Bonus Episode with Mariah Stillbrook

Hey friends! Welcome to another Indie Author Spotlight Bonus Episode! Hopefully you read the feature interview I did with Mariah over on The Writer's Workout website, where I'm a volunteer. If not, well, I promise, you're really missing out. Mariah is absolutely delightful and amazing! I love her! We meet in a monthly writing group and it's one of the highlights of my month. Also, she's an actual witch. Like, who can say they are friends with a real witch?!

author Mariah Stillbrook

What does your writing ritual look like? 

When an idea or a character finds me, I take it to the treadmill and dance/run it out to Pink on Pandora. It doesn’t take long for enough of the lines to get colored in that I have something to work with. Then I take my sweaty self down the hall to my office and begin to write. I’m a pantser so there’s usually no physical outline, but everyone has a bit of an outline in their head and that’s where I keep most of my material. My vault is super full. Honestly, I can’t get these books written fast enough!

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received as an Indie Author? 

That social media is a waste of time. I get that it’s just one component of this whole mad world, but as a SAHM to a four-year-old diva, I don’t have a lot of extra time. For now, I am choosing to do as many local signing events as I can dig up while working on getting some of these stories—the ones taking up precious storage in my head—onto paper. Social media is my main outlet to spread the word about my books, and since I’m with a small press with a small budget, I’m the main marketer. The majority of my sales have come from social media; therefore I definitely don’t agree that it’s a waste of time.

What’s your go to book, movie or musical artist when you need some inspiration (or just a break from the keyboard)? Why? 

Anything angsty. I’ve already mentioned that I love Pink. I like to listen to anything pop punk really, and my favorite go to movie is The Lost Boys.

If you could snap your fingers and be “known” for one piece of your writing, what would it be?  

I don’t know if I’ve written ‘it’ yet, but Hall of Shadows has some seriously decent messages in it about facing the parts of ourselves that aren’t very pretty. Our spirits want to progress; shadow work is one way to aid in soul development.

Any other tidbits you wanna share? 

Being a writer, at least for me, isn’t a choice. It’s who I’ve always been and even if every reader, agent, editor—whatever—told me to stop writing and lock up my voice, I wouldn’t. Because I don’t know how. This industry is set up to shove us down, which is why we must first write for ourselves. We must unfold these worlds that come to us and watch how they sparkle, then keep that magic in our hearts as we move forward towards publication. We get so caught up in followers, likes, comments, and our inbox that we tend to forget what this is all about. So, I guess what I’m saying is return to your beginning now and again. Go back to that place where you were when you wrote that first sentence and heard a ghost whisper into your ear, “You’re a writer now.”

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