I want to welcome you all to another edition of Watch Out. This week I’m thrilled to bring you a fellow Lyrical Press author. Stephanie Haefner is here.

Welcome Stephanie, it is a pleasure to have you here today.

For those readers who are new to you and your work, please tell them a little about yourself.

I am the mom of two amazing kids and have chosen to stay home with them (which wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my wonderful husband!). I used to run my own business doing flowers for weddings, but then this thing called fiction took over my life!! I started writing and it consumed me! I’ve always had my hands in artistic things and even wrote stories and illustrated them as a kid. I wrote in a diary religiously as a preteen and teen and in high school I was the reporter for a club I was a member of. I started writing fiction a few years ago and it just took off. It amazed me how quickly a small spark of passion had grown. I never had a name for what I wrote until I started seeking publication. Romance was always a huge part of my stories and also the growth we as women go through in our lives, whenever we enter a new phase. Coming of age stories aren’t just for YA!

What, or who inspired you to write?

It just happened one day. It was game night with friends-it was stupid and silly- but a song lyric inspired the idea for a story…it just kinda popped into my head. And I actually wrote the idea down, instead of letting it float out of my brain like I had so many times before that when an idea had come to me. I remember how proud I felt when I’d written like 11 pages, single spaced!

Your first published book is called A Bitch Named Karma. Love the title by the way. Tell us a little about the book.

Thanks so much! A Bitch Named Karma is a story about a sassy, self-absorbed woman who is leading this fabulous life, so she thinks. She is pretty oblivious to everything that’s going on around her. When her life completely implodes, she is left with virtually nothing. She rebuilds, because she is a strong woman, but life isn’t quite as easy as it was before. And the new life she has ends up being everything she never knew she wanted.

Are there any author’s who have inspired you, or ones you look up to?

I love an author who can give me a story that makes me laugh hysterically on one page and cry on another. I love a roller coaster of emotions!! I adore Ann Brashares, Meg Cabot and Emily Giffin.

Where do you see yourself as an author in the next few years?

I hope to see my books on bookstore shelves! Currently, I am with a small, mainly digital, publisher and as much as I adore them, an agent and a bigger publishing house will get my books in front of a larger audience.

Being a published author what is the one big misconception you think that people have about writers/authors?

That it’s easy- anybody can do it. You just write some words and then wahlah, you’re a published author! It’s not easy. It takes a lot of work. Writing the book is actually the easiest part, but everything else…the editing and rewriting, rejection, the synopsis, query writing, rejection, marketing, promoting…none of it, rejection, is easy. Yeah, did I mention how tough the rejection part is??? It does get easier to take, but it’s still never fun.

What genres would you like to write that you have not written yet?

That is a great question! I’ve always been interested in writing erotica, but I guess that’s not real far off from what I write now! 🙂 Paranormal is so big now and I’ve thought of writing something to fit….maybe not vampires or werewolves (just not my thing) but maybe something about a ghost or spirit. But I know myself and it would still revolve around a romance!

What are you currently working on now? Anything you can give the readers a sneak peak of?

I am working on the sequel to A Bitch Named Karma, titled Karma Kameleon! I am very excited for this next chapter of Lexi’s life and I hope readers will be just as excited to read it!

What was the best advice you ever got as a writer, and who gave it to you?

Just keep writing. I can’t even pin point one person, because I’ve heard it so any times, and for good reason. Writers write. If you don’t write, you can’t improve.

Have you ever based a character on yourself and if you haven’t will you ever base one on yourself?

Oh yes! The first novel I wrote is me to a tee! The thing is so full of teen insecurities, crushes, love and loss. They say “write what you know” and boy did I! All 135,000 words of it! It’s currently shelved until I can figure out what to do with it!

What are you currently reading?

I am reading two books actually, which I rarely do. The first is “Prada and Prejudice” by Mandy Hubbard. It’s cute YA! This one is digital and I’m reading it on my Sony Reader at the gym. I actually “borrowed” it from my county’s library system. Pretty cool, huh? I bet there’s a lot of people out there that don’t know it’s even an option!! The second is “Cinders” by Michelle Davidson Argyle. It’s fantasy and usually not my thing but I am really enjoying it. This one I have in paperback..a signed copy from the author!! 🙂 I can’t read print at the gym…just too hard! So this one is saved for reading at night before bed!

E-books or print? What do you prefer?

Honestly, since having my Sony Reader, I totally prefer ebooks! It is just easier..and as I said in the last answer, I can’t read print books at the gym. The words are just too tiny and I can’t focus on them while bouncing around on the elliptical or crossramp! On the Reader, I can enlarge the font. And my Reader is nice and small and is easier to read from while laying in bed!

What message would you like readers to walk away with after reading your books?

Love is an ever-present theme in my books and usually it comes from places the main character doesn’t expect. I want readers to be open-minded to things they might not have been before.

Where can readers go to find more info about you and your books?

I have a website and blog:

www.stephaniehaefnerthewriter.com

I am on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Haefner/99513980888

I am on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/StephaniHaefner

I’m on Goodreads:

 http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4038345.Stephanie_Haefner

 And there’s also my publisher’s website:

 http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=148&zenid=f2f9fk0cphdgsv6fo2p203gj11

 I try to get around….in a good way! 😉

Thanks so much for having me!!!