Sorry for the delay in another Indie interview! Traveling tends to interupt the posts : ) Today we have the chance to get to know Stacey Wallace Benefiel a bit better. I had a lot of fun chatting and I hope you will enjoy the interview!
Glimpse synopsis from Goodreads:
Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.
As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant.
Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.
Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.
Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.
Man, I need to get reading this! I am SOOO behind on all my reading!
Here's the interview with Stacey's thoughts on being an Indie author!
Let’s start at the beginning, how and when did you get started writing?
I first started writing seriously in jr. high. I started out with poetry and plays/skits and then moved on to memoir essays and short stories in high school. I'd never planned to write a novel or attempted to write one until 2005.
Who first encouraged you to write?
At first teachers and then later on my younger sister. She's the one that convinced me to write Glimpse. We both liked the TV show Roswell and when it ended she thought I should try writing something like it. I really hadn't ever written or read much YA since I'd been a YA, but I thought I'd give it a try.
We all have our writing idols, who is your writing inspiration?
For YA I would have to say Richelle Mead and Amanda Hocking. I gobble up their books and sort of study them to see what works. I also really like Katherine Dunn. Reading her helps me with my experimental side.
Describe how the idea for your first novel came to you. Was it a flash of lightning or a spark that evolved over time?
After my sister dared me to write a YA book I latched onto the idea of a pastor's daughter who had visions of the future. I liked the juxtaposition between God's plan and free will. Essentially, could Zellie change God's plan? And then I just made up a bunch of other crazy stuff that turned out to be her powers and the whole Zellie world. Ha!
What’s in store for you in the near future? New works in-the-works?
Right now I'm working on the third and final Zellie book, Glow. It will be out this summer.
I'm also finishing up the third short story in my Day of Sacrifice series, Dormant. These stories are not YA and I publish them under the name S.W. Benefiel. They are paranormal romance/action adventure and I really enjoy writing them. Dormant will be out in April, as well as the first three stories (Day of Sacrifice, Rebellion, Dormant) combined together in one e-book. They're serialized, so you have to read them in order to know what's going on. There will be seven stories total.
This summer I'll be starting work on a crossover series involving the character Ben from the Zellie books. I always think of that trilogy as the Angel to my Buffy. Pretty exciting stuff!
Also, I'd like to mention that I have a short story in the paranormal romance anthology Kiss Me, Kill Me. The story I wrote is called If You Leave. It just came out! The proceeds from the anthology go to GreaterGood.org. It's only 99 cents. You can get it on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
What made you decide to start publishing independently? What has been your experience been like, striking out on your own?
I was sick of writing query letters and tweaking my manuscript for every agent that asked me to, only to have them decide not to take me on. I got a kindle for Christmas two years ago and that's when I discovered there was even such a thing as an indie author. I thought, "Why not?Maybe 10 people will read my book, wouldn't that be cool?" I've almost sold 10,000!
The experience has been awesome. It's a lot of hard work doing everything yourself, but I think that makes it all the more rewarding. Also, the sense of community among indie authors is wonderful. Everyone is super nice and helpful.
What are your thoughts on the evolving world of publishing, with the advancement of print-on-demand technology and digital readers?
I love e-books and I love that people can sample before they buy! Also, if you read indie, you can get a lot of awesome e-books for the price of one traditionally published e-book. I still love to read traditionally published authors, but I usually wait for a sale. :) POD has been great for me. I love not having to buy a gigantic box of books to store somewhere in my house. When I do giveaways, I can just have CreateSpace send the book directly to the winner. I won't lie, as much as I love e-books, it is great to have a print copy of my books too.
What advice would you give to other aspiring authors out there?
Don't be afriad to make mistakes. The best advice I ever received was, "If you screw up royally, you can always create a pen name and start again."
Thank you so much for stopping by Stacey! Be sure to check her and her books out around the web!
WEBSITE
BLOG
FACEBOOK
GOODREADS
TWITTER
Zellie Wells has a devastating crush on Avery Adams, the son of her mom’s high school sweetheart. At her sixteenth birthday party, held in the basement of her dad’s church, she finally finds the courage to talk to him. Turns out, the devastating crush is mutual.
As Avery takes her hand and leads her out onto the makeshift dance floor, Zellie is overwhelmed by her first vision of his death; shocking because not only are they both covered in his blood, but they’re old, like 35, and she is pregnant.
