick myself in the butt then fall asleep later that night reading while crying.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I went with a publisher because I'm terrible with computers and basically would go completely insane trying to figure out formatting and everything involved with self-publishing.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think self-publishing has widened the road for talented writers to be able to share and sell work that the public may not otherwise have seen due to the immensely competitive nature of publishing. The downside to self-publishing is there's a lot of stuff out there now that need serious proofreading. Even if writers are amateurish and unpolished, I don't care, I'll read them, but if the book's riddled with typos, missing words, wrong words and punctuation errors, it pulls me out of the story and I can't continue. I'm not sure where the future of publishing lies except where it's already gone: somewhat out of the hands of publishing houses and more into the hands of the artists. It's good to have choices.
What genres do you write?
Paranormal urban comedy/chick-lit lite
What formats are your books in?
eBook, Print
Website(s)
Stacey Bryan Home Page Link
Follow Stacey Bryan On Amazon
Author’s Social Media Links
Goodreads
Twitter
All information is provided by the author and is presented as it was submitted so you the reader get to hear the author’s own “voice” in their interview.
