Stephanie Fowers loves bringing stories to life, and depending on her latest madcap ideas will do it through written word, song, and/ or film. She absolutely adores Bollywood and bonnet movies; i.e., Jane Austen. Presently, she lives in Salt Lake where she's living the life of the starving artist.
Who says Chivalry is dead?
Taken in by an Outlaw
Marian is a hard-hitting reporter … or would be if the New England Chronicle would stop assigning her puff pieces. Now she has the chance to prove herself, but it could prove her undoing—since the story of a lifetime might just be Robin King, a ruthless scoundrel, who she swore would never break her heart again.
Making New England Olde again
Together, they must overcome their differences to save their hometown from thieves and corruption. And they’d better do it before someone gets killed. As danger lurks closer, legend becomes life, and Robin’s feelings for Marian deepen as he struggles with sharing the secrets that could clear his name and ruin his sister."
Q&A With the Author:
I love taking my bad dating stories and making them turn out fantastic, haha. But seriously, I love happy endings and I believe in love and think that it makes the world a better place. I have all sorts of theories on love and relationships and connections and I'm happy to share them with others through my writing. I also enjoy throwing in humor and mystery and adventure, depending on my vision for the project. I also write fantasy, some fairy tale remakes, though mostly dystopian (though NONE of my dystopian have seen the light of day yet). I also have plans to write some epic historicals (think Braveheart), but I'd like to get my foot more firmly in the romance genre first AND I'll probably write under a pen name when I really starting getting into those other genres.
2. How long does it take you to write a book, typically?
It depends on the book--if it's a shorter romance, then I can write the rough draft in about two weeks. If it's a longer romance, about a month, and fantasy and historical, about two months. That's ONLY the rough draft though. It takes me about two weeks to plot out a book (short OR long, they take me equally as long, though sometimes it can take me longer because I am VERY detailed with my outline and even cast my characters and make slideshows, etc.), and the editing process takes about a month or two after I write the rough draft. And then I'm working with cover designers and beta readers and editors and marketing, so one book, even a short one, can be very time consuming. Robin and Marian took me about four months because my mother was in the ICU and then rehab, so I'd take my laptop to the hospital and type... well, I planned to do that anyway. It didn't quite work out that way ;-)
3. Since a lot of romance books show both male and female perspectives, share with us the most difficult thing about writing the perspective of the opposite gender?
It's interesting because male and females ARE so different, but at the same time we have much more in common than we think. I have a lot of brothers and guy friends and I used to interview them to figure out why they broke up with girls and/ or relationships didn't work and/ or why they did work, first things they noticed about a girl they liked, etc. And then I used to put my manuscripts past guys to get their input. I feel like I got a pretty good handle on that and I don't do that as often now, even though I learned that guys are pretty different from each other too and also some weren't even that self aware about what they were doing, which also plays into my books. I watch a lot of online dating gurus (like Matthew Hussey, etc.), still watch my brothers and guy friends navigate through life, and OF COURSE, I use a lot of creative license when creating my guy characters. My biggest trick now is to not overthink it. I cast my guy character, squint my eyes at the pictures I gathered, and try to imagine how he'd act and think in any given situation.
4. What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I always think that my book is the WORST thing ever when I start writing my opening chapters. I have to get into it before I can start getting a handle on my characters. So, during this process, I really have to work with myself. I block social media, set alarms, give myself rewards, keep a writing journal, isolate myself for a bit. After about three chapters in, I start to relax and start to enjoy writing again. Obviously I have to return to those first few chapters after I've finished my rough draft to fix those up.
5. Tell us a bit about a future project you are working on? Do you have any little sneak peeks you can share?
I'm writing a romance starring a firefighter--I interviewed friends, toured a fire station, read books, binge-watched firemen shows on Prime (especially while writing those first few chapters). It's very rough right now, but I threw in some motorcycles, reality TV, and love, lots of love :-)
6. What is the most romantic date you have ever been on? Or, what is your idea of the perfect Valentine Date?
Honestly, it's ALL about the company. I don't care what I'm doing as long as it's with a guy who makes me feel attractive and fun (and vice versa). We could go hiking or binge watch Netflix, I don't care as long as we're spending quality time together. However, expensive, elaborate dates aren't as fun for me because those just end up being awkward, complicated and uncomfortable. My favorite dates are spontaneous and/ or active. Walking back from a show, jumping in a friend's hot tub, going to haunted houses are generally my favorite types of dates.
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