Stephanie's Studio

Photo by Hanson Lu on Unsplash Water is an important part of my life. I have spent many hours in, on and by the water. It is such a mysterious element. I enjoy its magickal qualities in floor washes, brews, sweet waters, baths, soaks and rituals.  It is a favorite subject matter for my paintings and drawings. We're all about the water. We need and come from water. We also obviously consist largely of water. Photo by Peter Fogden on Unsplash When I think about my fascination with Sirens and the genesis of Kyane, my story's antagonist and her kin, it makes since that they would congeal in my mind into a story. Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash Sirens hold fascination for many and indeed, there are Siren and Mermaid stories in many countries around the world. They take on various manifestations and may look different from one another but they are still Mermaids and Sirens. Being human and part fish isn't all that far-fetched. Not really. Especially when yo

There has been a long and winding road to getting my fiction represented and published. Now, I can say: Yay! One Odd Bird Press, an innovative new publisher that digs oddballs and the unusual in writing, has picked up my two novels, "Out of the Blue" and "Pine Barren Blues." In fact, I'm creating a series around each novel that will be published over the coming years by One Odd Bird Press. "Out of the Blue" is definitely odd. It breaks barriers in what we expect as readers. It crosses boundaries culturally and bends genres freely. I did not set out to create an odd novel, in particular but that is the way the book turned out. The protagonist, Earnestine, who likes to be called Tina, is a Negro teenager living in Mobile, Alabama. Yes, I said Negro. The story is set in 1947. It takes place before we dug in deep, once again, for our Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Movement took hold. Her story begins a bit after World War II. ended. It is set on the