Superversive Spotlight: Stephanie Osborn
In the Superversive Spotlight: Stephanie Osborn
How long have you been writing?
I guess it depends on what you mean. Professionally? I got my first contract back in 2008. In general? I wrote my first poem in 3rd grade, my first play in 4th, and turned out a slew of short stories in 5th and 6th.
Which writers inspire you?
Oh, that’s like asking a parent which is their favorite child, I think. But…let’s see…Conan Doyle, Asimov, Bradbury, Bujold, among others. James Joyce to a certain extent. (I like the way he devises his own grammatical devices.)
So, what have you written?
Mostly science fiction mystery and some popular science. At this point, there have been right at 50 titles that I’ve authored, co-authored, or contributed to (anthologies and the like). I’ve written the Division One series, the Displaced Detective series, the Cresperian Saga, and I’m working on completing what I call the Burnout trilogy. I’m also writing, by invitation, in Richard Weyand’s EMPIRE universe, and I wrote a book in his Childers series, too.
What draws you to Superversive writing?
I think it’s more upbeat. Oh, now and again I leave a story ending on a shocking note, because that’s a good way to make the reader sit up and think. But I never leave it on a no-win scenario. There’s always a way back, a way up. I have anxiety disorder and that tends to exhaust the nervous system, leading to depression in varying levels, so having a positive outlook on the world – fiction or real – helps me combat that. It’s a personal decision, I think.
What are you working on at the minute?
Right now I’m working on the ninth book in the EMPIRE series. Weyand started writing that series in sets of trilogies, and I’m about to wind up the Imperial Police trilogy. After that, I’ll write a couple more books in the Division One series, maybe a short story or two, and start on the next EMPIRE trilogy Weyand has me slated to write. (I have three trilogies in that series I’m scheduled to write.)
Do you read much and if so, who are your favorite authors?
I don’t read quite as much now as I used to, at least in fiction. In general, the time I used to spend reading, I now spend writing. I read a lot of nonfiction, and probably half to two-thirds of that is research for whatever I’m writing. When I do read fiction, I often tend to read authors that are deceased, partly because I don’t want to inadvertently grab a concept, character, or whatnot from a friend and fellow author. I’m fond of Victorian writers. Conan Doyle is a fave. I grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Twain, Lucy Maude Montgomery. But I also read Asimov and Bradbury and some Heinlein juvenile novels when I could get hold of them. (I was raised in a rural farming area, and science and science fiction were not that popular in the school libraries.) That said, whenever I’m playing in another author’s sandbox, I tend to thoroughly read and digest his or her previous books in the series. Right now I know the EMPIRE series almost as well as Richard Weyand does. He says I know it better in at least some respects.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Well, there’s a couple of ways. You can hit me up on my website, http://www.stephanie-osborn.com/. Or you could look at my Amazon Author Page. (I have it to understand that Nook/Barnes-Noble is about to institute author pages as well, but I haven’t seen much about it yet.) I’m also on Facebook, Instagram, and MeWe.