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Taylor Stevens is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Vanessa Michael Munroe series. Published in over twenty languages and optioned for film by James Cameron's production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, the books are international boots-on-the-ground thrillers featuring a mercenary information hunter in a non-testosterone mix of Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher. Stevens came to writing fiction late. Born into an apocalyptic cult and raised in communes across the globe, she was denied an education beyond 6th grade and spent her adolescence as child labor. Stevens now calls Dallas home. In addition to writing novels, she shares extensively about the mechanics of storytelling, writing, overcoming adversity, and her journey into publishing on her website.
Taylor Stevens's website
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Q) Your debut thriller, The Informationist, features a kick-ass heroine named Vanessa "Michael" Munroe who is getting some nice comps to Stieg Larsson's feisty protagonist Lisbeth Salander. How did you envision Munroe? Did you know when you first started writing the book that she would be such a strong, fierce character?
A) From the beginning, when writing Munroe, I never viewed her in terms of strong or weak, good or evil, or even, in a sense, male or female. Initially, when thinking of her reactions to situations, I was drawn to the emotional conflict and skill of Jason Bourne, and the sensual confidence of Lara Croft, but these were gut feelings, nothing specific or tangible. So to me, Munroe has always been who she is as the natural result of her storied life, and I honestly didn't realize just how strong - and perhaps unusual - she is until feedback started coming in from early readers.
Q) What exactly is an "informationist," and how did you come up with the concept of the novel? Did you have an aha moment, or did the novel come together over time?
A) Everything about writing The Informationist unfolded backwards. When I started, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no plot, no characters, only the location in ...
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Chris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-five books, including The Jackal's Mistress, Midwives, Hour of the Witch, and The Flight Attendant, which was an Emmy-winning MAX series starring Kaley ... (more)
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