Debut Authors Week: Meet Stefanie Worth

Kicking off Debut Authors Week on Gwyneth’s Blog we have the wonderfully talented author Stefanie Worth. I read her novel Where Souls Collide and just fell in love with the writing. After reading it, I knew that paranormal fiction and romance had a bold new voice. So, it is my pleasure to welcome my soror, Stefanie Worth to my blog. Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know a little bit more about you and your new novel.

1. So tell us a little bit about yourself. In addition to the standard biography, what’s one thing about you that most people would be surprised by?

I’m a rather introspective person. I am quiet, but always thinking, watching, observing – taking notes on life. What I learn from others and from my own experiences contributes to my very strong internal drive. Like Navena, the heroine in Where Souls Collide , I come from a line of strong women. My maternal grandmother went to cosmetology school after her daughters were grown and opened her own beauty salon. My paternal grandmother was widowed with three young children and, even after re-marrying, remained the backbone of her family. My mother integrated her high school in 1956 – talk about courage under fire!

Let me say that I’m blessed with a great dad. He’s instilled in me a very strong spiritual and business sense and really helps me understand the importance of life balance. But it is so wonderful to have trail-blazing women in your family who prove that you can achieve whatever your heart desires. I can’t help but lace that line of thinking through each of my books.

2. Tell us a little bit about your road to publication. What was it like getting the call? Holding your novel in your hands for the first time?

I always wanted to be a writer, which was code for author, but I started out as a journalist in broadcast reporting. I tend to be pretty driven as a person and the fact that a book was languishing in the back of my mind instead of on a hard drive somewhere ate at me for a long time. I kept watching other people get published, wondering when it would “happen” for me. Of course, I knew there was no magic to this process and when I finally made up my mind to write a book, I also made up my mind to publish a book.

The process of writing might have been easier for me than for others because I make my living as a communicator. So writing in an active voice, editing, revisions, meeting deadlines, weren’t an issue for me. I’m actually much better at meeting external deadlines than I am at meeting my own.

If you look at my background and my goals, then, getting The Call was like checking off an item on my things-to-do list: It was thrilling, rewarding and the accomplishment met my personal expectations. But I have to admit, seeing the book on Amazon, on a bookstore shelf, getting reader email – that’s the WOW factor for me. Really, I go to Borders every now and then just to look at it among all the other books.

3. Tell us a little bit about your novel. What was your inspiration for writing it?

Where Souls Collide is a Detroit-based story with a three-pronged plot. There’s Navena’s rekindled relationship with her ex-lover – who’s now her boss. There’s her struggle to deny the psychic legacy the women in her family have passed on to her. And there’s the economic angle that’s so timely in Detroit right now: companies struggling to stay afloat in hard times. While she enduring all these personal challenges, she’s also facing the threat of losing her job.

This story went through so many incarnations that the original inspiration probably no longer applies. It was more a story about a woman on a personal journey. As I grew over the years and chipped away at the story, Navena and her relationships evolved as well.



4. Your debut novel Where Souls Collide is a perfect blend of speculative/paranormal fiction and romance. Can we expect more of these kinds of novels from you in the future? Do you think you will ever write a straight romance or straight sci-fi novel?

One of the things I’ve learned about myself through this journey is that I have to twist everything. I guess I can only write a “straight” story if it’s something for work or a blog, that kind of thing. Otherwise, every story idea I dream up has a supernatural edge. Maybe there was too much Twilight Zone in my younger years.

5. Do you have any advice for other writers dreaming of their own debut?

Be prepared to work VERY hard, make sure you set incremental goals so that you can mark off your achievements as you travel this road, learn to assess criticism, and believe in yourself.

I’d also suggest joining a professional writing organization for support – I belong to local, national and specialty chapters of Romance Writers of America in addition to other specialized writing organizations. And keep growing as a writer: take classes, attend workshops, read books on the craft, subscribe to industry magazines. This is an ever-changing endeavor. Good luck!

View Stefanie’s wonderful book trailer here:



Find out more about Stefanie here:

http://www.stefanieworth.com

http://www.myspace.com/stefanieworth

Be sure to stop by on Tuesday for author Sapphire Blue!

much love and peace,

Gwyneth