Written Interview Questions for Stephanie Giese

About the Books and Writing:

Your North Bay series blends small-town romance, humor, and mental health themes. How do you balance comedy and serious topics in your storytelling? 

Oh wow! We’re diving right in with the hard-hitting questions, huh? Honestly, I think the balance comes naturally because that’s how real life works. We need levity in hard times. Have you ever been to a loved ones funeral and cracked up laughing with your cousins at old family stories? I think we all do that in one way or another.

Each of your books is beta-read by licensed mental health professionals. Can you talk about how that process shapes your writing? 

Absolutely. I’m a mental health advocate in real life (there’s more about my family’s story in my memoir All I Never Knowed, which is about the children’s mental health crisis in America), and my mom is also a licensed therapist. My husband and I use our real-life experiences to talk to police officers at trainings and help them learn the best ways to respond to families in crisis. I’ve also served as an advocate in IEP meetings for families, as well as fought with hospitals to get them to better train staff in how to handle mental health and patients with disabilities. It’s extremely important to me that mental health themes be represented in realistic, responsible ways. In fiction, I want those scenes to feel authentic and also show examples of real ways people can get help and find community in difficult situations. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when writers obviously don’t have experience with the subject matter and also haven’t consulted anyone who knows better. I also never want the mental health themes to feel like I’m only using them as a trope or gimmick, and I recognize that language has power. I don’t want reading my book to be damaging to anyone, so I always have my books beta read by licensed professionals to make sure I’m being as responsible as possible with my representation. 

Found family is a common trope in your series. Why is it so important in your stories?

 In real life, I’m a foster and adoptive mom. I am raising five teenagers, and several of them came into our family through the foster care system. I didn’t do that on purpose with this series, but it’s a theme that just kept showing up because I feel strongly that family doesn’t necessarily mean blood. Sometimes the family ties we build ourselves are stronger than the ones we are born into.

How do your experiences as a parenting content creator and children’s mental health advocate influence your romance novels?

 I was a content creator for a long time, and that eventually led to paid writing jobs for magazines and newspapers, so I knew I could write. It also gave me a lot of experience in meeting deadlines, brushing off criticism, and telling the stories I wanted to tell. The children’s mental health piece played a big role in teaching me about responsible representation and gave me the connections to professionals I was able to ask to beta read for me.

Your stories include lightly spicy romance while addressing consent. How do you approach writing intimate scenes responsibly and authentically?

 Spicy content holds such a duality for me because I truly believe seeing responsible, authentic representations of intimacy can be the most important, life-changing thing for female readers who might not have seen many healthy examples of things like consent in media elsewhere, but I actually don’t enjoy writing it. Romance is revolutionary because it’s the only form of media that centers the female experience in a positive way, focuses on interpersonal relationships and building empathy for multiple perspectives, and is accessible and affordable. But from a technical standpoint, spicy scenes are some of the hardest to write because it’s the climax (literally and figuratively) of this relationship you’ve been building between these characters, so it has to feel earned, realistic, fun to read, and at the same time it’s one of the most physically demanding scenes in the entire book. You’re choreographing a lot of movement as a writer. Where are everyone’s hands and legs, where are they in the room, how are the characters interacting with their environment (blankets, etc.)? Plus, the dialogue between them needs to be good because this scene is central to the plot if it’s a romance. There is a ton of pressure to hit every element in a very limited number of pages.

What inspired you to pivot from parenting content and advocacy to contemporary romance?

 My kids are older now (ages 14-19), and the teen stage isn’t really focused on very much in the parenting content space. (Although maybe it should be!) I got into the Romance genre as a reader during a particularly difficult phase of life when my oldest son spent several months in the hospital. Finding authors like Meghan Quinn who could make me laugh out loud and brought joy into my life during a dark period was such a gift. I wanted to be able to do that for people, too, and I thought that my background in advocacy might help me do it in a real and authentic way. 

How do you create relatable, small-town settings that feel cozy yet authentic?

 North Bay is based on a real small-town in Virginia, where I still have family. The descriptions of downtown being one street on a waterfront peninsula are literally just me writing about where they really live. 

Which character in the North Bay series was the most fun to write, and why? 

Grandma Honey was the most fun because she could be as wild or as wise as she needed to be, and she can come and go in a scene as she pleases.

Were there moments when you struggled with balancing humor and emotional depth in a scene?

 I don’t remember if there was a specific scene, but I tried to give each book its own unique device to carry the humor throughout to make sure there would be some balance and things didn’t get too serious. In Out of Left Field, it’s the dad jokes and word play. In Right as Rain, it’s the prank war between Jake and Alice, and in Way Off Base it’s Shelley’s interactions with her sisters. My hope was that by including those elements and switching them up from one book to the next, the humor would carry through the story and not feel repetitive as readers made their way through the series.

Do you plot your novels in advance, or do the characters guide the story as you write?

I wish I could be a plotter, but I’m a pantser, through and through. When I sit down  to write, I have no idea what’s going to come out on that page. By Book 3, not planning anything certainly presented some challenges in terms of how to get the timelines for all three books to match up!

