Stacie Wilson is the winner of the first Author Spotlight contest over on Post-Apocalyptic Playground’s facebook page.  She graciously accepted our request for an interview, despite being in the midst of packing for UtopiaCon!

Stacie’s first full length novel Myst was released last month, there is a prequel novella, Prophecy, also available.  In between the two Stacie has been an anthology collaborator on several occasions.

Q.  At what point in your life did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?

Stacie:  I’ve always had a love for reading and writing.  Secretly, I’ve wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.  I used to scribble down tidbits of poetry or story ideas on scraps of paper.  Somewhere along the line, I lost touch with that side of me for too long.  About five years ago, a friend told me about a new conference for YA authors and their fans in Nashville.  Going to UtopYAcon helped me to reconnect with my love of writing.  Since then, I’ve had a few stories published in anthologies, self published a novella and my first novel Myst.

Q. Where do you draw your inspiration, do you ever in some way use real life experiences?

Stacie:  I draw inspiration from anything and everything.  I have used some real life experiences in my writing.  A short story I wrote had a character that had to deal with being the new kid and having trouble fitting in.  My daughter dealt with that last year when we moved.  I was able to use some of her experiences with that in the story.

Q. Do you need peace and quiet to write or do you have a playlist to keep you going?  If you do would you share it with us?

Stacie:  I tend to need peace and quiet for the actual writing but I love to use music to set the mood.  My playlists tend to get huge

You can find Stacie’s playlist for Myst over at Spotify  http://spoti.fi/1XxHJcx

Q.  Are your characters always a complete work of fiction or is there an element of someone you know to start the idea rolling?

Stacie:  They start off as a work of fiction, usually elements from people I know of met sneak in.  My daughter and her friends are a great source of inspiration for teen characters.

Q.  What are your experiences of being an Indie Author, do you find that social media is a help of a distraction to your writing?

Stacie:  I absolutely love being and Indie Author.  I had a brief experience with traditional publishing and it just wasn’t a good fit for me.  I need the independence and control over how my story is published.  But, being an Indie Author comes with great responsibility.  You have to invest in quality editing, Covers and formatting.  Social Media is a mixed blessing.  I love being able to connect with readers and other authors.  Social Media officers fantastic marketing opportunities, but it can be very time consuming.  It’s easy to get sucked into it and spend too much time there rather than on writing.

Q.  What are you currently working on or is it a secret!? 

Stacie:  No secret! I’m working on book 2 in the Myst series.  It’s coming along and I’m shooting for an October release date.

Q.  Have you always had a fascination with the mystical realms?

Stacie:  Absolutely. I’ve always been fascinated by magic and the idea that there are mystical realms and creatures out there.  I’ve had the great fortune to meet some amazing people over the years who had some pretty impressive psychic abilities.






Q.  If you could be any Character you have written who would you choose?

Stacie:  Hands down, Lanie.  She is Brianna’s BFF in Myst.  She is quirky, feisty, loyal and has one heck of an adventure ahead of her.

Q.  What are you currently reading?

Stacie:  I work a full-time day job as well as writing.  All my free-time is being spent in the world of Myst.  The last thing i read is Chris Cannon’s YA series, Going Down in Flames.  I binge read the first three books.  There are dragons!

Q.  Fictional Dinner Party:  Give me 5 fictional characters or authors who you would have as dinner companions.

Stacie:  Wow, that is so hard!  There are so many of both that I would love to have dinner with.  Fictional characters would be Anne from Anne of Green Gables (I LOVED that series growing up) and Brianna from Myst.  She has lived in my head for so long i’d love to just sit down and have a casual dinner with her.  Authors would be Jennifer L. Armentrout, Darynda Jones and J.R. Ward.

Stacie, thank you so much for taking time out to take part in this interview.  I hope you have an amazing time at UtopiaCon and we really look forward to the release of the next book in the Myst series.

The first book Myst is available now:

You can also find out more about Stacie on facebook https://www.facebook.com/StacieWilsonAuthor/?fref=ts or her Website www.StacieWilson.com