Fossend Publishing

Fossend Publishing

Tuesday 5 August 2014

NEW RELEASE
Closure by Sylvia Stein

Book cover of Closure

I would like to welcome Sylvia Stein to my blog.  Her book Closure has been released this week, so I took some time out of my schedule to ask Sylvia a few questions about the book and what it's like being a writer.


Q: Welcome Sylvia, can you give the readers a brief synopsis of your book.

Garrison James had it all.  A terrific home life and a loving family.  Together, he and his wife Lila built a successful ranch and construction company.  His world changed the day he lost his wife to cancer.  He turned to the bottle and became a monster.  Sara, his daughter, tried everything to please him.
After years of abuse, Sara’s aunt visits.  She recognizes the abuse and removes Sara.  The frail girl begins the delicate journey of finding herself, while struggling to leave her father and the monster behind.
Despite the emotional and mental scars she carried, Sara manages to start a new life.  She is finally happy.
A phone call changes everything.
Will Sara continue her new life?  Can she face the monster, or will she find closure?


Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself, and when your interest in writing began.

For me writing was always something I loved.  It began in middle school.  Then over the years I would write stories here and there but it did not come back full circle for me until 2010.  I had my third child and I was at home a bit and there I began focusing my energy on just that.


Q: Closure is your first novella, what prompted you to write this story?

Well it all began in my writing class at SNHU it was last January 2013.  I wrote it as a short story and I really liked the characters.  After speaking with one of my author friends.  She encouraged me to try expanding it.  We then began working on a few drafts and then getting feedback from other authors and my SNHU writers gathering group.  Closure expanded and became a novella.

Q: What challenges did you face when writing Closure

As far as the challenges I faced when writing it was that the first few drafts needed extensive work and I ran it by two of my author friends and beta readers and they all concluded it was a great story but it was only a skeleton of a story more like all tell and it needed more show.  Therefore, my editor and I, who prefers to remain nameless due to her heavy workload, worked on making it just that.  


Q: Are there any characters in Closure that you can identify with and why? 

I can most certainly identify with Sara.  Although my mother is very much alive we went through many challenges with my father because he was an alcoholic.  Do not get me wrong he was a great man sadly though because of the alcohol he could not keep a job as we were growing up and this made it hard for my mother and all of my siblings and me.   Over time he found work and got sober but my mother could not deal with it and they divorced when I was 7 years of age.  This is why Sara James is such an important character to me and I wanted to bring her story because I know there are others who can relate to her.   


Q: Are there any messages in this book for readers or is it simply to entertain?

This is a great question.  My intent with Closure is to bring awareness of how cancer, alcohol, abuse and bereavement can affect a family and my hope is to be able to tell Sara and Garrison’s story in the hope that it touched and helped the readers in some way. 


Q: When writing, do you have any specific routines?  What are the best and worst things about writing?

My main routine with writing is to write it all out on composition, and then sometimes I create outlines for the characters and then begin to type it all out.  I also have to play some type of music as I write.  I love classical and movie scores.    The best part about writing is creating stories and characters for all of my readers.  The worst part is to find the time to write since I have three children and a husband, school, work.  I have to work hard to find the best times.  Luckily my husband has been so supportive of my writing and he will take the kids sometimes in the weekend so I can have a few hours of writing to myself.  I also write late on my days off. 


Q: Do you have a your favorite author?  If so, who and why?

That is a hard question I love so many authors.  I think they all have something different they bring to the table.  However one of my favorite all time writers has always been Stephen King and Jodie Picoult.  I love the elements that King brings and his best advice for being a great writer is to read and if you do not read then write.  As far as Jodie Picoult I love how she connects with her readers and makes the readers feel so many emotions.  


Q: Do you read?  If so what type of books does you read?

Yes I love to read.  There are so many genres I love.  Right now I am reading your book Chrissie Parker and I love it.   I also have read so many great books.  I also love working with my SNHU Writer’s group and coming up with new ideas for books. 


Q: Thank you Sylvia!  What other writing work can we expect from you in the future?

Well right now I am working on a Nano Novel Month Novel.  It is called Clarity and it is a story of a young woman trying to move on after her fiancé dies in a car accident.  Then I am also working on a Psychological Thriller entitled, Battered Mind.  Right now I am just trying to narrow them down.


Q: Tell the readers something interesting about yourself that others may not know.

I love to sing and write songs.  My favorite thing to do besides writing stories is karaoke and I love developing new ideas for songs.


Quick fire round

Sweet or savory - Savory

Beach or countryside - Beach

EBook or paperback - tough one I love both.

Classic or modern - Classic

Sun or Snow - Sun


About the Author

Author Sylvia Stein began her path to writing when she joined the Writer's Group on Linked in 750 in 2012.  She continued her journey by creating short stories, which were published, in the Giant tales Anthology series.

While obtaining her Masters degree at Southern New Hampshire University online, author Stein built built a solid foundation with her colleagues who encouraged her to continue writing. That's when Closure was born.

With the help of her editor Closure grew from a short story to a full novella that Author Stein is excited to share.

Closure is her debut book as a solo writer. To quote Stein "This is the first of many to come."

If you would like to know more about Author Sylvia Stein's book here is a link to each of them:








Follow Sylvia!

If you would like to learn more about Sylvia Stein, you can find her on the following social media. 

1 comment:

  1. Chrissie, thank you for having me on your blog. I appreciate it so much. I loved the interview.

    ReplyDelete