Today we’d like to introduce you to Danika Stone

Hi Danika, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I always knew I wanted to be an author. Long before I knew how to write actual words, I remember tracing a series of letters and asking my father to read it back to me. At four years old, imagine my disappointment that it was only a series of sounds I’d created, not the vast story that I’d imagined in my head.

As an adult, this dream persisted, and eventually I accumulated enough experience with writing, that I had a manuscript I felt could sell. I wish I could say it did… but that wouldn’t be the truth.
But the next one sold. And so did the next, and the next, and the next and…
In the last decade, I’ve built a multi-genre career with publications as big as Macmillan US, as well as with small indie presses. I’m best known for my young adult titles (ALL THE FEELS, INTERNET FAMOUS, and SWITCHBACK), but I’ve also written a thriller trilogy (EDGE OF WILD, THE DARK DIVIDE, and FALL OF NIGHT) as well as a supernatural thriller (INESCAPABLE). My next project is a scifi / horror anthology.

With each new piece I write, I discover a new facet of my writing!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

As with any writing career, there are challenges. That first manuscript I wrote never saw the light of day. Getting an agent is only the first hurdle. Finding a publisher–no matter how many books you’ve written–is a constant struggle. I have books that I consider some of my best work that have been relegated to the slush pile. But I truly believe that no writing is ever a waste. You learn. And with each thing you write, your skill improves.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I’m most proud of how broad my creative life is. Yes, I’m an author of young adult fiction, but I’m also a thriller writer, and I’m soon to be published as a scifi writer as well.

Beyond literary endeavours, I’m also a fine artist and am represented by Gust Gallery (Waterton, AB). For me, it’s not so much what you create as the fact that you ARE creative. I love taking ideas and sharing them. It doesn’t matter ‘how’.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?

My love of literature was strongly influenced and shaped by my late father. Even though he never lived to see any of my books published, he’s the first reader I think of when I start writing, and the last person who comes to mind as I hit send on an edited manuscript. The biggest role he played was as a mentor. We traded books back and forth for years. He taught me the importance of grit, and he genuinely believed I could accomplish anything, which in turn extended to my own beliefs.

Despite never living to read my books, his spirit is part of every one of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danikastone.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danika_k_stone/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danikastoneauthor
• Twitter: https://x.com/Danika_Stone
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmYNXyohrKMkIgsWLLbMjEA
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/danikastone.bsky.social

Image Credits

Images by: Cirrus Stone and i.m. ruzz (all photos by permission)