Stephanie Giese | Author
1. What inspired you to start writing/creating art, and how has that inspiration evolved over time?
I remember being about eight years old and realizing that the authors' names weren't listed in the stories in our reading textbook in class, and they also weren't listed on the covers of the original American Girl books I loved to read. As an adult looking back, it seems like the writers should've been given more credit, but in my childhood brain it seemed to open up the possibility that those stories could be written by anyone. I knew someone had to write those words, and one day I was determined it was going to be me. Then in the fourth grade, my teacher Mrs. Rapanotti allowed my friend Jason to work with me on silly stories in our free time. They were kind of in the style of Captain Underpants, although those books didn't exist back then. We created characters named Walter and Wanda and wrote absolutely ridiculous stories about how they saved the world by farting on their enemies. Mrs. Rapanotti let us read them out loud at the end of the day a few times, and our classmates thought they were hysterical and started begging us to write more. It was the first time people were actually invested in characters that came out of my imagination, and I loved making people laugh. The following year, I fell in love with Judy Blume and the way she was able to capture the real-life struggles of adolescence and make readers laugh at the same time. I started writing stories like hers, and although my characters got older along with me, I guess I never really stopped.
As an adult, I became a teacher. Then once I had my own family, I transitioned to staying home with my children for a few years. During that time, I began taking on freelance work for local magazines and newspapers as well as writing my own blog. That eventually evolved into writing for a few national publications and having essays published in several humor anthologies. In 2021, I published my first book, which was a memoir called All I Never Knowed I wrote in collaboration with my oldest son. It's about the pediatric mental health crisis in America and the fight to get him help for chronic childhood mental illness. That book took five years to write and the topic was very heavy. After that experience, I decided I needed to focus for a while on writing things that make me smile.
2. Can you share the story behind your latest work? What was your creative process like?
I started reading romance novels a few years ago when we went through a very difficult time with the health of one of our children. My son was hospitalized for several months, and I found I liked the stable predictability the romance genre offers as well as the idea of always having a happy ending. When real life is stressful, I want my entertainment to be light and uplifting. But I didn't set out to write a romcom. Originally, I was going to write historical fiction inspired by my grandparents. My paternal grandfather was a minor league baseball player in Elmira, New York whose career was interrupted when he was drafted by the U.S. Army to fight in World War II. I still think their story could make an amazing book. But the characters took on a life of their own, as they tend to do, and this one evolved into a contemporary sports romance. Other than the male main character in Out of Left Field being a minor league baseball player, it's nothing like the original version I intended at all.
3. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your work, and why are they important to you?
It's extremely important to me that all of my books have a strong focus on realistic depictions of mental health, treatment, and consent. Because of my personal experiences being a teacher, foster mother, and disability advocate, I've seen first-hand how learning skills like emotional regulation or modeling how to talk about hard topics like sex and sexuality improves people's lives and breaks generational cycles of abuse and trauma.
If there is one thing I learned from Judy Blume's work, it is that the books that feel relatable and dare to voice the topics everyone experiences but no one talks about out loud are the ones that stick with us. And if you can do that while making people laugh, then it's easier to get your message across because readers don't feel like you're preaching at them. Those are the books that give us the comfort of knowing we aren't alone and the language to have hard conversations. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, for example, is "just" a Young Adult book about a girl getting her first period, but it has been a touchstone for three generations of women.
I have no delusions about being on Judy's level, but my hope is to apply those same lessons to my work. I want to make people laugh, but I also want to model realistic and healthy conversations about hard topics.
4. What advice would you give to aspiring authors/artists who are just starting their journey?
Write.
Don't worry about any other part of the process until you have a finished draft. A little bit at a time will get you there. I see a lot of new authors who feel overwhelmed by everything that goes into an author's career that is not writing. Yes, there is work to do in terms of social media, newsletters, marketing, formatting, querying, building an ARC team, learning whether you want to traditionally publish or go indie, etc. But the thing is, until you actually finish writing your book, none of that matters because your product doesn't exist.
I'm still in the middle of raising five kids. I totally understand how hard it is to find the time to sit down and actually type the words. I've made all of the excuses, too. But you can do it. And if you're a born writer, you sort of don't have a choice. Fighting against your natural drive to write will drive you up a wall.
Some authors set a timer and sit down to write for a certain amount of time every day. I prefer to have a word count goal instead because it keeps me accountable and lets me see progress, but if I get interupted by life and need to come back later in the day it's not a big deal. Make the goal realistic so you will actually accomplish it. I started with a goal of 500 words a day, which doesn't seem like much, but is more than enough to get you two completed 80,000 word manuscripts in one year.
