Fab Firsts is my new regular Sunday feature, that is going to be highlighting books that are firsts. When interviewing authors, it will be about their first book, as well as other firsts in their lives. When reviewing books for this feature, there will be a mix of debuts, first books in a series, the first time I read an author, and possibly other firsts depending on what I can think of!
If you are an author wanting to take part in Fab Firsts then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you.
I hope you enjoy this look at a variety of hopefully fabulous firsts, while making some sort of dent in my review and paperback TBRs which are my current main focus!
If you are an author wanting to take part in Fab Firsts then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you.
I hope you enjoy this look at a variety of hopefully fabulous firsts, while making some sort of dent in my review and paperback TBRs which are my current main focus!
Sarah K.
Stephens is a developmental psychologist and the debut author of A Flash of
Red, a psychological thriller released by Pandamoon Publishing in December
2016. When she’s not teaching at Penn State University, she can be found
writing, baking, running, walking her lovable pitbull, Jasper, and spending
time with her family, most likely playing Scrabble.
1)
Can you tell us a bit about your first book?
A Flash of Red details the chaos that ensues
when mental illness invades our most intimate relationships. Professor Anna
Klein and her husband, Sean, are a young couple each struggling with their own
misperceptions of reality. While Anna’s
daily anxieties turn on the axis of her mother’s path into psychosis, Sean escapes
to the alternate reality of love and sex offered online. When Bard, a student
of Anna’s, develops his own obsession with the couple, their already unsteady
world collapses with irrevocable consequences. A Flash of Red ultimately asks
the question: What happens when we can no longer tell the difference between
what we want and what is real?
2)
What was your original inspiration to become a
writer, and to write your debut?
In elementary school I worked with an
incredible teacher, Mrs. Lippiatt, in an advanced English and Writing program that
continued into Middle School. She pushed her students to continuously improve
themselves as writers and communicators, but always with constructive feedback
and empathy. As I found myself in adulthood with children heading into their
more independent teenage years, I couldn’t help but think of Mrs. Lippiatt and
her urge to always challenge yourself. It was then that I began A Flash of Red.
3)
How long did it take you to write your first
book?
It took about 1 year to write the first draft,
and another year to edit it myself before submitting it to agents and
publishers.
4)
If you could do anything differently in
retrospect, what would you change about your debut, or how you went about
writing it?
I would encourage myself to adopt the practice
I used for my second novel, Dear Heart, which will be released by Pandamoon in
2017: Get the words out and then judge their quality in a brief editing session
the next day before you write your next passage. Writers can be so judgmental
of their own work that it paralyzes us. With practice, I’ve learned to be more
forgiving of myself in the first draft, and then to turn more critical in the
editing process. I’ve found this allows my ideas and plot to emerge fluidly
without any reduction in the quality of the writing itself.
5)
Was your first book self or traditionally
published, and how did you go about making that decision?
My first novel was traditionally published by
Pandamoon Publishing, although they are not a ‘traditional’ publisher. At
Pandamoon, authors have an active role in the marketing and publicity of their
book. It is truly a collaborative process throughout the entire journey of
acquisition, editing, and publication. As an author, I enjoyed the support and
structure provided by Pandamoon, especially in working with their excellent
editors, while also having freedom as the author to contribute my ideas for the
cover, marketing, and publicity ventures.
6)
Do you have any tips for other first time
authors?
Be brave
and be patient. Putting your work on the page, and even more so sending it out
to agents and publishers, is an act of courage. Writing is such a personal and
solitary experience that fear can often inhibit writers from sharing their work
with others. Trust in your work. It might take time for others to notice, but
ultimately high quality writing speaks for itself.
Tell us
about your first…
7)
Book you bought
I’m not sure which one, but it was most likely
one of Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitters Club series. Claudia was my favorite
babysitter.
8)
Person you fell in love with
My husband--we fell in love when we were just
teenagers, and never looked back.
9)
Holiday
you went on
Disneyland in Orlando, Florida. I was 4 years
old and the giant squid on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride scared me
terribly!
10) Prize you won
A Power of the Pen prize for short story in 8th
grade
11) Album you purchased
Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream. I still love
that album.
12) Time you were in trouble
I was definitely a rule-follower as a child,
but one time I was in the school’s bathroom and decided to play a prank on my
friend, who I thought had come into the stall next to me. I tried to hold the
stall door so she couldn’t open it--I thought this was funny for about a
minute, until I realized it was a teacher in the stall and not my friend!
13) ..choice of alternative career if you weren’t
an author
Does developmental psychologist count? :) If I
had to trade in my other day job, I’d say Anthropologist. I just find people
way too fascinating!
14) … time you felt like an adult
Having my own (full) refrigerator in my
apartment as a graduate student.
15) Dish you cooked
Linguine with white clam sauce--I was trying to
impress my boyfriend (now husband). I still make that dish quite often for my
family.
Thank you so much Sarah for taking the time to answer my questions.
What happens when you can’t tell the difference
between desire, obsession, and reality? Thanks to her husband, Anna is about to
find out.
Psychology professor Anna
Kline and her architect husband, Sean, are a young couple in a fractured
marriage, each struggling with their own misperceptions of reality. Sean seeks
solace from his perfect wife in the cold intimacy of love and sex offered
online, while Anna copes by offering her own oppressive version of devotion.
Becoming an ever more tangible presence in their weakening marriage is the
question of Anna’s mental state and whether she will follow the same path as
her now institutionalized mother. When Bard, a student of Anna’s with a family
history of schizophrenia, discovers Sean’s addiction, Bard’s admiration for
Anna morphs into a delusion of special intimacy. Guilt-ridden with his own past
failure to protect his older sister, Bard’s skewed mind begins to see Anna as
another woman in need of rescue. As Sean
and Anna’s marriage becomes a battleground of manipulation, Bard privately
crafts a strategy to save Anna from her husband, sending their three worlds
spinning out of control with irrevocable and deadly consequences. A Flash of
Red's driving plot and multi-faceted characters detail the destruction that
ensues when mental illness attacks our most intimate relationships.
Publisher: Pandamoon
Publishing (Pandamoonpub.com)
Publication Date: December
8, 2016
eBook: ASIN:
B01N5DR40X
Print Book:
ISBN-13: 978-1-945502-14-9
Pages: 234
Bio: Sarah K.
Stephens is a developmental psychologist and a senior lecturer at Penn State
University. Although Fall and Spring find her in the classroom, she remains a
writer year-round. Her short stories and essays have appeared in LitHub,
National Book Critics Circle: Critical Mass, Five on the Fifth, The Indianola
Review, and (parenthetical). Her debut novel, A Flash of Red, was released in December 2016 by Pandamoon
Publishing.
My novel is
currently available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com
Blog: sarahkstephens.com
Twitter:
@skstephenswrite
Facebook
Page: Sarah K. Stephens
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