Afraid to tell anyone about the vision, (she’d just be labeled a freaky black magic witch, right?) Zellie keeps the knowledge of Avery’s future to herself and tries to act like any other teenager in love. When they get caught on their way to a secret rendezvous by her mom and his dad, they are forbidden to see each other.
Convinced that their parents are freaking out unnecessarily, Avery and Zellie vow to be together no matter what. They continue their relationship in secret until Zellie learns that their parents are just trying to prevent her and Avery from suffering like they did. The visions are hereditary, they’re dangerous, and if they stay together the visions will come true.
Now Zellie must choose between severing all ties with Avery, like her mom did to prevent his father’s death, and finding a way to change Avery’s future.
Man, I need to get reading this! I am SOOO behind on all my reading!
Here's the interview with Stacey's thoughts on being an Indie author!
Let’s start at the beginning, how and when did you get started writing?
I first started writing seriously in jr. high. I started out with poetry and plays/skits and then moved on to memoir essays and short stories in high school. I'd never planned to write a novel or attempted to write one until 2005.
Who first encouraged you to write?
At first teachers and then later on my younger sister. She's the one that convinced me to write Glimpse. We both liked the TV show Roswell and when it ended she thought I should try writing something like it. I really hadn't ever written or read much YA since I'd been a YA, but I thought I'd give it a try.
We all have our writing idols, who is your writing inspiration?
For YA I would have to say Richelle Mead and Amanda Hocking. I gobble up their books and sort of study them to see what works. I also really like Katherine Dunn. Reading her helps me with my experimental side.
Describe how the idea for your first novel came to you. Was it a flash of lightning or a spark that evolved over time?
After my sister dared me to write a YA book I latched onto the idea of a pastor's daughter who had visions of the future. I liked the juxtaposition between God's plan and free will. Essentially, could Zellie change God's plan? And then I just made up a bunch of other crazy stuff that turned out to be her powers and the whole Zellie world. Ha!
What’s in store for you in the near future? New works in-the-works?
Right now I'm working on the third and final Zellie book, Glow. It will be out this summer.
I'm also finishing up the third short story in my Day of Sacrifice series, Dormant. These stories are not YA and I publish them under the name S.W. Benefiel. They are paranormal romance/action adventure and I really enjoy writing them. Dormant will be out in April, as well as the first three stories (Day of Sacrifice, Rebellion, Dormant) combined together in one e-book. They're serialized, so you have to read them in order to know what's going on. There will be seven stories total.
This summer I'll be starting work on a crossover series involving the character Ben from the Zellie books. I always think of that trilogy as the Angel to my Buffy. Pretty exciting stuff!
Also, I'd like to mention that I have a short story in the paranormal romance anthology Kiss Me, Kill Me. The story I wrote is called If You Leave. It just came out! The proceeds from the anthology go to GreaterGood.org. It's only 99 cents. You can get it on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
What made you decide to start publishing independently? What has been your experience been like, striking out on your own?
I was sick of writing query letters and tweaking my manuscript for every agent that asked me to, only to have them decide not to take me on. I got a kindle for Christmas two years ago and that's when I discovered there was even such a thing as an indie author. I thought, "Why not?Maybe 10 people will read my book, wouldn't that be cool?" I've almost sold 10,000!
The experience has been awesome. It's a lot of hard work doing everything yourself, but I think that makes it all the more rewarding. Also, the sense of community among indie authors is wonderful. Everyone is super nice and helpful.
What are your thoughts on the evolving world of publishing, with the advancement of print-on-demand technology and digital readers?
I love e-books and I love that people can sample before they buy! Also, if you read indie, you can get a lot of awesome e-books for the price of one traditionally published e-book. I still love to read traditionally published authors, but I usually wait for a sale. :) POD has been great for me. I love not having to buy a gigantic box of books to store somewhere in my house. When I do giveaways, I can just have CreateSpace send the book directly to the winner. I won't lie, as much as I love e-books, it is great to have a print copy of my books too.
What advice would you give to other aspiring authors out there?If you've written a novel and you're looking to get published, consider all your options. Being indie is great for me and I think there are a lot of advantages, but that might not be your opinion.
Thank you so much for stopping by Stacey! Be sure to check her and her books out around the web!
WEBSITE
BLOG
GOODREADS
1 comment:
I love these interviews!! Stacey your book sounds amazing!! It makes me want to read it right now!! Well done ladies!
http://can-duu.blogspot.com/
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