We were lucky to catch up with Anna J Stewart recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Anna J thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I don’t know that I was ever meant to be anything other than a writer/author. I bounced around so much during my education, and everything I was interested in pursuing was always tied to a book I was reading. At one point, during my Patricia Cornwell stage, I thought about going into forensics. It took a while for me to realize that as a writer, I could be all the professions that interested me, for as long as it took to write a particular book. From there, it was a matter of learning my craft and knocking on doors and keeping myself going with the goal of traditional publication in sight. The dream was always to see my book in a store, on the shelf. Granted that dream was a while ago and publishing has changed dramatically since then, but the underneath goal always remains the same: to give readers an escape from their lives for at least a little while. It’s what I loved as a reader so it’s what I want to do as an author.

Anna J, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I write romance novels across the genre. Currently I write mainly sweet contemporary, small-town romances for Harlequin as well as steamier and more thrilling romantic suspense novels. I also write for Arc Manor, a small press and those are my grittier thrillers (with a strong romance sub-plot). I’m very fortunate to have a job that I absolutely love. Creating stories, bringing characters to life, getting to write about things that interest me, there’s really no better job I can think of for myself. I will say that being an author these days means you really, really have to want it and you have to do most of the back-end work yourself, whether traditionally or independently published. So much rests on your shoulder, but most important is the stories you write. I’ve been published for almost 10 years now and I still take writing classes, still try to learn because it fuels my storytelling and hopefully helps build my career.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Of course. Back in about 2011, I realized I hadn’t been putting enough effort into what I wanted, which was an actual writing career. I was still writing as if it were a hobby. A writing instructor had a group of us do a meditation exercise that had us asking ourselves imagine yourself in five years and you’re still not published. It was like a switch flipped inside of me. I could not let that happen.

From that day on, I shifted my attitude and my determination to make progress. To stop “playing” at writing and get serious. I was never going to forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to make my dreams come true. So I dug deep and devoted all my spare time to writing a paranormal/urban fantasy romance that ended up finaling in a large, nation-wide romance writing contest. That final helped me attain my first agent, who while we came close to selling that particular book, the industry was shifting away from paranormal romance. There wasn’t a place for this book any longer, so my agent at the time asked me what else I had that we could submit. The only other finished manuscript was a contemporary romance with light suspense elements (it was, actually, the very first book I’d ever written from beginning to end). It was then I had to make a decision: did I keep pushing forward with a book that wasn’t going to get anywhere or do I pivot away from paranormal and take a different road? I chose the latter. The dream ultimately, was publication. And so I re-wrote that first book (I’d learned so much since finishing it), and as I moved forward with a second agent (the first left agenting shortly after I signed with her), and a few months later I sold that book (and 2 more) to Berkley’s then digital first line.

At the same time, a fellow author, Melinda Curtis, was putting together an anthology idea to pitch to Harlequin Heartwarming, their sweet non-inspirational romance line). I jumped on board with a holiday novella and sold that around the same time.

Because I took that chance, because I pivoted and took an option I wasn’t entirely confident about, the publishing world opened up a bit more for me. Since those first books came out, I’ve published more than fifty more (some novellas, most of them full length romances) and am solidly entrenched at Harlequin and now a small press. The dream came true! I just had to take a slightly adjusted road to get there.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think I possess a strong writing voice that appeals to readers across the romance genre, and hopefully beyond. I feel like I can write just about anything and the excitement I feel about the books I write comes across in the story. I love writing large casts of characters which allows for lots of spin-offs. As a reader, I always like reading series where there are return characters we can catch up with as other stories progress. That’s the kind of stories I always write and I think those resonate with readers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AuthorAnnaStewart.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/AnnaJStewart
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AuthorAnnaJStewart
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/AJStewartWriter

Image Credits
Author photo courtesy of Stephanie Dandini Photography.