Meet Stephanie Zayatz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Zayatz.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Stephanie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always been a writer. I don’t recall if there was something specific that set me off in that path but I just remember always loving it. I wrote my first story when I was probably about 6 and it never really stopped. I had written a full-length manuscript before I was out of high school. In college, I pursued a couple of different things because I was also really into theatre, but eventually, I ended up right back in writing and got a degree in English and creative writing. It took me a little while to get myself situated after college (life gets a little weird sometimes) but I finally published my first book in 2016 and have put out at least one book a year since then.

Has it been a smooth road?
The writing was Plan A when I left college. I knew I’d have to work a day job while I got my stuff out there, but there was never a doubt in my mind that the end goal was a publishing deal. I started shopping an urban fantasy manuscript around to editors and agents right after I graduated college. I was signed to an agency in 2012 but they weren’t a particularly good fit for me and after rewriting that manuscript twice based on their recommendations I ended up never hearing from them again. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth regarding traditional publishing.

By that time I’d gotten divorced and become a single parent, so writing as a full-time career had gone from a Plan A to a Plan X, but I kept writing. I knew that the likelihood of going the traditional publishing route was not very good for me since I had to make a living and doing that as a writer isn’t very easy, so I started looking into self-publishing. I figured even if I wasn’t making a lot of money off it, at least I could still say that I did it. I ended up publishing my first novel, Shadows of Old Ghosts, in November 2016 through Amazon. I’ve put out four more books since then and I’m really happy with the process. I don’t make a lot of money writing, but I get to write what I want, publish easily, and I have a small group of really dedicated fans who are always asking me for more. I don’t feel like my creativity is being stifled or led in a particular direction by an editor who is thinking more about the bottom line than the actual content. So my journey into becoming a writer isn’t traditional or what I expected, but I probably wouldn’t change anything about it at this point.

Please tell us about your work.
My books are in the urban fantasy genre – meaning they’re set in contemporary time but have elements of fantasy or science fiction in them – but I also classify them as detective thrillers. They’re detective stories with paranormal twists to them. They’re also set in Denver, which I think is kind of unusual for the fiction world. There’s not a lot of books set in Denver, but it’s the place I live and I love it here and I want to share it with people. I do my best to point out (sometimes in a tongue in cheek way) local landmarks that locals would understand, but it must work because I have people asking me, “is that *that* location you were talking about in the book?” Most detective stories are set in big cities like New York, Boston, Los Angeles. I like the feel of a book in Denver because I’m in it all the time. Two of my books have covers with photos I took myself in Colorado. I think personally that it gives my stories a more authentic, intimate feel because I’m not writing vaguely about some city that I’ve only seen in movies. I’m writing about the places I walk by, the restaurants I eat in, landmarks that I have known all my life. It makes a difference in the heart of the stories and I think that’s just one thing that makes them unique.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I am amazed by what a cultural hub Denver is becoming. There are so many little corners of the city now where art and music and food are becoming such a central pull and it’s redeveloping our identity as a major city. Denver isn’t seen as a cow town anymore. It’s a vibrant city that just happens to be close enough to the mountains that you truly get to be in the middle of the best of both worlds. That said, the population growth and all the ripple effects from that have me a little concerned, as someone who has grown up here and is just trying to make a living. You can’t have one without the other–economic and cultural growth without a population to support it–but I wonder sometimes if this place isn’t at risk of being loved to death.

Contact Info:

• Email: beanpod113@gmail.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/szayatzwriting
• Twitter: @s_zayatz
• Other: Search “Stephanie Zayatz” on Amazon.com to find my books.

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