The Beautiful multi-talented #Awethor and Editor – Christie Stratos

Meet the lovely #Awethor and Editor, Christie Stratos a creative young woman who loves to write and has done so since her childhood.  Christie also has her own business as an Editor which widens her creativity even more.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks for doing this wonderful interview! I’m a writer and an editor, and I love doing both. One always inspires the other, so when I edit, I’m dying to write, and when I write, I think of additional ways I can help my editing clients. I love immersing myself in multiple creative endeavors, and once I get going, I forget to do everything else. Like eat.

What brought you to the world of writing?

I have written since I knew how. I’ve always loved expressing myself creatively, and it’s what I’m best at, what I’m most comfortable doing. I wrote poems when I was very young, a novel in middle school, another novel in high school, and then I didn’t write for a short period of time after college. But just a couple of years after graduation, it started to come out of me, and I let it flow. Well, that opened the floodgates! Now I write a lot more often and I have a five-year publishing plan that’s quickly expanding, plus pieces published in various literary magazines and journals. I just love it – that’s what brought me into writing.

What story have you entered into the Awethology and why?

My short story (and it is quite short!) is called “Self-Portrait”, which has a few meanings behind it. I love writing pieces completely based in symbolism – the genre I write the most in is Symbolic Experimentalism – so that’s what I wrote for this anthology. I thought it would be a change of pace, something completely different, which I always appreciate when I read anthologies and literary magazines. I also like saying a lot in very few words, which is usually welcome in an anthology too.

What type of books do you write and do they fulfill your readers’ needs?

I write because I absolutely love it in a lot of different ways, but I do think about the reader when I write and especially when I edit. My debut novel, Anatomy of a Darkened Heart, was just published on October 1, and it’s dark historical fiction with a psychological edge. I’ve read a lot of books from those genres (dark fiction, historical fiction, and psychological fiction), so I have a good idea of what’s expected. I took them all and rolled them together to create a unique experience that I think will fulfill readers’ expectations of those genres and then go a step further to fulfill something that’s harder to find. There are readers out there for everything!

Tell us about your short story.

“Self-Portrait” is centered around self-doubt, fear that keeps you from achieving your dreams or even trying to. It’s a short piece, so I can’t say much more except that the story is told from the perspective of someone who wants to paint, although as with most of my pieces, it’s not that simple.

What was your experience with the #Awethors group and the Awethology?

I’ve never met a nicer group of people! There is no criticism, no harsh judgments, just support and advice and friendship. In terms of the Awethology, we all helped each other, and not only did that feel great, but seeing such completely different pieces next to each other really re-opened my eyes to the talent in the group.

How else do you promote your writing?

I haven’t done much in terms of book conferences, although I’ve attended a couple. The only other way outside of Facebook, Twitter, my blog, and Instagram is through YouTube. I vlog, but not just about myself. I plan to do some more vlogging on the Victorian era and historical fiction. I’m also taking part in NaNoWriMo, and I’ll be writing the second book in the Dark Victorian Collection, a novelette called Locke and Keye. Looking forward to it!

Where can we buy your books?   

Amazon, Smashwords, or directly from me on my website!

Who are your favorite authors?

Shakespeare is number one, always. He started my interest in exploring psychology through writing, specifically Hamlet. I also love Gillian Flynn (again, psychology), Margaret Atwood, Oscar Wilde. I can never get enough of their writings.

Social Media Links

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