AUTHOR BIO:
Patricia Stover is a horror author whose works have been published in The Horror Zine, Scout Media, Cafe Macabre II, and Weirdsmith. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Stover resides in a small town near the Oklahoma/Texas border. She discovered her love of horror at a young age and was raised on campy 80s horror flicks. Her favorite type of stories are creature features. When she’s not writing, Stover is a mother to a rambunctious eight-year-old and she can often be found on the banks of Lake Texoma relaxing with a fishing pole by her side.
AUTHOR Q&A:
1.When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
PS: I’ve always loved writing, but I think the “Ah Ha” moment was during my first creative writing course as freshman in college. I’ve probably told this story before, but I’d been given a three-page screenplay assignment. I sat down to write, and it was as if I’d opened a whole other world that was inside of me. The words just poured out. I named it “In the Woods” or something like that. It was a Western Horror screenplay and was way beyond three pages.
2. How long does it take to write your book(s)?
PS: I’ll let you know once I finish my own book. I’ve only been published in anthologies and zines thus far. I had written several drafts of a book titled Hitchhiking With the Devil that I never pursued publication with. It was my very first attempt at writing a novel. I pantsed it and it had no direction or character development. So, now it is a trunk novel. I recently finished writing a YA horror novel titled Bone Crusher. It is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Star and her skateboard Madonna. I just got the first round of edits back from my editor and I am working on those. I’ve got the book proposal together and ready. Now I just need to finish all the edits. I think the first draft only took two or three months to write. The outline probably took a month. I hope to have all the edits done by this summer.
3. What is your work schedule like when writing a book?
PS: I work full time and write as a side gig. But I do a lot of my writing at work. Shh, don’t tell. I try to squeeze it in wherever and whenever I can. Whether that’s at work or in the evenings when I get home, on the weekends, that sort of thing.
4. Where do you get your ideas or information for your book?
PS: I have no clue where my ideas come from honestly. Bone Crusher just sort of came to me. I knew I wanted to write a strong, interesting female MC that young girls could look up to. One that would save herself. And I hope that I’ve done that well. I guess I’ll know when the readers tell me. I think I draw some things from the people and places around me, or my own experiences growing up. One of my goals as an author is to create great female characters and to try to focus on themes that are important to young girls and women. I think when I first began my writing journey, I really didn’t have any direction. I just knew I wanted to write stories and be published. But the more I wrote, the more I realized what I wanted to say, the message I had for the world.
5. When did you write your first book?
PS: I’m still working on that but if it all goes well, I will have it all finished by this summer and I will be querying agents.
6. What do you do when you’re not writing?
PS: I work full-time, and I am a mother of an eight-year-old boy who loves superheroes. I try to spend as much time with him as I can. When I am not doing that, I read, or watch horror movies. I like to get outdoors when it is warm and I like to travel, although I don’t get to do that very much. I hope to do more in the coming years.
7. What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your books
PS: Oh man. I’ve learned so much, I don’t know where to start. I think it was how much of ourselves ended up in our books. We may not notice it, but it’s there. All those bits and pieces of us, our lives now or our pasts. Maybe things we wish we could change or things we’ve already endured. It’s crazy how much we leave behind in our writings.
8. Any tips/suggestions on getting started?
PS: The only tip I have is to get over being scared and just do it. You just have to put pen to paper or sit down at the computer and do it. That is the only way to get going. Start there and you’ll find your way. Surround yourself with people who get it and who are willing to help when you have a question. There are many writer groups for that.
9. What do you think makes a good story?
PS: I think the character is what really makes the story so great. You have to start with an interesting character. One that isn’t perfect, and that other people can relate to. That’s the key to the beginning of a good story, for me.
10. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
PS: I wanted to be a veterinarian and a nurse. I even went to college and had all my prerequisites for nursing. Then I decided I wanted to become a writer instead.
LINKS:
PUBLISHED WORKS:
Poet. Writer. Author. Blogger. 
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