Interview with Stephanie Kuehnert

I hosted Stephanie Kuehnert on In Bed With Books back in 2009, and it's a pleasure to interview her now!  She's the author of I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA, and she recently relocated to Seattle with her husband.  You might be familiar with her writing through Rookie, the mag run by wunderkind Tavi Gevinson.

Read on for more about Stephanie and VERY SUPERSTITIOUS!

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1. VERY SUPERSTITIOUS is a charity anthology to support the SPCA. What does supporting this charity mean to you? 

Animals have been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. Both of my cats are rescues and I regularly donate to local animal shelters. When I was still living in the Chicago area, I was part of a community group who cared for feral cats, rescuing the kittens and finding them homes, and neutering the adult cats, getting them medical treatment and keeping them feed. I feel very strongly about protecting our furry friends, so I was honored to donate my story to this cause.

2. You're known for your gritty, realistic novels. How did it feel to write something more fantastical? Do you think your fans will enjoy this story? 

Yes, I generally write contemporary realistic fiction. However, I am a huge fan of shows like Buffy, Supernatural, and The X-Files as well as urban fantasy authors like Melissa Marr, Jeri Smith-Ready, and my amazing VERY SUPERSTITIOUS contributors, and magical realism by people like Nova Ren Suma and Francesca Lia Block. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at writing something fantastical, ghostly, or with a little twist on reality. Also, I really loved the lore in my hometown, Forest Park, Illinois, which is home to more dead folks than living! I enjoyed playing with all of this and probably will do some more dabbling. In fact, the characters in my ghostly VERY SUPERSTITIOUS contribution do make a cameo in my next contemporary YA project. I think my fans will still love this story because it is edgy and music-driven like I know they expect from me.

3. In addition to your novels, you're also a staff writer at Rookie, a columnist for Forest Park Review, and a contributor to Ms. Fit. How do you regularly come up with interesting topics to write about?

Well, I moved to Seattle this summer, so I no longer writer for the Forest Park Review, though I have been trying to document my Seattle journey on Tumblr (seattleboundwritergrl.tumblr.com). But with that and with FPR, those were very much about place, and if you’ve read my fiction, you know I adore writing about place, so writing about the real spots I love is natural for me. I write personal essay for both Rookie and Ms. Fit, and that is something I’ve been doing since I was a teenager. It’s like a natural extension of journaling or making ‘zines for me. Plus, Rookie gives me so much room to write about everything I love from soap operas to Star Trek: The Next Generation to the Savages along with my personal essays on things like self-injury, so really I’m never running out of ideas. I love reflecting on what I’ve been through and writing about stuff that gets me excited.

4. Do you believe in any superstitions? 

I was born on Friday the 13th (which I consider lucky, same for black cats), so yes, I am very superstitious. I probably can’t even name all of my superstitions. One of my writing superstitions is not publically speaking of my WIP’s titles until they are officially going to be published, like it might jinx them or something.

5. What would you say to someone to convince them to read VERY SUPERSTITIOUS? 

 It’s almost Halloween (my absolute favorite holiday, by the way). Isn’t it the perfect time of year to read some spooky tales by some of YA’s best writers (I am seriously *honored* to be included among them!) AND the proceeds benefit animals. It’s a win-win!

Review: Very Superstitious: Myths, Legends, and Tales of Superstition

Second Annual Month9Books Charity Anthology
Proceeds for first 5,000 sales go to SPCA Internation
Edited by Georgia McBride
Stories by Shannon Delany, Jackie Morse Kessler, Jennifer Knight, Stephanie Kuehnert, Mari Mancusi, Michelle E. Reed, Dianne K. Salerni, Pab Sungenis
Available now from Month9Books
Review copy

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS contains an excellent lineup of authors, which is what first caught my attention.  I was particularly excited to see a story by Stephanie Kuehnert, who hasn't had a fiction release since 2009's wicked good BALLADS OF SUBURBIA.  (Bonus: I got to interview her!)  Plus, it's a charity anthology!  How could I resist spreading the word about a book that helps animals?  I have a rescue dog, and he's the best ever.  (Okay, Patton is my mom's, but I'd steal him in a heartbeat.)

