About Staci Stallings:
Now a #1 Bestselling Christian Romance author and a stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.
What inspires you to write?
I love telling stories that inspire the reader to become a better person. Writing is like breathing to me, and I have the honor of walking with these characters to become the amazing people they were put here to be. I think through reading the stories (and for me, through writing the stories), the reader can come to a new understanding about life and love and hope and faith.
Tell us about your writing process.
Whatever they tell you about how you’re supposed to write… that’s what I don’t do. Not on purpose. I would love to have a “set writing time.” I would love to be able to write without distractions. But that’s not my life. If I tried to write with an outline or in a quiet place or any of the other things they tell you are “optimal,” I wouldn’t write at all. I once wrote an entire book in the ten minutes between getting my kids up for school when they were getting ready. Ten minutes every day for 400+ pages. My “schedule” is there isn’t one. I just do the best I can with whatever I have to work with, and know that’s going to be enough.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t talk to my characters. When I try to decide where we’re going, they will STOP talking to me. I have learned I’m not in control of this thing. Most of the time, the time they like to talk to me the most is 3 a.m. I’ve learned to be at peace with the fact that “non-real” people talk to me all the time. It is what it is, and I’ve learned to make the best of it. Plus, I’ve learned that my characters tend to tell bestselling stories, so that helps to trust them and what they are telling me and showing me.
What advice would you give other writers?
WRITE!
No. It won’t be perfect. You will make mistakes–lots of them, tons of them, truckloads of them. But you do not learn to play basketball by reading a book about playing basketball. You’ve got to get out there and PLAY! Same with writing.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I published my first book in 2001 with a POD publisher. What I learned is, publishers want your voice to sound like everyone else. When I got to the end of that process, I had a book, but it had nothing of me in it. That’s why I went indie long before indie was cool.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think especially the Christian fiction genre will open up. For a long time, there was a bottleneck on what COULD be written about as a Christian author because the publishers would not take anything that might offend someone. With the rise of indie publishing, you write and if you can find an audience for what you write, you don’t have to worry about the rules and whether or not your story can even be considered to be published. Paradigm shift big time!
What do you use?: Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: Christian Contemporary Romance, Adult, New Adult, and Young Adult, Bible Studies, Short Inspirational Stories
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Staci Stallings Home Page Link
Link To Staci Stallings Page On Amazon
