Author Interview: Stephanie Kuehnert

Known for her emotional and raw stories, Stephanie Kuehnert, author of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Ballads of Suburbia, have stopped by for a quick interview!

She is extremely talented and I definitely recommend that you pick up one of her books to read! If you would like, feel free to visit her site to learn more about her at: http://www.stephaniekuehnert.com/.

Music plays a huge role in your life and you incorporate it into all of your novels. Do you have any bands or singers that had a huge impact on you at any point in your life?

I have quite a few. Kurt Cobain/Nirvana being the first. I discovered his music when I was a misfit 12 year old and it gave me a voice. It inspired me to write, to find my own voice because if Kurt could be heard by the masses maybe someday so could I. Courtney Love/Hole was really empowering to me as a teenage girl. Rancid and Social Distortion were also huge for me as a teenager. I strayed away from punk for awhile and the band that brought me back was The Distillers so they had a huge influence. Currently Civet, Rise Against, and Gaslight Anthem are having the biggest influence on me and my writing.

Is there a chance where one of your future novels will not include music?

I suppose anything is possible, but right now every idea I have involves music in some way. I can't imagine life without music, so I guess I have a hard time imagining fictional stories without it.

Have you thought about possibly expanding your writing genre from contemporary realism to lets say, paranormal?

Yes, in fact I'm working on something right now that has paranormal elements, more of an urban fantasy feel, based in mythology. I've always loved mythology so it's fun to explore that. However, I will always write contemporary realistic fiction too. I'd like to do both. Paranormal is a new challenge, but I love contemporary realistic. I probably read 50/50 between contemporary and genre fiction so why not write that way too!

Do you have any authors that you were influenced by?

Tons. My earliest influence was Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also love John Steinbeck, Irvine Welsh, Joe Meno, and my biggest YA influence is probably Francesca Lia Block (see why I need to write with some magical element!)

What is the most difficult aspect in writing for you? And the easiest?

That's hard because it varies from book to book. Usually the hardest part is nailing down the first draft, hammering out the structure and the plot. Outlining. I hate outlining but I need to do it. Revising is usually easier for me. I get into a good groove. The groundwork is laid and I'm ready to flesh things out. But sometimes, like with Ballads, revising is hard too.

Do you have any novels you are working on at the moment or will be releasing soon? If so, can you please give us a brief summary about them?

I'm working on a couple things. They are both in such early stages that I don't want to jinx them or really feel comfortable saying much because who knows what direction they'll take. I have one book under consideration by my editor now that is about a girl whose bartender/alcoholic mom dragged her around the country for most of her life and at 17, the girl finally puts her foot down and says she wants to stay where they are. It's about them trying to figure out how to make a functional life for themselves and the other quirky characters in the book and trying to grow up because the mom is emotionally still a teenager herself.

The second is the mythology-based story that I mentioned above. Keeping that tightly under wraps for now.

Lastly, give us an interesting fact about yourself that not many know of!

These questions are always hard for me because I feel like I'm an over-sharer and tell everyone everything about myself. Hmm okay, well I talk about my tattoos quite a bit, but not my piercings. I have 10 holes in my left ear and 3 in my right, adding up to my lucky 13 (my wedding date was also 10/3 to add up to my lucky 13). I've always wanted to get a lip ring or maybe an eyebrow ring, but haven't. Is 30 too old for a lip ring?