Ask the Author: Stacie Ramey
Answered Questions (19)
Stacie Ramey
So sorry I didn't see this sooner! First of all, thank you so much for reading this book and for writing to me about it. Readers are everything! In answer to your question, my family has had a long experience with recovery from alcohol and addiction. The Sister Pact touched on that, but this book really got into it. It helps to put words on the page when you are dealing with tough emotional things. This book sort of saved me.
Stacie Ramey
Lilly,
I cannot tell you how much this means to me! As an author you are always hoping to reach people and you let me know that my work got inside you. Thank you. Thank you. Without readers there is no reason to write. It's a reciprocal relationship. As of now there are no offers to make my books into movies, but maybe(hopefully) 2021 will bring new opportunities. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep being plugged into literature.
All my best-
I cannot tell you how much this means to me! As an author you are always hoping to reach people and you let me know that my work got inside you. Thank you. Thank you. Without readers there is no reason to write. It's a reciprocal relationship. As of now there are no offers to make my books into movies, but maybe(hopefully) 2021 will bring new opportunities. Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep being plugged into literature.
All my best-
Stacie Ramey
"Everything's different for girls like me."
Stacie Ramey
Narnia. Hands down.
Stacie Ramey
"I'm living my life in checkerboard moves." p. 20
Stacie Ramey
A girl finds out she's going to die at midnight. It's 11:54 PM.
Stacie Ramey
The Sister Pact was a really emotional book to write. There were times I'd have to take breaks and walk around the block or kiss one of my puppies or just make dinner to get the images out of my head. It was haunting. I felt unspeakably sad for Allie. I missed Leah as much as she did. I felt bewildered. I felt overwhelmed. I felt scared and angry and like it was part of a bad dream. Until I wrote the end. Then I felt hopeful. Great question.
Stacie Ramey
First let me say that I'm so amazed that you already know that you want to write. That's very cool! My best advice is to write as often as you can and to attend as many writing workshops as you possibly can. Find other like minded people and critique for each other. Be open. Be kind. Be focused. Also, have fun!
Stacie Ramey
I'm so excited that you are interested in The Secrets We Bury!!! The release date was supposed to be in November but it's been pushed off a bit to March 2018. Now initially I was kind of bummed about that, but it's going to give me time to put together some really cool SWAG and maybe some events. I've got so many ideas, you have no idea! It will be in B & N as we get closer and hopefully soon I will be able to release the cover. It is GORGEOUS!!! I'm not just saying because it's mine. In the meantime I'll probably update my newsletter soon. Are you on the list? If not go to my website www.stacieramey.com and sign up! I have noticed and appreciated your interest in my books since the first one and believe me, it makes such a difference! Loyal readers like you make all the difference. And I know March seems really far away, but maybe I can find a way to make it go faster with fun giveaways.
Stacie Ramey
What a great question! I have a ton of books on my TBR list for the summer. Some old, some new. First I want to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower (have wanted to read for years!). Next I want to read The Hate U Give. Then Stranger Things Have Happened by Jeff Strand. I also want to read The Raven King and Everything Everything. Just to name a few. But my summers always kick off with reading Stephen King's Lisey's Story or The Shining.
Stacie Ramey
I'm not sure anything in my life is mysterious enough for a plot for a book. Which may explain why as a kid I always invented mysteries about people I'd see in my travels but did not know.
Stacie Ramey
Tash,
What an awesome question! I'm so glad you are looking forward to November and my new release. Honestly, you completely made my day, which is not easy since it's the Monday after Daylight Savings Horror. Ugh. Hate losing an hour, don't you? Anyway, unfortunately the next book is not about Allie :( Although I'd love to write about Allie's college years. Hmmm. I may just have to do that. The Secrets We Bury is about Dylan, Emily's cousin. I hope you'll fall for him also. He's easy to love but filled with flaws. Just like most of the people I know and love. Hopefully they will post the official flap copy soon.
