Stephanie Hoina, Author

As a young girl, Stephanie would write about anything and everything simply because it made her happy. She parlayed her love of the written word into a successful marketing and communications career, while a host of never submitted or unfinished picture book and romance novels clogged up her computer's hard drive. Stephanie resides in her hometown of the Bronx, NY, with her son, husband and crazy boxer pup named Bella. She continues to write simply because it makes her happy. Kissing Atticus Primble - which made a daring escape from her computer's hard drive - is her first published novel.

You can learn more about Stephanie by visiting http://www.stephaniehoina.com

 

INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE HOINA:

How did you get started writing?

The answer to this question is rather boring, but the truth is I’ve written for as long as I can remember. It was something I did because I enjoyed it. I guess I started with simple little poems, a 2^nd or 3^rd grade example of which I found recently, filled with both heartfelt sentiment and spelling errors! I wrote my first real story when I was about 8 or 9. It was a fantasy story that I wrote in a very small dark green “pleather” notebook and I illustrated with markers. I can still see it very clearly. I’ve been writing ever since in one form or another.

Who influenced you?

Although I’m an avid reader, I don’t know that any one person or author influenced me. It’s really been more of a collective experience, a love of the written word in general, no matter who wrote it.  But I suspect if I had to pick someone, an early influence was actually my mom. When I was a young girl I found some poetry she wrote as a teen and it stuck with me. 

Do you have a favorite book/subject/character/setting?

There are so many wonderful books out there that it’s hard to pick just one, but Charlotte’s Web, On a Pale Horse, A Prayer for Owen Meaney, Time and Again, and Once and Future King would definitely be on my list.  As for subjects/characters/settings, I’m a romantic at heart so I do like love stories. But in general I read anything and everything. It’s such a great way to get in touch with people and places and subjects that you might not typically come across in your “real” life.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?

This one is easy: first and foremost READ. Read everything you can get your hands on. It seems simple enough but I think it’s a critical part of the learning process for anyone who wants to be a writer.  Secondly, believe in yourself.  It’s a very hard thing to do, especially when people judge your work and find it lacking.  Take constructive criticism to heart - you can definitely learn from it - but be true to yourself. Trust your instincts. Writing is not a perfect science. It’s an art, and as such, subjective. Everyone views art differently. That being said, there’s no excuse for poor spelling and bad grammar. You can have the best story, but if it’s riddled with typos and bad sentence construction it won’t be seen in its best light – and neither will you.

Where is your favorite place to write?

My home office is where I write the most, though I am not sure that counts as my favorite place to write.  It’s probably where I’m most productive because I can tune out the rest of the world.  I also have a lovely view from my office window, and that’s definitely a plus.

What else would you like to tell us?

I am so grateful for the opportunity LitPick is giving me to introduce my first little book to a wider audience. For a writer, it’s akin to watching your child go out into the world – exciting, nerve-wracking, sad – a whole bunch of jumbled emotions. I started Kissing Atticus Primble almost eight long years ago with many starts and stops in between. Now that it’s out there for people to see, I really hope they enjoy the little bit of time they spend with Atticus and Kathleen and become as invested in their story as I am. I’ve already started on the sequel, but believe it or not even I don’t know what’s going to happen next! I’m waiting for them to tell me!

One last thing I would like to share with your readers is a little project I created for the book called the Facebook Wall of Fame: Look Who’s Kissing Atticus Primble. Fans of the book post pics of themselves with the book. Some of my fans are quite furry! In general, people are having a lot of fun with it and I’d love for your readers to participate! They can do so by going to http://www.stephaniehoina.com/ and posting their pic. The link for the full Wall of Fame photo album is https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1515710871994922.1073741829.1498081533757856&type=3

And remember, if you like the book, tell a friend! :)