5. What role has self-publishing or independent production played in your career, and what have you learned from the process?
Haha, do we have a million years to discuss this question? I have learned SO much from indie publishing. About ten years ago, I was fortunate enough to be part of I Just Want to Pee Alone, which is an anthology of stories written by female humor writers and self-published by an editor named Jen Mann. That book hit the New York Times best-seller list as an indie title. It was an amazing experience because it showed us that by working together and leveraging our combined social media audiences, we could accomplish the same thing that traditional publishing houses were doing.
Around the same time, I founded a national writers' conference which ran for several years, and I was so grateful to have dozens of successful indie writers teaching our classes. I learned so much from them as well. As for the benefits, I appreciate the control indie publishing allows me to retain over my own work. I love the personal connections I've built with my readers. I like being in charge of my timeline. I know there are plenty of indie authors who also make more money self-publishing than they do with their traditionally published books, although I haven't had the experience (yet) of being able to compare. Plus, I like that it removes the stress and waitime of the entire query process. I wouldn't be against trying to publish a book traditionally, but I also truly love being indie. It's an amazing, supportive community. The biggest takeaway for me, though, is probably learning to recognize my own strengths, focus on those, and give other people the opportunity to shine by doing what they do well. I love that being an indie author means I am also contributing to other independently-owned small businesses whenever I hire an editor, look for a cover designer, commission character art, or hire a narrator for an eBook.
6. How do you connect with your audience, and what has been your favorite moment of reader or viewer feedback?
Social media has been the biggest way I connect with my audience, and I've been fortunate to have a lot of engagement through the years. It started with Facebook and is now mostly on TikTok. Those connections have led to some amazing opportunities, like national television appearances and speaking engagements. Sometimes a celebrity will share an article I wrote, which can be exciting.
But my favorite thing is when someone sends me a personal private message or email and tells me that my work made them laugh, cry, or feel seen.
7. How do you handle challenges like writer's block or creative burnout, and what motivates you to keep going?
One of the great things about being indie is that I don't have to answer to anyone but me. So if I want to take a day off, I can do that with zero consequences. When there are days I'm just not feeling it, I do try to stay on track by editing some of the work that already exists or using that time to do things that require less creative energy, like schedule social media posts, placing an order for shipping materials, etc. That way I am still working during the time I've allotted for work, even if I'm not writing. But I also prioritize rest. I try to get a decent amount of sleep, exercise for at least a few minutes every morning, and drink a lot of water. Or I'll take a break and have a snack. Sometimes when I can't focus it's just because I forgot to eat. I keep protein plant-based bars in my pantry to plan for those moments. That's a boring answer, but the truth is all of those things help.
As far as the motivation to keep going, honestly it's never felt like a choice. Writing is just built into my DNA. Even if I stopped typing the words, I would still be writing in journals, recording notes in my phone, or telling my kids stories. But sometimes finding my way to the ending of one story in particular can be a real slog. In those cases, I revert back to the elements I know the story has to have. For example, I know there's going to be a meet cute, a fight, the characters will eventually make up, etc. So I just pick one of those elements and start typing. And give myself permission to suck that day. That's important. A bad paragraph can be edited later, but a non-existent paragraph can't.
8. What’s next for you? Can you share any upcoming projects or future creative goals you’re excited about?
I'm in the middle of the editing process for Book 2 in my North Bay series, which is an enemies-to-lovers romance called Right As Rain. I love these characters and I'm really excited to share them with the world.
I also have a few professional goals I'm working toward. I have tables at two Florida author expos booked for next year because I would like to make some more face-to-face connections with readers. I want to see this series on indie bookstore shelves, and I'm also hoping to get it into some subscription book boxes. I've already gotten those balls rolling and my advanced copies are out for review with those businesses now.
9. Who are some of your biggest creative influences, and how have they shaped your work or style?
We already talked about Judy Blume, who will Forever be my favorite. (See what I did there?) I'm also a huge fan of Bo Burnham's comedic work and the way he models prioritizing mental health. Most of all, I really admire all writers, and particularly women, who are able to carve out a unique space for themselves and their work and be authentically themselves.
10. How has your personal life or experiences influenced your writing/art, and are there any particular moments that stand out?
For a large part of my career I wrote parenting humor and memoir, so my personal life shaped literally everything I wrote during those years. I've been having a lot of fun moving into fiction because no longer being tied to the truth gives me a bit more room to be creative. But of course, even when it's fictionalized, our lived experiences still shape our art. In my latest book, there is a quirky grandma character who has a lot of similarities to my own late grandmother. If anything, she's a toned-down version of my Grandy. It's definitely been a highlight seeing her become a fan favorite.
