Meet Stephanie Gillis

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Gillis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m originally from Minnesota but mostly grew up here in Colorado. Growing up, both my parents worked full time jobs and we didn’t have a lot of money so extracurriculars that normally keep kids busy like sports, dance, etc, so I was left to my own devices most of the time. That led to a lot of imaginary friends and adventures to act out. Stories and characters just came to life as a kid and then I started writing them down. I never shared them with anyone for years and years. They were just for me. I moved out of state for college, and then out of the country for work. When I came back to the US I was feeling lost and alone and it was my characters that helped me through tough times and I decided to give publishing a shot. Now I have five full novels and over a dozen short stories out in the wild!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Aside from writing, I do a lot outside of my books. I am currently the most proud of the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do which is now in it’2nd year with over almost 4000 people participating. It’s a challenge I created to emphasize the important on reading diversely, not just in terms of representation (which is important to the challenge) but also across genres, styles, and topics. This challenge alone has brought together so many readers in an effort to defeat my online “evil identity” of Dark Q. (I go by Qwordy or Q on YouTube). It’s definitely been an eye-opening experience with the wild growth and I am very grateful for the support I have in my online presence with my moderators in the Discord and all my subscribers. The journey was definitely not easy, I thought about giving up countless times but what I’ve learned about this is that in any endeavor it’s important to have support, to find your people and sometimes that can take a long time but when you find them, it’s worth it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love giving my friends a little tour of my favorite Japanese spots to go. Having lived in Japan I think I’ve found some great places to enjoy some authentic cuisine. First off, we’d start at The Enchanted Oven. This little bakery was also one of my former employers and I absolutely loved it there and I can guarantee everything is made fresh daily and they have the most delicious curry buns you’ll find in America. Shout-out to Maki-san!

My friends and I are a little weird and love some good nostalgic spots so I’d probably take them to experience the Butterfly Pavilion, a place I used to go all the time as a kid.

Then for lunch we’d stop over to Sushi Neko in Arvada for some all-you-can-eat sushi and they even have bulgogi sushi which is my favorite as I’m not a big fan of fish despite my history of living abroad. They’re an excellent place that’s not overcrowded and lets you have real conversations with the people you love while you’re there. It’s my hidden treasure of a restaurant.

After that, we’d probably head over to Black & Read for some book shopping which is conveniently now located right across the street. I love digging through used books and they have a great selection of records and games as well. I can spend hours perusing the shelves there.

For dinner, we’d head to Aurora to a little place called Izakaya which my fellow author friend, Tycho Dwelis, introduced me to and they have some of the best and most authentic Japanese food I’ve seen here. They have a great selection of food and drinks and an immaculate vibe.

If any of that sounds like a good time for you, definitely don’t sleep on those places!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have many great people in my life who are so supportive and have helped me along the way. I particularly want to shoutout Lena M. Johnson. She’s a fellow writer with an amazing novella called Chimera out. She not only has been a great resource in our writing world but she has been the most supportive friend who is always there for me. She’s helped me through some of the roughest patches and I want her to know how much I appreciate and value her friendship. I am so excited for her upcoming novels that I know the rest of the world is going to love just as much if not more. Go check her out at https://lenamjohnson.com/ or follow her on Instagram @lenamjohnson

Website: https://ko-fi.com/stephaniegillis

Instagram: https://instagram.com/qwordyq

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Qwordy