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

Stephanie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As much as I love a fast and fun read, all of my literary works have to have meaning behind them or else I don’t feel like I have a space in the writing world. While I still write predominantly fantasy, the messages behind those stories still ring true. The Ashport Archives is an urban fantasy but it’s main character shares many traits with me due to the fact that I got the idea while struggling with the effects of “reverse culture shock”. I had been living in Japan for five years when I suddenly was brought back home due to a death in the family and much like Leaven, I didn’t know how to really cope with all that had changed since I’d been gone. Granted, I didn’t have to deal with the sudden appearance of vampires and ghosts, but it felt that way for me and the friends I’d left behind. Her journey throughout the books is one of discovery herself in the new world and how to still hold true to her own beliefs without losing herself in the process.

My newest book, The Humane Society of Creatures & Cryptids is a cozy, contemporary fantasy that follows four different protagonists. Each one is a very important piece of myself and writing the book was a way to express some of the deeper topics I’ve never been able to bring myself to discuss in my everyday life. It was an outlet while still being a fun fantasy but it covers topics of generational trauma, sexual assault survival, anxiety, and depression. It’s the most I’ve ever put myself on the page but I had something to say and I feel like it’s my most important work yet.

Last year I also embarked on a project of writing in a different genre every single month in short story format (something I struggle with).. It’s the silliest I’ve been able to be but I still hid my important messages in the pages. My first short story is called Kozue Hacks the Universe and it’s pitched as a girl who is accidentally abducted by aliens. Doesn’t seem like an important message is hidden there, right? But in reality, it holds that message that even if we feel out of place in the world we live in, there is a place that exists where we can be whoever we truly are. For Kozue, that happens to be aboard an alien spaceship (and at this point wouldn’t we all jump at the chance to leave this planet? haha)

I won’t go into detail about all twelve stories but that’s the gist of how I approach writing. I sit on a message inside of myself that gradually shapes and reforms into something resembling a story and develop it from there, never letting go of that core thread.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been a published author since 2016 but I’ve been a writer since I was in seventh grade or thereabouts. I’m also a youtuber and make content about reading and writing and some other shenanigans thrown in there. I regularly stream productivity sprints on my youtube and twitch as Qwordy and QwordyQ respectively in an effort to help other creatives take dedicated focused time on their projects to get them to completion. I also offer proofreading services via my Ko-fi page and am an avid beta reader for whoever comes my way.

As an author, I have a completed four book series called The Ashport Archives along with it’s prequel novellas, currently three short stories are out and published in a project I did in 2022 where I wrote a different genre every single month. My newest and what I’m currently most proud of is my upcoming fall release of The Humane Society for Creatures & Cryptids which just finished an explosively successful kickstarter!

I’ve also been a youtuber since 2007, first as a J-vlogger when I lived in Japan and vlogged the experience and then transitioned into Authortube and Booktube in 2019 after moving back to the states.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

One of the most important thing society can do to support creatives, especially in the literary world since that’s where I hail from, is to drop the stigmas and split-second judgments. As a part of the self-publishing world, there is so much stigma against authors like me as being “failed authors” because we aren’t traditionally published which simply isn’t the case. While some of us may have attempted to query for an agent and get into traditional publishing, that doesn’t make the work we’ve done any less valuable. Sometimes it’s the agents who would best fit us don’t have the client space at the time the book is done, sometimes the query letter just wasn’t strong enough to gauge that interest. (Query letter writing and novel writing are extremely different talents). There are lots of factors that go into what will make it into traditional vs. what’s better self-published.

Since traditional publishing is all about sales and marketing, sometimes the books creatives write aren’t exactly what’s making money right now in terms of genre. As I currently speak, fantasy romances with lots of spicy scenes is what’s selling thanks to TikTok’s influence on the market. So a speculative sci-fi space opera murder mystery is not what agents are looking for but it could be what audiences are looking for. If anyone has written that book, I definitely would give it a read.

That’s not to say there aren’t absolute garbage books out there that are self-published. However, what’s worth a read is entirely up to the reader. There are also what I would consider absolute garbage books in the traditional world. it’s a matter of taste. Self-publishing just gets a bad reputation for having poorly edited books with amateur covers. What society doesn’t seem to grasp is that when a book is traditionally published, there is an entire team of people making those beautiful covers and editing those books. With self-publishing, that money to get those services is entirely out of pocket and a lot of people have to cut corners just to get the book out. In an ideal world, everyone would be able to afford expensive editors and cover artists but that’s just not the reality. We say not to judge a book by it’s cover but that’s exactly what we do (I know I do) but i’m willing to overlook a bad cover for what’s inside. I can overlook some typos. It’s not that big a deal to me at least. It’s only books that I find offensive with messages that promote toxicity or negative messages in the world that I truly consider garbage that should not be published (i.e. homophobic messages or relationships that promote toxic relationships as good)

So while readers may have to dig a little harder to find a self-published book that’s up to their standards, I hope people out there won’t knock a book just because it is self-published in the future.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a writer, the most rewarding thing I can do is get the book done. I write, first and foremost, for myself. As a reader, I’m always looking for specific things I want out of books and as the writer, I can make the exact book I want to read. I have several stories that I’ve never published but I wrote them for me and any time I need to, I go back and read them to give me that serotonin boost I need. I may never publish them, but that’s not what they exist for. In my opinion, all authors should be writing for themselves above all others. I understand some people are in the rapid release side of publishing for the money, and while there’s nothing wrong with that (especially in this economy), I always think it’s important to appease what your brain and heart want over what your bank account wants. At least in terms of creative work, I think writing just for money is a quick way to burn out fast.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ashportarchives.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/qwordyq
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/qwordyq
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Qwordy
• Other: https://www.twitch.tv/qwordyq https://www.tiktok.com/@stephanieandmambo https://ko-fi.com/stephaniegillis