Author Interview: T. Stedman

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? 

I am a UK author with five full length novels, a novella and one non-fiction book under my belt. I write Dark Romance and my migrainewise blog which was the spark that drove My Migraine Story - my first venture into non-fiction.

How long have you been writing? 

I have always been a writer. I wrote short stories and poetry growing up. Occasionally I would write plays and radio shows that my brothers and I would perform and record on a small tape recorder. It still makes me laugh when I think of the comedy sketches I wrote with my friend. We saw ourselves as a budding French and Saunders.

What was the inspiration for your most recent book?

My latest book, My Migraine Story, grew out of my Migrainewise blog. I am a chronic migraineur and manage my own migraines with a holistic approach. I conduct my own clinical trials and report my findings. It's kind of an extension of the day job, which is in clinical research for the NHS. I wanted to share what I'd learned and give something back.

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

Gathering all the resources together to back up my opinions and findings was tricky, but the book kind of wrote itself. It was strange. After years of writing fantasy romance, it uses a completely different part of the brain and seemed easier to me. I always work with two editors, one developmental and one copy editor. We work well together and have done it for a long time. Formatting is always an issue with charts and tables, but I got through it with a book that I'm really proud of.

Do you often develop characters from your personal experiences or draw from that of others?

Usually a mixture of both. With my non fiction it was completely me. With my fiction, the female characters are different incarnations of me and the male ones a mish-mash of all the men i've known. Needless to say, there are a few delicious baddies.

Are your comfortable writing in different genres? What is your go-to genre?

Always urban fantasy, ever since I was a child. I absolutely loved Enid Blyton growing up – The Wishing Chair and the Faraway Tree. I can honestly say that apart from throwing a romance into the mix, my tastes haven't changed that much. Although I did read a few great surfing books when i was researching for the fourth book in my series, Tiger Lily. It was set in the SoCal surfing community.

Is your writing genre one that you read a lot of? Why or why not did you decide to/not to write in this genre?

My usual writing genre is Dark Romance/Urban Fantasy Romance and I read a ton of it. With non fiction I read a lot of blogs and self help–particularly in audio. I am a firm believer in writing what you know and what you read. Only through that do you really get to know your reader and what they want.

Do you have a favorite writing theme?

I love a romance, but my characters are always deeply flawed and that makes great conflict.

When did you decide that it was time to take your writing public?

I had written three full length novels and knew it would be easier to promote three than one. I write predominantly for myself, if someone else likes what I write then that's a bonus. I guess I thought jump and see. That was spring 2015.

Is writing your first job? If not, please tell us what you do when you’re not typing or writing away.

I get up at 5am and write before I go to work at a general hospital in clinical trials.Then I come home and do my marketing.

What’s something that you do to help find new inspiration?

Honestly, I never have writers block. When something comes to me I write it and it's not necessarily in the order that it will end up. It might just be a scene right in the middle or a piece of dialogue. I collect snippets over time but don't write it until an idea is really strong. The best advice I can give anyone is always leave your day's writing in the middle. Sometimes i even leave it mid-sentence. That way I'm already writing before I think about it, just finishing up the day before. I also handwrite my first drafts. I find my scrawl is quicker than my typing. I am seriously looking into dictation this year too. Don't expect too much from your first draft. If you saw mine you probably wouldn't make head nor tail of it. Just get it down and you'd be surprised what you can shape up in your first edit.

What is your next writing project?

I am nearing the end of the second draft of the fifth book in my 21st Century Sirens Series - Night Goddess. I wrote a a rough draft of it six years ago and put it away and forgot about it. It's been a great experience seeing how much i've improved since then. Hopefully Night Goddess will be out early summer 2018

Now for one of my favorite requests - tell us a random fun fact about yourself.

I am a UK cowgirl! Yep, seriously. Me and my horse, Half-pint like nothing better than rounding up a few cows or just moseying through the countryside.

www.tstedman.com www.migrainewise.com https://www.facebook.com/TStedman1author https://twitter.com/AuthorTStedman