What an awesome question! I'm so glad you are looking forward to November and my new release. Honestly, you completely made my day, which is not easy since it's the Monday after Daylight Savings Horror. Ugh. Hate losing an hour, don't you? Anyway, unfortunately the next book is not about Allie :( Although I'd love to write about Allie's college years. Hmmm. I may just have to do that. The Secrets We Bury is about Dylan, Emily's cousin. I hope you'll fall for him also. He's easy to love but filled with flaws. Just like most of the people I know and love. Hopefully they will post the official flap copy soon.
Stacie Ramey
Ariel,
Without knowing which particular books you are talking about, this is a difficult question to answer, but I will take a stab at it. I think it's impossible to romanticize these topics if you are writing realistic fiction. Addiction is a horrible disease and it cannibalizes relationships, mental health, and has devastating effects on the addict and the family. Kids who drink a lot or take prescription drugs illegally are not necessarily addicts and that's a different story entirely. But even with those, I believe most authors are using the drug and alcohol use to increase stakes in the story, so it would be hard for me to see how the effects would seem fun. Consequences rarely are. Terminal illness is a very tricky subject and I'm not sure I'm equipped to answer that part. Mental health issues are invisible disabilities with so many barriers to treatment (addiction is the same). It's impossible to write a realistic book about a person with mental illness and adequately represent every single person with a mental illness. The experiences are colored by the characters' perspectives and those of the people around them, as well as the situations they find themselves in. As writers we tend to represent the ones who haven't found the right medications or counselors. Those who are struggling. The ones who are self medicating because they feel like it's better, easier, more in their control to do that, even though it is far from the best course of treatment for them. So when authors write about characters with addiction and mental health issues it's always with the skew towards the character who isn't following the regimen or caring for themselves and the reason/reasons they aren't. I hope that helps.
Without knowing which particular books you are talking about, this is a difficult question to answer, but I will take a stab at it. I think it's impossible to romanticize these topics if you are writing realistic fiction. Addiction is a horrible disease and it cannibalizes relationships, mental health, and has devastating effects on the addict and the family. Kids who drink a lot or take prescription drugs illegally are not necessarily addicts and that's a different story entirely. But even with those, I believe most authors are using the drug and alcohol use to increase stakes in the story, so it would be hard for me to see how the effects would seem fun. Consequences rarely are. Terminal illness is a very tricky subject and I'm not sure I'm equipped to answer that part. Mental health issues are invisible disabilities with so many barriers to treatment (addiction is the same). It's impossible to write a realistic book about a person with mental illness and adequately represent every single person with a mental illness. The experiences are colored by the characters' perspectives and those of the people around them, as well as the situations they find themselves in. As writers we tend to represent the ones who haven't found the right medications or counselors. Those who are struggling. The ones who are self medicating because they feel like it's better, easier, more in their control to do that, even though it is far from the best course of treatment for them. So when authors write about characters with addiction and mental health issues it's always with the skew towards the character who isn't following the regimen or caring for themselves and the reason/reasons they aren't. I hope that helps.
Stacie Ramey
I get all of my ideas from the same place.....life. :)
Stacie Ramey
I'm working on a follow up to THE SISTER PACT. :)
Stacie Ramey
Everything! But my favorite thing so far is having people like you notice my book! Thanks!
Stacie Ramey
Keep writing. Get good critique. Then write some more.
Stacie Ramey
I do something physical. I work out. I go grocery shopping. Or the complete opposite. I sit on the couch and draw the blinds and watch movie after movie or have a Netflix binge. Writer's block for me usually happens when I'm exhausted or have pushed too hard. So I either re-energize or pamper myself.
Stacie Ramey
I never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. That's the truth. I've spent the last 26 years as a speech language pathologist working with kids with special needs. I love doing that. But one day I asked myself what I would do as an ideal job..what would fill me? I closed my eyes and asked myself that and the answer came swift and without hesitation. I wanted to write.
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