I wish the theme of VERY SUPERSTITIOUS were slightly more coherent.  Some of the stories involve animals, some don't.  Some are mythology, some folklore, some the Bible, some urban legends, some children's stories, you get the idea.  With only eight stories, so many different sources means stories with very different feels.  I like that they aren't all the same of course, but I wish there was more of a thread holding them together than "superstition."  (And sometimes that thread is very light indeed.)

I also wish that more of the sources were non-Western.   "Chupacabra" by Jennifer Knight draws on the Central American legend and is set in Puerto Rico, and was one of my favorites in the anthology.  It's a tale of revenge, hard choices, and the way human emotions can create the worst monsters.  It felt like a small piece of a larger world, which I appreciated.  "Midhalla" by Michelle E. Reed draws on Egyptian mythology, so it doesn't make much sense to have a title punning on Norse mythology.  [Edit: Reed contacted me about the title and said, "Midhalla is the Arabic word for umbrella, which is why I chose it for my story."] It was probably my least favorite story in the anthology.  It's core is extremely goofy, and the end is dark and sudden, jarring completely with the setup at the beginning of the story.  It never coheres.

I think most of these stories are one offs, which is nice.  "Thirst" by Jackie Morse Kessler does tie into her Riders of the Apocalypse series, but given that it's a retelling of Noah and the flood, it's easy to follow even without knowledge of that series.  I enjoyed it, as well as the stories from Shannon Delany, Stephanie Kuehnert, and Dianne K. Salerni.  And props to Delany's kids, who convinced her to change the story's traditional ending.  VERY SUPERSTITIOUS contains many unhappy endings, but at least it contains no unhappy ending for animals. Mari Mancusi's story plays with "The Gift of the Magi," a story that's been played with so much that it would take something really clever to get me excited about it.  Not bad, but standard.  Pab Sungenis's "The Silverfoot Heretic" played with The Wizard of Oz.  I thought the story went somewhere interesting, and touching, but I almost didn't finish the story because the beginning didn't capture me at all.

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS is a fine anthology for fantasy readers looking for something slightly creepy for Halloween reading.  I didn't love all of the stories, but there are some good ones by popular authors.  If you're a fan of any of these ladies, I'd pick it up.  Plus, you're helping out animals!  It's hard to resist books and animals, isn't it?

Stephanie Kuehnert's Ode to Her 20s

The wildly cool Stephanie Kuehnert can be found on Blogger, MySpace, and el jay. In addition to writing, she works as a bartender and has her own, real life romance. Really, so many of these authors are getting married soon . . .

Of course, that sort of stuff doesn't tend to happen overnight. Stephanie graciously shared the story of her twenties. (Let's give her our best wishes for her 30s, m'kay?)

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"An Ode to My 20s"
by Stephanie Kuehnert

Stephanie Kuehnert is the author of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Ballads of Suburbia, both from MTV Books.

When Liviania told me she was hosting a party in honor of her blog turning one and her turning twenty and she’d like me to write a guest blog, I thought how cool and oddly appropriate. You see, I’m turning the big 3-0 this year, so I’m definitely reflecting on (and mourning the loss of) my 20s lately.

Age 20 was the last of my really out-of-control years. I have to admit I don’t remember my 20th birthday at all. I probably spent it drunk at a goth club. I know. Underage drinking, I’m not the best role model. At least I wasn’t back then. It was 1999 and I certainly partied like it. I was dealing with the aftermath of my teen years. In fact, that is pretty much what my 20s were about, dealing with the choices I’d made as a teen. I hear that the 30s are all about dealing with what you did in your 20s, so maybe it’s a pattern.

Age 21 was when I got my act together. I had to. My very smart mother had made a pact with me when I dropped out of college at 18. She said she would help me go back to school as long as I decided to do so before I turned 21. I’d dropped out of school because I knew I wanted to be a writer but figured one didn’t need school for that. Maybe some people don’t, but I did because without it, I had no discipline. I partied a lot, worked a little, and hardly ever wrote. Right before my 21st birthday, I started researching Creative Writing programs. I was living in Madison, Wisconsin at the time and was pleased to discover the only undergrad Fiction Writing (as opposed to Creative Writing, which included poetry as well) program was located back home in Chicago. I applied, was accepted by my 21st birthday and moved back to Chicago, alcoholic boyfriend in tow.

