Stacia Stark is a bestselling author of romantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance filled with found families, self-reliant heroines, and brooding, grumpy heroes. Her newest book This Vicious Dream released this spring and is the first installment of her Kingdom of Death duology.
Stacia Stark's books have been translated into over 15 languages, and she has four series out, including her massively popular and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated Kingdom of Lies series. When she’s not writing or exploring the world, Stacia can usually be found sprawled on her sofa, lost in the pages of a good book.
We talked with the author about how travel has helped her create characters, who most inspired her writing style, and why her stories resonate so much with readers.
You’re originally from New Zealand, and you spent over a decade traveling around the world as a copywriter. How did this time abroad impact your writing and world-building?
Traveling and living in so many countries allowed me to see people from all over the world at their best and worst, and taught me how to relate to people from all different cultures, religions, and backgrounds. This has really helped me when it comes to creating characters. Seeing so many breathtaking sights in my twenties filled my cup in ways I’m still discovering, but I’m sure I subconsciously add many pieces of those sights into my stories. Most importantly, I learned to be curious about the world, to talk to locals and listen to their stories, and to examine historical events through multiple different viewpoints. All of these qualities have helped me as a writer.
What drew you to indie publishing, and what have you learned from the experience?
I've been self-employed since I was 23, and I joke that I'm unemployable, but it's actually likely very true! I was really attracted to the control I would have with indie publishing and the fact that there are no gatekeepers. The market decides if you'll be successful based on if people enjoy your books, and you can easily see whether this is happening when you look at your royalties each and every day. I love how nimble you can be with indie publishing, and how you can quickly pivot, strategize, and try new tactics if something isn't working.
"I was really attracted to the control I would have with indie publishing, and the fact that there are no gatekeepers."
If you could give future indie authors a piece of advice, what would it be?
The good thing about indie publishing is numbers don't lie. If you're not getting any clicks on your ads or onto your product page, the issue may be your cover. If you're getting clicks on the cover but no purchases, you may have a problem with your blurb. If you're getting purchases but low reviews, and/or people aren’t reading the next book in the series, it's likely you have an issue with the book itself, which may mean you need to focus on your craft. One of the most important things I learned was that once a book is finished, it’s no longer the thing you poured your heart and soul into and suffered for. It’s a product, and you need to treat it accordingly. That means stepping back and examining it the way a potential reader would.
What’s something you had to learn the hard way?
I had to learn not to compare myself to other authors and their productivity or word count. Since my own output has slowed over time, I also had to learn not to compare myself to my past self. Sometimes this kind of comparison can be a good way to motivate yourself, but you need to learn when it’s healthy and when it’s doing more harm than good.
What book or author most inspired your own writing style?
When I was in high school, I was obsessed with the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. I loved the way Ellie was written as a fully formed human with flaws, and the way she was often so, so scared but would force herself to be brave anyway. John didn’t shy away from tackling subjects like PTSD, and he explored how it impacted the characters in so many different ways. As a teenager myself at the time, I also loved seeing a teenage girl—a subset of the population so often ridiculed—fight and love and endure loss while also becoming a hero. I knew I wanted to write characters who were as complex and multifaceted as Ellie.
This Vicious Dream is the first book in your new standalone Kingdom of Death duology, which is a spinoff of your wildly popular Kingdom of Lies series. How did you decide to create this new series around an existing character and world?
This was interesting because when Madinia (the FMC in This Vicious Dream) walked onto the page in A Court This Cruel and Lovely, I had no intention of even making her a POV character. It was really a case of her burrowing her way into my head as she insisted she had a story that needed to be told, and I've loved seeing the reader reaction to Madinia—a woman who is so far from perfect but who has such a deep, loyal core. I knew I wasn't going to get the chance to finish Madinia’s character arc within KOL, and I began building that story while I was still writing books three and four, so I was super excited to write her first book.
Madinia is the kind of woman who has zero interest in being tied down to any man. She's also incredibly strong-willed and deeply afraid of being hurt, so I knew Calysian would need to be secure in himself and willing to fight both with her and for her. I loved the idea of Calysian being overconfident and quickly learning he would need to actually compromise in order to get what he wanted with Madinia. He's also sneaky and willing to wait her out, allowing her to think she has the upper hand. My favorite scenes involved this push-pull, and I especially loved writing all of the scenes involving the chains...
Get swept away into the rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity romance of This Vicious Dream
Your work explores themes of female friendships, found family, and enemies-to-lovers romance. What draws you to these concepts, and why do you think your stories resonate so strongly with your fans and readers?
I've been incredibly lucky to have strong female friendships in my own life—I have friendships spanning over 20 years, and I'm fortunate that my best friend is also my business manager, so I get to work with her every day. Because of this, I know just how fulfilling female friendships are, but it's also important to me that I write them in a realistic way. Real-life friendships often involve miscommunication, arguments, and forgiveness, and I love writing women who value and fight for their friendships. Found family is one of my favorite tropes. As someone who has lived far from my own family for 15 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to make my own found family. Family can be a difficult subject, especially right now, and I think a lot of readers are attracted to the idea of finding a family outside of the one they were born into. I definitely love enemies-to-lovers and forced-proximity because not only do these tropes provide great opportunities for tension and high-stakes, but I love putting characters into positions where they’re forced to grudgingly notice qualities about the other person they would never have seen if they’d been able to avoid each other the way they want to.
What do you love about your readers, and how do you connect with them best?
My readers are so, so supportive and enthusiastic. Not only do they hang out in Stark Society online, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to meet many of them at various signings. When I think of my readers, I feel so incredibly lucky to get to do what I do, although I still sometimes need to pinch myself when readers are kind enough to share their love for my work with me.
What can fans expect from the next Kingdom of Death installment?
Hmmm…I’ll try not to give any spoilers, but you should definitely expect to see sparks fly…in more ways than one.
