Who I am

My name is Steph.

I want to start sharing my thoughts with the world.

This will be a place to house creative writing, explore my mind, and share who I’m becoming.

My influences:

Music: I have always been into music. I sing and play a few instruments, was a radio DJ in college, and always have an upcoming show on my calendar. I listen to every genre, but I first found myself during my emo phase in high school so pop/punk will forever have my heart.

My top artists on Spotify at the moment are Bayside, Dance Gavin Dance, The Spill Canvas, Brand New, and The Refreshments.

I often listen to music when I read or write, letting the tone of the music color my perception of the story I’m in. The album One Fell Swoop by The Spill Canvas will forever be linked to The Naming by Alison Croggon because I listened to that album on repeat while reading that series.

Follow me on spotify to see my deranged playlists: https://open.spotify.com/user/stellaxsteph

Literature: I started reading at a young age, I think because my older brother was reading before me and I was jealous. We’re only 18 months apart, so him learning to read felt unfair when I couldn’t do it too. So I did.

Both of my parents read a lot when I was young. I really looked up to my dad and wanted to read everything he did. He read a lot of horror and fantasy, so as a kid he directed me towards kid friendly fantasy. As I got older I started to read books he loved and lean more into the horror genre.

My favorite books over the years:

Elementary school

A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Little House on the Prairie books
The Alanna series & Daine series - Tamara Pierce
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
The Harry Potter series (disclaimer to say JK Rowling is horrible)

Middle School

The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funk
The Dragonlance Series (Raistlin was my lit crush)

High School

Carrie - Stephen King
1984 - George Orwell
The Series of Pellinor - Alison Croggon

College

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

20’s

The Magicians Trilogy - Lev Grossman
The Shining & Dr. Sleep - Stephen King
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

30’s (so far)

The Stand - Stephen King
Diavola - Jennifer Thorne
Ghost Station - S.A. Barnes

Find me on GoodReads to keep up with what I’m reading: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/98412753-stephanie

Video Games: I grew up in a household with all the latest tech because my father loved playing video games and had no desire to save money. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are sitting on the couch with him on a Saturday while he played games on the PlayStation, helping him navigate whatever puzzle he was up against. Being young, I wasn’t actually much help, but he always made me feel included.

After my brother and I went to bed every night, my parents would set up on the desktop in our living room and play scary computer games in this same fashion - dad controlling the character, mom thinking through the puzzles. I used to pretend I felt sick so I could sit up and watch them play. The “I need water”, “I don’t feel good”, “I had a nightmare” routine should have been obvious when the solution was always to let me hang out with them while they played games. Also, that is something they should not have allowed because I saw some horrific shit lol. But I loved it. I admired my dad even more for the bravery I saw in him through these games.

My favorite games over the years:

Pre-Elementary School:

Little Mermaid on the Sega. Which I accidentally stepped on and broke when I was 4, and we couldn’t afford to buy a new system. I never lived that one down.

Elementary School:

Gauntlet Legends (PS1) - played with my brother. (This game gave him nightmares so we had to stop. I didn’t have nightmares tho, just sayin’)
Tomb Raider (PS1) - My brother and I only ever played the tutorial and did gymnastics in her house. The game itself was way too hard for us.
StreetSk8er (PS1)
Quest for Camelot (Gameboy Color)
Watched my parents play: Silent Hill / Juggernaut / Sanitarium