Age 22 was a year of determination. I threw myself into my writing full steam. I wrote an entire novel in a year, but realizing that it was thinly veiled autobiography I shelved it. I’d needed to purge my teen years and get writing practice, but I wanted my real first book to be something better, something born of my passion, but not my actual life.



Age 23 was when I started writing some short stories that would come together and eventually become I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. I graduated with my bachelors degree and decided to stay on for masters so I could really focus on it.

Age 24 was when I really started to become a grown-up. Or I tried anyway. I went on this trip to Seattle with some girl friends on the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. Kurt Cobain had such an impact on me as a teenager, going to a memorial for him really allowed me to work through—finally—all the pain of my teen years. I also started to realize that my relationship with the alcoholic boyfriend wasn’t very healthy. But I wasn’t quite grown-up yet so instead of dealing with that, I bought a house with him.

Age 25 was when we finally broke up. I realized I had to. He was holding me back. I couldn’t achieve the dreams I was striving for while worrying about him all the time. It was time to be free, be my own woman. There was an agent interested in my manuscript, I had to focus on that.

Age 26 was when I finished that manuscript, got signed by that agent and started working hard on getting it into a publishable state. I also reveled in being single and spent 6 weeks in LA with three of my very best girl friends at a special film program. I felt like I finally knew who I was. I didn’t have to define myself by my boyfriend or my friend or the way I dressed or what music I listened to. I was me. I guess this also meant that I was finally ready to find true love even though I wasn’t looking. I thought I’d finish my MFA program and move to Seattle. Instead I met Scott and fell for him. Hard. I’d been in love a few times before, in what I thought were real relationships. But nothing before Scott was like this. Honest, healthy, really real.

Age 27 was when I had to get a real job. It seriously sucked ass. I had to repress the real me who I’d just found and wear office clothes and dye my hair a normal color and ugh. But there was one silver lining (besides my still happily-ever-after romance of course). After a year of waiting, almost giving up hope on my writing career and planning to get a degree in library science (which I still think would be an awesome career path), my agent sold my book to MTV Books. I was going to be a published author.

Age 28 was when I became a published author. Literally 5 days before my 29th birthday. The whole year was about me learning the ropes of the career I’d dreamed about since age 5. I also signed a contract for my second book, officially making me not a one hit wonder.

Age 29 was when I quit that stupid “real job.” Not because I was suddenly rich, mind you, but because I had to take a chance and follow my dream. 9 to 5 allowed me no time to write, so I went back to my grad school job of bartending. Age 29 is also when I got engaged. I couldn’t be happier; there is no one else in the world who I’d rather spend the rest of my life with.

I’ll be 30 when I get married and when my second book comes out. No doubt the thirties will bring new challenges. I’m sure married life isn’t perfect all the time and there is always the chance that I might not earn enough of a living from my writing and have to go back to a real job (though definitely library science, no more office ickiness). Who knows what backlashes from my 20s I may have to deal with…

But ultimately I’m proud of my 20s. They started off shaky. There were lots of challenges, but I found myself, I conquered my teenage pain, found true love and began to follow my dreams. And Liviania, I wish you the same beautiful though sometimes heartbreaking journey through your 20s. It’s an adventure! Thanks for letting me wish you and your blog a happy birthday!

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I'm so excited to share this blog! Stephanie's words made me think about what I will or won't do with my 20s. Hers was one of the first event entries I received and it made me realize I actually could pull this thing together.

One commenter who can follow the rules will win a signed copy of I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE.

Vote on "Inspired By" Contest Winner

I'm overworked and thus my NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL review is getting shunted back, poor thing. I just don't have time for the finishing touches.

Stephanie Kuehnert posted the Inspired By entries on her blog, MySpace, and el jay. You don't have to vote for my entry but it'd be cool if you voted for someone.