How far would you go to save your family? How much would you risk?
An intensely character-driven story that walks the fine line of dark and light, balancing deep subjects with witty dialogue and meaningful friendships along the backdrop of a fantasy world.
Boasting a diverse set of characters, Shattered is a story that explores the in-depth the struggle that loss and grief have on relationships. And it’s that very real fight one can face in order to hold it all together that can lead a person into risking everything.
The Chronicles of Payton Clark two-book series is ultimately a journey to answer: what is a home, a place or is a true home the people in their lives? And the path to learning, is it possible to live beyond fear.
The question of inspiration is always a difficult one. I would have to say, what inspired me to write The Chronicles of Payton Clark duology was a balanced love of games and books and the desire to see more options where the two meet. I love seeing where the complex characters and worlds of video games and D&D might come to life in their stories but sometimes while reading fantasy books, I felt a disconnect between those. A fantasy book might have a focus on one but not the other. I strive for a feeling of emersion of both, to give a reader the feeling of knowing the characters and vividly experiencing my fantasy world along with them.
I’ve never written with any specific goal or message in mind. For me, it has been about the story and how best it asks to be told. In the case of Payton Clark’s journey, I would hope the reader would come out of the books with a better comprehension that sometimes the hardest people to stand up to is family, that doing what is right is not always easy but it is the road worth choosing, and being there for the people you love is what friendship and family is about.
The Chronicles of Payton Clark duology is officially complete with no plans of any further sequels or prequels but I do hope to continue to advertise and get the word out about the series. As a self-published indie author with severe disabilities, it can be difficult to get your name out there and market the book properly. I greatly appreciate the opportunity that the Authors’ Lounge has offered me in spreading the word about my books. And I hope that it is a book series that people pick up and don’t want to put down.
I have always had a wild imagination. Creating stories at a young age from anything I could get my hands on; from dolls to pencils and scissors to rocks and sticks, it all became fair game to become characters in acting of the epic tales I saw in my mind. But I didn’t latch onto the idea of writing these adventures down until I was twelve and after that, I was hooked. Writing is my escape, my lifeline, my way to interpret the world around me. It’s as much a part of me as breathing. Despite the troubling and ongoing blows dealt to my health, I refuse to give up. I will always write and always hope that my character-driven stories will mean as much to my readers as they do to me. I know I tend to throw readers into the thick of it with tense and dark subjects – often horrific traumas -, showing the difficulties of how to move past it, all while weaving humor and romance within the tale. Life is messy and I am not afraid to show it but neither will I forget that there is light amid the dark.
For More Information
https://stefmensing.wixsite.com/booknook
Link to Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Stef-M-Ensing/e/B07VWC6P6C/
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