Author Interview: S.J. Sylvis

I had the absolute pleasure to interview Author S.J. Sylvis on all things writing romance, being a working mom, and her love of coffee! I am so very excited about her upcoming release, All the Little Secrets (Out Oct 27th!), which is the second book in the English Prep series. It is angsty and fresh, y'all will love it! Without further ado...

Let's get into it!

Mollie: Why did you choose to write romance?

SJ: I am a die-hard romance lover. I’ve been this way since I was little. I’ve always loved the idea of love. I mean, I had my barbies marrying Ken when I was like, six years old. LOL. But I started reading romance when I was in high school and it just stuck. I write what I love to read, which is probably why the actual writing process doesn’t really feel like “work” to me! 

M: Describe your writing process.

SJ: Oh man, this changes from book to book. But since having Ripley (he’s a little over one now), I write when I can. I wrote my last book, All the Little Lies, late at night while holding him in my arms. (I wrote it on my phone in google docs - I know, it’s crazy.). And, I didn’t plot a single thing. I knew I wanted the book to be a bully romance but that was pretty much it. I kind of just write and things come to me. With my current WIP - All the Little Secrets, I’ve been writing for 2-3 hours at night Monday-Thursday. It was a schedule I set up for myself and it worked pretty well! 

M: Did you always want to be a writer?

SJ: No. I had no idea I wanted to be a writer until my husband deployed to Afghanistan for the first time. I was all alone (even all my friends moved back to their hometowns while our husbands were gone) and I was bored and lonely, so one day I decided to sit down and write in between college papers (I have my teaching degree!). I’d always been a huge reader, and when I was younger. I’d put myself to sleep (or occupy my boredom in the car) while making up fictional stories in my head. It never occurred to me that my writing might actually be good enough to publish one day. But after I wrote my first book (which was awful and never published) I kept writing and now here we are! I love this job so much. I couldn’t imagine my life without it. 

M: I know you are very busy as a mom of two, how do you get it all done?

SJ: The only way I get stuff done is by doing it at night when they're asleep. I set a schedule for myself now -- so I will work for two hours after they go to sleep, and even if I'm not finished with a chapter, or whatever I'm doing, I still close my laptop and go to bed. Because otherwise.. I'll work until one in the morning and not even realize it! Lol.

M: Can you share what you’re working on now?

SJ: I'm working on book two in the English Prep series--All the Little Secrets. That's all I can really say for now! ;)

M:How many other writing projects do you have in the works?

SJ: I have another book planned after All the Little Secrets (that will also be in the English Prep series) and I also have my next series "loosely" planned for 2021!! 

M:Why did you decide to self-publish over going the traditional route?

SJ: To be totally transparent, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I decided to self-publish my first book. All I knew was that I wrote a book and that I wanted to publish it for other people to read. I did know that traditional publishing took FOREVER (if you could even score an agent) so I didn't even consider querying agents. I did very minimal research on self-publishing and dove headfirst into the publishing industry. I have learned A LOT, as you can imagine. LOL.

M:What has been the best and worst things about putting your work out there?

SJ: The best thing about putting my work out there is having someone tell me that they love my book. It's still insane to me that people go out of their way to message me and tell me how much they loved my words! I cannot believe that people think I'm "cool" or "talented"! It is a surreal feeling knowing my characters mean something to someone other than myself! The worst thing? The negative reviews and the stress! I had no idea how much work it took to publish a book. There is SO much that goes into the process. It's hard and it takes a lot of effort and heart. And the negative reviews are sometimes hard to swallow. It's hard putting something you love so much out into the world for someone to completely destroy with a review - but in the same breath, the negative reviews have allowed me to grow some thick skin, so I guess that's a good thing! 

M:What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

SJ: Oh man. That is so hard! There are so many amazing books being released in the next few months! I think the most recent one I added to my TBR was LJ Shen's next release - Playing with Fire. 

M: I just finished Playing with Fire and it was so good! Tell me some of your favorite romance books or books you recommend?

SJ: Some of my favorite romance books - Twilight. It's a classic. I said what I said. No one judge me! Colleen Hoover's Hopeless - one of my all-time favorites and one of the first books I read that really got me into reading romance. I also just read Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover and it was so, so good! Oh, and another one of my favorites is Sarah Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses Series. SO GOOD.

Books I recommend: Any RS Grey book for a romcom. She's the queen (and she's really nice, too!). LJ Shen for bully romances! I really enjoyed Ashley Jade's Cruel Prince (the start of my love for high school bully romances)! Adriana Locke for family romances - I loved the Gibson Boys Series! 

M:I've heard great things about Cruel Prince! I need to read that. What are you currently reading?

SJ: I'm currently reading an ARC from Carrie Aarons titled Love at First Fight. It is SO good and the cover is GORGEOUS! 

M:Anything else you’d like to share?

SJ: Just that I am an open book and friendly as can be. I used to be called "stuck-up" in high school because I wouldn't talk to be people (I mean, I wasn't a mute.. I just didn't openly talk to people unless they talked to me first, lol) but that's only because I am SHY as heck in person! I am a total introvert but if you message me, I promise you I'll message you back! We can be friends! We can talk about books! Or about anything. Never hesitate to reach out to me! I love connecting with people! <3

Fun this or that questions:

Morning or night?

Morning 100%. I am annoying and sunshiney in the morning. Even more so after my coffee!

Handwritten or typed?

Typed! It's faster.

Plan or on the fly?

On the fly and I hate that about myself. I started All the Little Secrets and had no idea how it was even going to end. It's annoying because I usually have to go back and fix the beginning of my manuscript when the book is finished. LOL.

Coffee or tea?

I am Lorelai Gilmore when it comes to coffee. 

Hot or cold?

Hot. I hate being cold.

Quiet or Noise?

Quiet! I can hardly listen to music when writing. 

Call or text?

I will not answer if you call me, hah. Ask any one of my friends. 

Drive or fly?

Drive because flying gives me anxiety (although I did fly to Japan TWICE. The entire trip is.. 16 hours. I think. And on one of the flights, one of the passengers fainted on me. Yes. HE FAINTED ONTO MY LAP. Lol.)

In store or online?

Online because shopping is no longer fun due to having children, haha. 

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate!!