Stevie Turner Weaves Emotion, Imagination, and Real-Life Into Compelling Storytelling

Exploring Creativity, Resilience, And Diversity Across Genres

Stevie Turner shares insights into her creative process, inspirations from personal experiences, and the challenges of crafting diverse, emotionally captivating stories across novels, novellas, and award-winning screenplays.

Stevie Turner is a literary gem whose ability to traverse genres and touch hearts is unparalleled. A multi-award-winning British author, she has gifted the world with a treasure trove of novels, novellas, and short stories that delve deep into the complexities of human emotion, relationships, and resilience. Whether through romantic suspense, humour, paranormal tales, or gripping family dramas, Stevie’s storytelling captivates and inspires.

With an impressive repertoire of 13 novels and numerous accolades that include a screenplay award for For the Sake of a Child and the highly acclaimed A House Without Windows, which piqued the interest of New York’s De Coder Media, she continues to leave an indelible mark in the literary world. Her works are not only recognised for their narrative brilliance but for their emotional depth, as showcased in titles such as Finding David and His Ladyship, both of which have garnered critical acclaim.

Her ability to weave personal experiences into compelling stories set Stevie apart as a master of authenticity. Whether drawing from her own journey with thyroid cancer in A Rather Unusual Romance or crafting characters inspired by poignant real-life events, each piece has a uniquely personal touch. With novellas like Scam! and her latest triumph, Tina’s Diary: 1997, reaching the finals of prestigious awards, Stevie’s dedication to her craft shines through every line.

In this special feature, Stevie shares insights into her inspirations, writing process, and the experiences that have shaped her remarkable body of work. It is a privilege to bring her story to Reader’s House magazine, and we invite you to immerse yourself in the world of a writer whose words echo long after the page is turned.

What inspired you to explore such diverse themes across your works, from captivity in A House Without Windows to unconventional romance in A Rather Unusual Romance?

I gain inspiration from the world around me, especially from news bulletins, and also from personal experience.  Several years ago I read about three women who had spent the last 30 years being held against their will in a basement.  One of the women had been born in captivity and so had never seen the outside world.  This woman gave me the idea for Amy’s character in my romantic suspense novel ‘A House Without Windows’.  I had worked as a medical secretary before taking retirement, and having worked with doctors for so long it was natural for me to make the main character, Beth, a doctor.  When taken prisoner, Beth had just discovered that she was pregnant.

Regarding ‘A Rather Unusual Romance’, this was partly based on my own experience of undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer, but minus the romance!

How did you approach balancing the intense emotional depth and suspense in A Long Sleep with the lighter, humorous tone of The Pilates Class?

I prefer to write standalone stories, mostly women’s fiction novellas, which have totally different plots as I enjoy the variation this gives me.  I would become bored writing a series.  I usually only write what I know, and do not carry out much research.  I have a cousin twice removed who has spent the last 52 years in the same condition as Kieran Parrish in ‘A Long Sleep’ , but unfortunately his life has not had the same outcome. 

I spent 18 months taking part in Pilates evening classes. This experience gave me some insight into the kind of exercises I had to do, and also I got to know some of the people there.  A few of my characters in ‘The Pilates Class’ have very similar traits!

What challenges did you face in writing a character like Dr. Beth Nichols, who endures such a harrowing ordeal in A House Without Windows?

When I wrote this story I’d already been working for around 20 years as a medical secretary in various departments of my local hospital, and had learned much by having typed thousands of clinic letters over the years.  The challenge was not to make the book too full of technical jargon.

Can you share any personal experiences or research that influenced the storylines in A Marriage of Convenience and A Rather Unusual Romance?

Regarding ‘A Marriage of Convenience’, the character of Gerrie was loosely based on the South African singer of a band that my son used to play in.  He came to the UK on a student visa, fell in love with an English girl, and they’re still happily married many years later.  Theirs wasn’t a marriage of convenience, but their situation gave me the idea for a story.

As for ‘A Rather Unusual Romance’, I went through all the thyroid cancer treatment described back in 2005, with more treatment and operations following until I was finally cleared of it in 2017.  The romance part of the story was entirely created from my imagination!

How did writing a novella collection differ from your approach to crafting full-length novels?

I started off with full-length novels in 2013, but quickly found my niche in writing novellas and short stories.  Writing novellas for me is preferable, as I’m not one for writing flowery descriptions with the sole aim of increasing the word count.  I would rather just concentrate on the plot.  I’ve read some books where authors tend to describe things to the nth degree, and sadly I find these rather boring. 

What is the significance of having your books translated into multiple languages and available as audiobooks for your readership?

I sell quite a few audiobooks via the ACX website, and are grateful to the narrators who of course claim half the royalties.  Unfortunately I haven’t found the success I’d hoped for with translations via Babelcube, and have stopped any more books from being translated.