Today we’d like to introduce you to Angie Still.
Hi Angie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I published my first book last year, but I have been writing since I was little. I often say that ‘books saved my life’ and it really isn’t an exaggeration. I grew up in and out of foster care and in poverty. Between daydreams and libraries, I wouldn’t be here—not as the person I am today–without the library. I would have never known that there was a different world (worlds) than the one I was experiencing. I was the first person in my family to graduate high school and go to college. I am also a veteran. My very first day of college was far more terrifying to me than my first day of boot camp. Boot camp was hard in a way I had experience with, could understand. College was something else entirely.
As a mom, I will help guide my kids through the process of going to college, help prepare them, and reassure them. As the first, there was nothing like that for me. If anything, there was a prevailing belief where I came from that people from my family shouldn’t bother. My first day of college was a revelation. I thought I would be behind everyone else. I was so scared that since I grew up without the same level of access to knowledge, I would be starting behind. As such, I over prepared. Just a smidge. I read the entire textbook before the first day of school. I thought, even then, I would have to prove I belonged there. As you can imagine, if you have gone to college, that was far from necessary. We received a syllabus and a bored ‘see you next week.’ I was shook and very confused but I eventually got it.
I ended up majoring in English and received my BA in 2010. I decided to keep going and received my MA in English in 2013. Throughout my childhood, I scribbled fantastical stories in journals. I created angsty shorts in my teenaged years. In adulthood, I returned to fantasy. Fantasy literature gives us the opportunity to escape to different worlds while also feeling all the important truths of what it means to be human. Reading and writing are two of the best things, in my humble opinion. I am very lucky to have been saved by books and be the kind of daydreamer that never grew out of daydreaming.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of my background obviously contributed to struggles I might have. I have terrible imposter syndrome, though I don’t think I am unique in that. Many writers and artists feel this way but combined with my background, it can be a little loud sometimes. Poverty effects people in all the ways that you see incorporated into popular media, but it also effects the goals and aspirations that we set for ourselves. When you are a kid growing up in poverty and dealing with any trauma, your aspirations do not include becoming an author, or astronaut, going to a great university, or becoming a business owner. Not truly. Your dreams are often safety, security, or a home that won’t be taken away. While I have written stories and loved books my whole life, my goals for many years were to simply survive and make sure I created a life for myself that was better than where I came from. It wasn’t until later in life that I gathered my courage and started to try and do something with my writing. Better late than never but still I am late.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I primarily write fantasy and romantasy. I think we all need more magic in our lives, and I really enjoy creating worlds (or changing ours) and then setting character driven stories in them. I published a novella last year, “Watching Shadows: Synn-Etere’s Prophecy.” It is more YA Fantasy but with some romance. The FMC, Joh, is grappling with family trauma, navigating political intrigue, but the world and its characters have magic.
I also like to play with language when I am building my stories, the communities and their histories, and lore. I have always loved Hemingway’s ‘Iceberg Theory’ when it comes to writing. Even if it doesn’t make its way into the story, the fact that its still there under the surface, will be felt in the story. For “Watching Shadows: Synn-Etere’s Prophecy,” I created a language that’s based on Norwegian mythology and old and middle English. While I was writing this story, I found out more of my background and that I have family who immigrated from Norway. I got very intrigued. The more I read, the more my imagination started playing. So, some of the monsters, foods, and myths I created for this world have seeds from Norway.
I am currently working on an Adult Fantasy (with romance) and some of the language has a Russian base. However, the idea for the story is actually from the poem, “The Asrai.” The poem was published in 1872 and written by Robert Buchanan. “The Changeling” is a far more well-known poem but it was actually the sequel to “The Asrai.” I am really excited about writing a story about the Fae that references types of faeries that might not have been seen in modern fantasy works while still getting to write faerie tales with romance and human (even if we call them something else) failings, triumphs, grief, and love.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
How I personally define success has changed over the years. I think we all know how traditional success is defined can be very dichotomous but in reality there are more shades of grey to success especially as creatives. Being able to create and having my loving family around me safe, happy, and secure is how I define it right now. Would I love to have my work become more well-known, absolutely. But what I am able to do and how I live my life today would have awed the little girl I was. I couldn’t have even imagined this life for myself as that child. I am always going to be the person who is constantly striving for more and has high expectations for myself but the life I have worked to create for myself and my family is one to be proud of and I define that as a kind of success even if it isn’t the conventional one that I am sure traditional authors are envisioning.
Pricing:
- Kindle Unlimited: $0 to borrow and $9.99 to buy
- Paperback: $10.37
- Hardcover: $17:59
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/booknerd1429
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoramstill/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562438127447&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Watching-Shadows-Synn-Eteres-M-Still-ebook/dp/B0D7DRXTMD?ref_=ast_author_mpb
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/siennas.coverart/
