We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah J. Sover. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah J. below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

There is no straight path to becoming a writer. I knew from early on that I wanted to write, but like many creatives, I have many other passions too. In High School, I wrote for the school newspaper, submitted poems to the literary magazine, participated in open mic nights (we can talk about overcoming a crippling fear of public speaking later), and founded a writer’s club. It was no surprise to anyone when I declared English as my major in college. However, life had different plans.

The creative writing professor and I did not see eye-to-eye. He had his own hopes and expectations, and I did not meet them. I’m direct, succinct. In other words, I’m a genre writer. At the time, I didn’t know that. So we engaged in a semester-long struggle in which he would make snide comments on my writing and I would continue to complete the assignments in my own way. Once, he gave us an open-ended assignment to write a poem. I turned in three. On the first, I wrote “I love this, you will hate it.” On the second, I wrote “I hate this, you will love it.” And on the third, I wrote “For good measure.” On each, he commented “You’re right,” then he failed me for not stapling them together. I’ve never been one to take being put in my place, though, so nothing changed. At the end of the semester, he told me “You’re one of the best writers I’ve ever had in any of my classes, but trying to get you to write the way I want you to write is like trying to get an algebra student to do geometry.”

I went to my advisor and said “I want to save the world and don’t need an English degree to write, what should I do?” (I know, I was such a wide-eyed baby). He told me to get a Biology degree and go into Environmental Law. I changed to Bio but realized in short order that I would be the world’s worst lawyer.

So, I became a wildlife rehabilitator and veterinary technician.

I swear, I did become a writer at some point, but like I said, the path was winding. It wasn’t until another sharp right turn, a marriage, and the birth of my first child that I got my first book deal, but I wrote through it all in some way or another.

Sarah, 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 fantasy crossover novels. My debut novel, a comedic fantasy about drunk trolls pulling a suicidal heist was inspired by Ocean’s Eleven, Matt Groening, Jim Henson, and Deadpool. My noir fantasy Fractured Fae series is like Jessica Jones with sparkle. Fairy Godmurder tells the story of a fairy godmother hunting down the serial killer who offed her first princess, and it’s available now. Faed to Black releases next year.

I also write short stories for anthologies and nonfiction for Writer’s Digest and Dan Koboldt’s Putting the Fact in Fantasy.

As you can tell, I make unusual connections, and I think that’s in part thanks to my ADHD. When your brain doesn’t shut off, all kinds of wires get crossed, but it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. While there is the occasional short-circuit, I think real magic comes out of these connections.

I love to panel on the regional convention circuit because it gives me a chance to geek out about all the amazing SFF media available now. I’ve been a guest at JordanCon, Monsterama, Multiverse, AtomaCon, ConCarolinas, and more. My table banner says Sarah J. Sover, Not for Everyone, and my publisher cracked up the first time he saw it because he thought it captured my essence perfectly.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I laugh every time I see a stupid meme about how some hugely successful author got rejected 10 whole times from publishers before their big break. That is not inspirational to all the authors in the query trenches who are looking at their 50th agent rejection for a book that hasn’t even made it to the publishers yet. For those unfamiliar, there are multiple paths to publication. The traditional route is to write a book, query agents, sign with an agent, go out on submission to publishers, hopefully get picked up by a good publisher. Some writers skip right to submitting to publishers, but many of the larger pubs do not accept unsolicited manuscripts directly. And others choose to self-publish, which has its own list of challenges. I attempted the traditional route but have found the small publishing route far more validating.

So, here are my stats:
Book 1, an epic fantasy- rejected (or ignored because “no answer means no” has become accepted practice) 70+ times before I shelved it.
Book 2, Double-Crossing the Bridge- rejected (or ignored) 70+ times, one agent request, one publisher revise and resubmit before I signed with a different small press.
Book 3, Fairy Godmurder- rejected (or ignored) 60-70 times, 11 requests from agents before Covid hit and most went silent, 1 agent revise and resubmit (which I did but it still got rejected), signed with a fabulous small press that made me wonder why I put myself through all that!

Will I query again at some point? Probably. But for now, I’m happily writing the stories I signed with Falstaff Books.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

There is so much harmful advice out there for writers, and as an ADHD writer, it drives me bonkers. No, you don’t have to write every day. No, you don’t have to commit to NaNoWriMo if it doesn’t work for you. No, you don’t have to cut everything you love out of your books (A successful author said “Kill your darlings” one time, and everyone decided that meant they had to gut their stories. WHAT?!)

Find the way you can get words on the paper. Your process doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Stop reading social media looking for a magical answer, and just do it! Don’t beat yourself up if you go weeks without writing. Don’t spiral into a brick wall. Just open the document and write when and how you can.

That’s it.

Every word gets you closer to your goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SarahJSover
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/SarahJSover
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SJSover/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahJSover
• Other: https://linktr.ee/SarahJ.Sover

Image Credits
Sarah J. Sover, Alex Sover, Tonya Dorsey