Interview With
Stephanie Witter
Interview with Author Stephanie Witter.
Congratulations on your new book 2B or not 2B. I can't wait to read it.
Hi Khloee, thank you. I look forward to reading what you think about it. I hope you’ll have as much fun as I had writing it.
Thank you for allowing me to interview you.
Question: What inspires you as an author?
Stephanie: To be honest, many things inspire me as an author. I’m not going to lie, my past, my life can be a pretty good inspiration for little tidbits here and there. But these don’t make stories, so I often find myself inspired by something I’ve heard on the news or talked about with some people. Sometimes it can be a song, sometimes a dream.
Anything and everything can inspire me and that’s why I’m currently with more book ideas than I have the time to write.
Q: What is one thing you have learnt since publishing books that you didn't before hand?
S: Well… If there’s one thing I knew but only realized the extent of recently it’s that you can put your heart into a story that will move you as an author, that doesn’t mean that other readers will feel it. It’s obvious that not everybody will be moved by the same things or will enjoy the same kind of stories, and honestly it’s a good thing otherwise things would be boring. But I discovered that I don’t have as much of a thick skin as I thought I had.
Also, I discovered that there are so many amazing people in the book world that it overshadows all the drama you can read about on social media. There are people willing to read my very rough drafts, people willing to spend hours sharing my news just because they’re passionate. It’s inspiring and it truly motivates me.
I also discovered that promoting is as important as the book itself. I naïvely used to think that if readers enjoyed a book others would hear about it. What a fool I was! There are so many books being released at the same time, most of them written by more well-known authors that it’s very difficult to get the word out about your own book. So, promoting is a very important key, something I’m not very good at.
Being an author is also being a multi-tasker which is overwhelming most of the time and yet so very thrilling.
Q: What did you enjoy about writing 2B or not 2B?
S: I wrote 2B OR NOT 2B? just after I was finished with PATCH UP. Since PATCH UP is a dark story and was very emotionally taxing to write, I needed something lighter to chill and have just plain old fun with. I would have never thought I’d be laughing while writing some of London’s dialogue or the banters between London and Byron. I think that’s the thing I enjoyed the most. Writing things that I’m not used to, things that make me blush, things that make me laugh just because my characters are being silly or just naughty.
Also, writing something different is exciting. And London doesn’t have a boring bone in her body!
Q: Your book Patch Up is about abuse, what made you choose that topic?
S: It’s a theme I’ve always wanted to tackle as tough as it is. I know women who have been in that kind of relationships, I also know people who used to be depressed and I wanted to write about that. Is it to give hope to people going through this? Maybe. Is it because I think we’re not talking about this enough? Probably. Do I think it’s not tackled enough in books? Yes.
Abuse is something that hits close to home, that touches me deeply and I wanted to have my own take on this with characters that move me.
I love writing stories that deeply move me and I love writing about flawed and broken characters looking for their own hope, their own path.
I think PATCH UP will always be my most personal book for many reasons.
Q: What got you into writing such enticing books?
S: Thank you for saying they’re enticing.
I don’t really know what made me start writing. I guess it was a slow process. I’ve always been very into books. As a kid you couldn’t make me leave home without one of my books - and it’s still the case. Reading is a fabulous outlet, but at some point curiosity got the best of me and I started wondering what it’d be like to actually write books.
At first, I started reading many authors’ blog to get a feel of things because I had no idea of how to proceed. Then after a while I just couldn’t wait and I delved into it.
At first, I wrote in French, my mother tongue, but I couldn’t go beyond 3 to 5 chapters. So, I stopped and a few years later I tried writing in English and that’s when everything clicked. I couldn’t stop and I still can’t. Ideas started coming to me effortlessly, emotions filled me and a new passion took ahold of me.
Writing a story that makes me passionate is the most important, otherwise I know you’d feel it.
Q: What inspired By My Side?
S: I think it was a song that first made me think about Lily. I can’t remember which song though. I’m not that surprised because I’m always listening to music. I think I have as many songs on my iPod as I have ebooks on my kindle app and paperbacks on my shelves.
Once I had a vague idea of “who’’ Lily is, I couldn’t stop thinking about her sarcastic persona and everything slowly started to fall into place. I wrote everything by hand and I swore I’d never do it again.