Creative Process and Inspiration:
How does your daily life with a large family and a naughty beagle influence your writing routine or creative energy? 

When the kids were young, it was a lot more challenging to find time to write. I’m thankful to be in a stage of my life when I have larger chunks of time to dedicate to writing. Still, it can be hard to prioritize time for creativity when there are a lot of daily tasks to get done. Laundry for eight people is no joke, and I’m always cooking for a crowd. A few times a year, I try to spend a few days alone in a hotel so I can completely focus on my work.

Do you have a favorite scene or book in the North Bay series so far? 

Oh, gosh. This is a hard question because my favorite scenes to write aren’t always the ones I think are the best ones in the book. In Out of Left Field, it’s probably their first kiss. (Although my actual favorite scene was cut and is now the bonus scene readers get when they sign up for my newsletter.) In Right as Rain, it’s the ending. In Way Off Base, I think it’s probably the airplane scene.

This question also makes me think about a particular scene in Out of Left Field where the female character, Danielle, gets her period. I happen to love that scene. I consider it my ode to Judy Blume, my all-time favorite author. But it’s VERY controversial. That is the scene that either makes people fall in love with my books or want to run far, far away. It’s also the #1 reason readers pause and take a minute to email me. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve gotten that say, “I’m reading Out of Left Field and just got to the period scene.” Whether they love it or hate it, it definitely gives people strong feelings.

How do you tackle writing challenging mental health topics without turning your stories into heavy reads?

 Haha. This is what editors are for. I work with a great editor, Denise Drapeau, who will straight-up just tell me “this scene is too heavy, you need to lighten it up.”

Are there particular authors, books, or media that inspire your humor or romance writing style? 

I love Judy Blume, Bo Burnham, and Meghan Quinn. 

How do you approach writing romance that’s accessible, fun, and socially conscious at the same time?

 The fun and socially conscious part just come together as part of my personality. Not that I’m all that fun, I’m pretty quiet and shy in real life. But I love writing and always have, so I have a lot of fun doing it. I hope that shows. I do think it took me a while to embrace my own style and accept that I love a 1st person, present tense narrative (which is looked down on in a lot of writing spaces) and a quirky story. There’s nothing wrong with fun being the main objective, but if I was going to spend so much time focused on a project, I also wanted to make sure it was for a good reason and that I brought something unique and valuable to the project that separated it from the millions of other Romance books on the market, hence the mental health angle. The accessibility I try to accomplish by pricing my books low, making them available in Kindle Unlimited, and frequently running free book promotions. Out of Left Field is also already available in audiobook, and Right as Rain and Way Off Base are scheduled to record this year. And I try to have my books placed in as many public libraries as possible. 

How has your work in non-profits and national media shaped your voice as an author? 

 I honestly don’t know. My hope would be that it’s given me the opportunity to hear a lot of different voices and relate to people from all different walks of life, so hopefully everyone feels represented by these stories. 

What’s your favorite part of writing small-town romcoms—worldbuilding, dialogue, or character arcs?

 I LOVE writing banter, so the dialogue is usually my favorite part and the thing that comes easiest.

Personal Insights & Advocacy:
You describe your books as an extension of your mental health advocacy. What conversations do you hope your readers take away from them?

 I hope these stories help people feel seen, heard, and valued. I think it would also be great if the books could be used as a communication tool in relationships. Whether it’s with a partner, a parent, a friend, or a therapist, sometimes it can be a great conversation starter to say, “Hey, I read this book, and I really related to this character and here’s why.” Maybe someone has been feeling a certain way for a while, but they needed the language to be able to communicate it to someone else.

How do you ensure your stories model healthy interpersonal relationships for readers of all ages?

 I think the Dual POV model really helps with that because it allows for multiple perspectives and gives readers a window into the inner thoughts of each character. I also try to have my dialogue be as realistic as possible while modeling enthusiastic consent, boundaries, and mental health treatment options.

What advice would you give aspiring romance authors who want to tackle real-life topics responsibly in their stories?

 I know it sounds cliche, but the old saying “write what you know” is truly important here. As writers, we need to be able to recognize our own ignorance and be willing to learn and take advice from people with real experience in the areas we want to represent.

Rapid-Fire Questions:
Coffee, tea, or something else while writing? Tea and chocolate, always’’

 Favorite place to write or brainstorm ideas? My bed

 One book you wish you had written? Ohhh. What a great question. I remember reading Still Beating and Lotus by Jennifer Hartman last year and being really impressed by some of the writing choices. And I really admire when writers can balance social commentary with compelling stories like in The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  

Character in your series you relate to the most? Probably Jake. I built several things into his story that I pulled from my own life.

When you’re not writing, what’s your favorite way to unwind or find inspiration? I love a good day of bedrotting and a Netflix binge. I like rewatching comedies like New Girl and Schitt’s Creek, but I’m watching Big Love on HBO Max right now.