We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stacy Lynn Carroll a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stacy Lynn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I always loved reading stories as a kid, and as I got older, I also gained a love for writing stories, too. When I was in ninth grade, I entered a writing contest to receive extra credit for my English class. I ended up winning the contest for my school. I then went on to win at council, region, and my poem made it all the way to the state level. Succeeding in that contest gave me the confidence I needed to start taking steps toward a career in writing.

Stacy Lynn, 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?

One of my greatest strengths (I’d like to think) is being a writer. I’ve won multiple awards, I’ve been on the Amazon best seller list, and I’ve taught classes to other writers. But you want to know a secret? Being a writer was NOT always my strength. Once upon a time, it was one of my biggest weaknesses.

When I was little, I lived in Florida. And unfortunately the neighborhood where I lived did not have very good schools. So while other kids my age were learning to read and write, I barely knew my alphabet.
Then halfway through second grade, my family moved to Utah. We discovered very quickly that I was way behind the rest of the kids in my grade at my new school. So much so, in fact, that they wanted to put me back into first grade so I could start over and learn how to read. Can you imagine how I felt? I felt incredibly stupid and I was terrified of being an almost-third-grader back with all the little kids in first grade.
Well, I had an amazing 2nd grade teacher, her name was Mrs. Steele. And she told the school NO. She promised the school that she could help me get caught up. Mrs. Steele set up a reading and writing schedule for me to follow at home with my parents. She kept me inside at recess and helped me improve. And she worked with me one-on-one whenever we had free time in class.

I can tell you, it was NOT easy! And it was definitely NOT fun! I absolutely hated reading and writing for a long time. Because it made me feel dumb. And I hated missing out on recess. And I hated having to work extra hard on schoolwork, long after my brothers and sisters had gone to bed. But, I did have the desire to get better. The threat of having to go back and repeat first grade was a huge motivator for me. And thankfully, when I did not have patience, my teacher and my parents did. They helped me learn to be patient with myself. I was not going to catch up in one night. Or even twenty nights! But with patience and perseverance, I got better and better.
The adults in my life also helped me to make goals that were attainable. My teacher didn’t hand me a Harry Potter novel and tell me to go for it. (probably because Harry Potter hadn’t been written yet, but you know what I mean.) My teacher started me out on a very simple book: The Cat in The Hat

One of the reasons Mrs. Steele chose this book for me was because the words are simple. Another reason is because the words rhyme. It really helped when I was struggling with a particular word to know it rhymed with another word in the previous sentence. The words in this book are also very repetitive. The repetition helped me gain confidence. I read this book every night until I had it completely memorized. Reading the same book over and over really helped me learn to read, because I knew what the words were supposed to be. After The Cat in the Hat, I moved on to other Dr. Seuss books like Green Eggs and Ham. Dr. Seuss has always been one of my favorite authors because I attribute learning how to read to him and Mrs. Steele.

After working very hard for several months, an amazing thing happened. I learned how to read! Even though it was extremely hard for me, through desire, patience, perseverance, and through attainable goals, I got completely caught up with the rest of the kids in my class. And the more I read, and the better I got at reading, the more I grew to love it. Because most of the time, we tend to love the things we are really good at. I hated reading when it was my weakness. But as soon as it became my strength, it also became one of my greatest passions. In fact, reading soon became a problem for me. I would get in trouble for staying up too late and reading in bed. But I absolutely loved getting lost in stories! And I began writing my own when I was in fifth grade.