Thank you a lot for having me on your blog.
Congratulations on your new book 2B or not 2B. I can't wait to read it.
Hi Khloee, thank you. I look forward to reading what you think about it. I hope you’ll have as much fun as I had writing it.
Thank you for allowing me to interview you.
Question: What inspires you as an author?
Stephanie: To be honest, many things inspire me as an author. I’m not going to lie, my past, my life can be a pretty good inspiration for little tidbits here and there. But these don’t make stories, so I often find myself inspired by something I’ve heard on the news or talked about with some people. Sometimes it can be a song, sometimes a dream.
Anything and everything can inspire me and that’s why I’m currently with more book ideas than I have the time to write.
Q: What is one thing you have learnt since publishing books that you didn't before hand?
S: Well… If there’s one thing I knew but only realized the extent of recently it’s that you can put your heart into a story that will move you as an author, that doesn’t mean that other readers will feel it. It’s obvious that not everybody will be moved by the same things or will enjoy the same kind of stories, and honestly it’s a good thing otherwise things would be boring. But I discovered that I don’t have as much of a thick skin as I thought I had.
Also, I discovered that there are so many amazing people in the book world that it overshadows all the drama you can read about on social media. There are people willing to read my very rough drafts, people willing to spend hours sharing my news just because they’re passionate. It’s inspiring and it truly motivates me.
I also discovered that promoting is as important as the book itself. I naïvely used to think that if readers enjoyed a book others would hear about it. What a fool I was! There are so many books being released at the same time, most of them written by more well-known authors that it’s very difficult to get the word out about your own book. So, promoting is a very important key, something I’m not very good at.
Being an author is also being a multi-tasker which is overwhelming most of the time and yet so very thrilling.
Q: What did you enjoy about writing 2B or not 2B?
S: I wrote 2B OR NOT 2B? just after I was finished with PATCH UP. Since PATCH UP is a dark story and was very emotionally taxing to write, I needed something lighter to chill and have just plain old fun with. I would have never thought I’d be laughing while writing some of London’s dialogue or the banters between London and Byron. I think that’s the thing I enjoyed the most. Writing things that I’m not used to, things that make me blush, things that make me laugh just because my characters are being silly or just naughty.
Also, writing something different is exciting. And London doesn’t have a boring bone in her body!
Q: Your book Patch Up is about abuse, what made you choose that topic?
S: It’s a theme I’ve always wanted to tackle as tough as it is. I know women who have been in that kind of relationships, I also know people who used to be depressed and I wanted to write about that. Is it to give hope to people going through this? Maybe. Is it because I think we’re not talking about this enough? Probably. Do I think it’s not tackled enough in books? Yes.
Abuse is something that hits close to home, that touches me deeply and I wanted to have my own take on this with characters that move me.
I love writing stories that deeply move me and I love writing about flawed and broken characters looking for their own hope, their own path.
I think PATCH UP will always be my most personal book for many reasons.
Q: What got you into writing such enticing books?
S: Thank you for saying they’re enticing.
I don’t really know what made me start writing. I guess it was a slow process. I’ve always been very into books. As a kid you couldn’t make me leave home without one of my books - and it’s still the case. Reading is a fabulous outlet, but at some point curiosity got the best of me and I started wondering what it’d be like to actually write books.
At first, I started reading many authors’ blog to get a feel of things because I had no idea of how to proceed. Then after a while I just couldn’t wait and I delved into it.
At first, I wrote in French, my mother tongue, but I couldn’t go beyond 3 to 5 chapters. So, I stopped and a few years later I tried writing in English and that’s when everything clicked. I couldn’t stop and I still can’t. Ideas started coming to me effortlessly, emotions filled me and a new passion took ahold of me.
Writing a story that makes me passionate is the most important, otherwise I know you’d feel it.
Q: What inspired By My Side?
S: I think it was a song that first made me think about Lily. I can’t remember which song though. I’m not that surprised because I’m always listening to music. I think I have as many songs on my iPod as I have ebooks on my kindle app and paperbacks on my shelves.
Once I had a vague idea of “who’’ Lily is, I couldn’t stop thinking about her sarcastic persona and everything slowly started to fall into place. I wrote everything by hand and I swore I’d never do it again.
Thank you a lot for having me on your blog.
