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I had the privilege of interviewing USA Today bestselling romance author, Stacy Claflin.

Stacy is a successful fiction author of paranormal and contemporary romance and thrillers. She’s written over 20 books in the last 3 years and those books have sold so well, that she was able to quit her day job in February 2015. She also Homeschools’ her two boys from home, makes her own jewellery and enjoys the outdoors with her family. Readers and writers can find Stacy on her website, www.stacyclaflin.com and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Watch the Video Interview

Summary of the Interview…

*Stacy shares a little of her story and how she got started writing. She said when she was little she would scare her cousins with her stories… and later her imagination came up with robotic unicorns. She said she started writing down her stories when she was 9 years old. Later in College she emailed her stories to her friends… kind of like an ‘early’ Wattpad.

*When life got in the way she took a break from writing for around 12 years, but then she felt like something was missing. Her friends encouraged her to start scrapbooking or making crafts, but it didn’t really interested her.

“I started to think of writing as just something I did as a kid. I thought maybe I’d outgrown it…” Stacy Claflin

*Then she started a personal development blog and she heard about Kindle Publishing. Even though some people told her that no one reads fiction anymore, she started chasing her curiosity and began developing a bigger interest in fiction.

*Stacy found a bunch of free books on Amazon and started downloading and reading the books that intrigued her. Then she decided she wanted to write something and started her first draft – which was around the same time that the Self Publishing Podcast started too. So she learned a lot from listening Johnny, Sean and Dave and that’s how her fiction self-publishing got started.

*She said as she has continued to write everyday, she learned through mistakes. Stacy sees failures and mistakes as stepping stones and that it’s just part of the process of learning to tell better stories. She said she just keeps trying what works and doing that until it stops working.

*Her first book took a lot longer than the later ones, because she didn’t know how to do this.

*Stacy says she was inspired by a blogpost by Jeff Goins, encouraging people to wake up early to write. At first, she told herself that she couldn’t get up earlier than 6am. But the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced she needed to try it. So she started by moving her alarm clock 15 minutes earlier until she reached 4:30am. That’s the time she got up to write.

*Her word count goal was between 1500 and 2000 words a day. She would have a short outline for what she was going to write the next day. She says going throughout her day she works out her plot lines and then as she is falling asleep she thinks about how she can write a better scene. Stacy says it really helps to think about your scene and storyline before you go to bed, because that way your brain works on it while you sleep.

*Ever since she was able to quit her job in February 2015 – from the success of her books – she’s been able to develop the habit of getting one book finished every month.

*The 3 genres that Stacy writes are paranormal romance, sweet romance and contemporary suspense. She says she tries to weave suspense into all the genres.

Stacy encourages writers, to just write what you love to write. Don’t feel like you’re stuck in one genre for the rest of your life. Looking at Indie Author, Hugh Howey, and other successful Indie Authors, it works to write in different genres. Readers want to read your books because of your voice.

*Stacy shares some important elements to help you create a compelling story: 1) Know the genre you’re writing in so that you meet readers expectations. 2) Keep up a certain amount of mystery in your story to keep the readers interest and keeps them curious. 3) Leave each chapter on a mini cliffhanger, to keep readers turning the pages.

*I mention how I really loved Stacy’s Seaside Sweet Romance series, like the book I just finished,  Seaside Heartbeats: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 2).

*She says as a writer, she weaves a bit of herself into her stories. Especially when she writes suspense, it helps her process what she has gone through or is going through at the time. She says she blends the suspense into the story that no one would be able to tell if she is writing about someone else or about her own life.

*Stacy’s tips to create great characters, is to create a cast of characters from pictures of actors or models, or something like that. When you have a vivid picture of them, it’s easier to be more descriptive and bring the character alive. Stacy mentions some great descriptions that a mutual writer friend Staci Troilo’s writes in her contemporary romance book Type and Cross (The Cathedral Lake Series Book 1). 

*Stacy encourages first-time writers to keep writing everyday. The best thing is to write and to keep practicing. Get the words out there and there will come a point when the writing will become easier. Also, make sure you are reading, because you can learn so much from other books. Then educate yourself with podcasts, blogposts, writing courses and craft of writing books to help you write better stories.

*She encourages new writers, that everyone struggles with doubt and insecurity. Keep moving forward even with the questions of is this going to be any good? 

*Stacy inspires writers to just keep going and writing those stories they love, and they’ll soon see that they are becoming better writers with each book they finish.

I hope you were inspired to keep writing your stories. For some free books and inspiring blogposts, check out Stacy Claflin’s blog.

What do you listen to or read to stay inspired to write? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

*Photo Credit: Stacy Claflin

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