One of the aspects I love most about being an author, is connecting with my younger readers. Because when I was younger, authors made all the difference in what I did with my life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I started writing my most recent book, “The Year I was Almost Prom Queen” five years ago. I bounced the idea off my agent. She really liked it. It was supposed to be my “big break”. My first novel with a big publishing house! Finally, after years and years of work, my greatest dream was coming true! I finished the first draft and my agent said, “it feels like this takes place in 2002.” Guess what year I graduated high school? Yup. Class of ’02. So it required a significant amount of rewrites. While working on this, Matt’s dad passed away. That was really, really hard. It was hard knowing our baby (who I was six months pregnant with) would never meet her grandpa on this earth. I couldn’t sleep. I started having panic attacks. Then when I seemed to get those under control, Covid hit. Our lives were turned upside down, as I’m sure many of yours were. Suddenly all the kids were home, Matt was home, and we were trying to create a new normal. Then two weeks after Covid shutdowns began, our sweet Lindy was born. Newborn plus trying to balance school for the other four was hard.
Then I started getting sick. Constantly. And I couldn’t get better. After many doctors and draws and tests, we discovered I was allergic to everything. I had never dealt with food allergies in my life! But now I was suddenly violently ill, no matter what I ate. Turns out the birth of my last child altered my body considerably. I couldn’t eat anymore. Through the guidance of my doctor, we ran more tests and eliminated foods and found out there are a lot of foods I need to avoid. The biggest one being Soy, which is in everything in America! I had to find a new normal. Again.
Just as I was ready to start writing again, my nephew passed away. My nephew who shared my love and passion for writing stories. At only 16-years-old, he was gone. Grief is a beast! I could not focus long enough to write. My brain was in a fog. Panic attacks started again. A few months later, my grandma passed away.
During all this time, I tried to write. But it was hard! I completed several picture books, and my agent tried to sell them, but no takers. I wanted to give up! I decided maybe writing isn’t for me.
But without writing, my depression and anxiety got worse. My amazing husband pushed me to start again. He encouraged me to go on writing retreats. He set up a time so I could write once a week, while the older kids were in school.
I got reacquainted with the characters I loved so much! And I started making progress again. The latest draft was finally coming together! Through the help of good editors, I knew I had a story to share. I sent the book to more than a dozen teenage girls to get their feedback. With their suggestions, the book got even better. I was so excited to share the new version with my agent! And I was ready!! Ready for her to sell it to a big publisher, and let the world finally read what I had been working so hard to create.
Then just before Christmas, my agent had to drop me as a client. I was crushed! I was embarrassed. I felt like a complete failure. I had come so far in my career, only to hit a brick wall. (I do not blame my agent. She had to cut back on her client list, and I had been unable to secure any new sales in several years). But we were supposed to sell my book in January. I had come mere weeks away from my greatest dream coming true! And it was all ripped out from under me, in a matter of seconds. I hit one of the lowest points in my life. It was hard to even get out of bed.
But slowly, just like before, I clawed my way out of the wreckage, and started to take next steps. Through tear-filled eyes, I began querying new agents. But I knew it would take time. I still haven’t found one yet, but I haven’t stopped trying.
In the meantime, I had this beautiful, completed manuscript just sitting here. Waiting. Always waiting. By the time I found a new agent, and that new agent submitted the manuscript, and found a publisher, and started the publishing process…I was looking at another five years. By then my manuscript might feel outdated again. And I had worked so hard to get it done! That’s when I decided to self publish it. I know this book is good. I know it could be published with a traditional publisher. But I got tired of waiting for someone else to make my dreams come true for me. I was going to make them happen myself!
So I hired a cover designer. I hired editors and proofreaders. I had big plans. I decided to have a big launch party, at a local bookstore. Make tiara cookies, and invite guests to wear prom dresses. I set up a marketing plan. Then the same day as my big cover reveal, my husband lost his job. But I’m not going to give up! I Will. Not. Quit. For now, I am the soul breadwinner for my family. And I am putting my faith in God that everything lined up this way for a reason.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are a lot of failures and discouragement that comes from being an artist or creative. But what makes all the struggles worth it are the moments when you touch another person’s life. When I receive an email thanking me for a book I wrote. When a teenage girl runs up to me at a book signing, telling me how much she loved book one, and can’t wait to start book two. When I meet new people at events and find out my book is exactly what they’ve been looking for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stacylynncarroll.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacylcarroll/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorstacylynncarroll
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDkqw9_kvlQ&t=2s&ab_channel=StacyLynnCarroll