The Lovestruck Girly

Sophie Stern began her professional writing journey in 2005 as a freelance writer and later published her first book in 2010. Her books feature characters who are passionate, curious, and creative. She especially loves to craft characters who aren't afraid to say what they mean.

Welcome, Sophie!

Can you tell us a bit about you and how you got into writing? 

I am one of those people who was lucky enough to know from a young age that I wanted to be a writer. I used to love writing stories for my grandmother. She always was my biggest fan. I took a break from writing fiction during my teenage years and after college, I wasn't really sure how I could get from graduation to published author. Figuring out the stepping stones was hard! I began with publishing non-fiction and later, I decided to write my first fiction book. The rest really is history. Most of my earliest books weren't romance. They were zombie novels! I still write them as L.C. Mortimer, but I transitioned to writing romance in 2014 and have enjoyed being able to craft characters who get to experience something truly magical - falling in love.

Did you always know you wanted to be an author?

I did! I wasn't sure how to make that happen, though. I thought being an author was this huge, unattainable thing. I still feel that way sometimes because writing a book is hard! The process of taking your ideas and putting them on paper isn't as easy as it sometimes looks. I wasn't very sure in my ability to become an author. For a long time, I thought that publishing a book was something cool people did. Not me, though! I started my career in freelance writing, transitioned to non-fiction books, and finally tried my hand at fiction. I LOVED it! 500 books later and I'm still having an incredible time.

If you could have dinner with any character from your book, who would you choose?

That would definitely be Ryan Shadowvale from my upcoming book, Impress Me.

Ryan is a billionaire bad-boy who secretly has a heart of gold nobody can resist. Well, except for Alex. She resists him (for a while, at least! No spoilers!). I'd want to ask him questions about what makes him tick. I'd want to joke around with him. Most of all, I'd want to pick his brain about Alex and why he's falling for her so hard. :)

Do you have any specific writing rituals?

I have a home office that doubles as a guest room with a cool plug-in typewriter keyboard and a bed covered in plushies. I love hanging out in this room! It's got everything I need to be cozy and comfortable and dream up fun characters. I also really love writing in coffee shops. I wrote Honeypot Darlings entirely at a coffee shop in Asia and had such a great time. I also wrote most of Dragon Isle in coffee shops. Before I write, I always try to hydrate (impressed? Me too!) because once I get in the zone, I tend to really focus and not want to look up until I'm done. I also love doing writing sprints where I write for 25 minutes, break for five, and repeat.