Meet Sofia Simpson

We recently connected with Sofia Simpson and have shared our conversation below.

Sofia , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Every morning, I say a prayer to my Jesus, my Savior.
I ask that He be my eyes that I can see what He wants me to see.
Be my ears that I hear what He wants me to hear.
Be my mouth so I say what He wants me to say.
Be my hands so that I do and type what He wants me to.
Be my feet so I go where He wants me to go.
To cleanse my heart and mind that I might serve Him with my whole heart and mind.

I ask all these things because I cannot live without Jesus’ guiding hand. I need Him in my life to write the stories I write and be a light in a dark world.

I have optimism only because God is with me to drive away my distractions, heal my brokenness, direct my future. I have hope because I know I have a life to spend with Him and those He’s given me to live my life with. I have hope because I know that anything that might come my way, good or bad, will be accepted with His grace in my life.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am blessed enough to call myself a writer. I write for teens and the young at heart. I have many readers who are my age and I love that!

I write stories who are experiencing all the firsts in their life, first love, first kiss, first job. Many of my characters are learning how to deal with difficult experiences. I write fantasy, so that often involves elemental battles, so fights with wind, water, earth or fire. It’s a lot of fun for me to create situations that could never happen, but it’s in my hands to make it believable.

The best part of my job is that I share my faith while writing these wonderful stories. All of my books are full of the Christian worldview. I love that even though my characters go through difficult situations, I can write how they deal with them with God as their guide and strength.

My books are encouraging but my characters struggle, too. They deal with problems in their relationships, internal struggles with forgiveness, lying, and other vices. It’s how they handle their stresses that makes them the characters I love. I use my own experiences to fuel these stories with truth and love. Because that’s how I’ve gotten through difficult situations myself.

I have three full length novels out now and one novella. I’ve written a fourth full length novel that’s in the hands of my fantastic editor right now that comes out October 6th. It’s book three in An Elemental Series and I’m thrilled to announce here first that I’m finishing up writing a second novella in that series that will be coming out soon!

So, for now, I have one standalone novel, called, Dream Weaver, that’s believe it or not, all in the world of dreams. It features a best friend to more romance and dominating mother who attempts to force my main character to love a man of her choosing. You’ll fall in love with this love triangle, believe me!

The other books are all in An Elemental Series, called, Terra, book one, Torch, book two and Tempest, that comes out October 6th. A novella, called Operation Kane is considered book 2.5 and I have a second novella, called, Operation Jewels, book 3.5 that’s coming out soon! These books are all based on Elementals who live among humans secretly but have the power of earth, wind, water and fire.

They’ve divided themselves, living in separate areas and fight over boundaries constantly. My main character is an Earth Elemental, and she finds herself in a bond with a Fire Elemental that might be the death of her. Expect ancient prophecies, good vs. evil, an enemies-to-more romance, a furry best friend, overprotective older brothers, and much more!

I’ll be a participating author of an amazing book event in Orlando, Fl, called Orlando Reads Books October 11th and 12th. There will be super fun happenings at this event, like a Haunted Mansion Themed Dinner and a Cursed Carnival After Party as well as a book signing event with the authors.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I attribute writing well to three things. Without these things, I would be a failure at what I do.

First, I’m part of two writing groups, one a Christian group I meet with online, called, Word Weavers, that has been an amazing resource. I’m also part of a local writing group, called Lakeland Writers, who push me to be the best writer I can be. These two groups have given invaluable advice and are a huge reason I’ve learned so much about writing.

Second, I attend writer’s conferences. I go to at least one a year and there, I attend workshops that teach me not only the fundamentals but the critical and more difficult areas of writing. I also meet other authors, editors and agents who have been in the field for a lot longer than I have who give instrumental advice to me, as well.

Third and most importantly, every morning, I give my day over to the Lord. I ask for His guidance and strength. I ask Him to make my stories His and I attribute all I’ve done to Him. He’s the One who guided me to be part of the two writing groups I’m in and is a daily source of strength.

I advise anyone who’s a writer or wants to be a writer to do these things. They are so important to create the foundation of your writing and creating your “voice.” By that I mean, the style of your writing. That comes easier when you know the craft of writing better. If you have the tools to be a good writer, then when you sit down to write, you’ll have an easier time doing it.

I do have a writing degree, Journalism, which has helped me, too. However, those skills were for short and timely stories, whereas I write long novels, so the first three things I mentioned has helped me more than anything.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m always on the hunt for other like-minded authors, Christian Fantasy or Clean Fantasy writers to collaborate with. I’d love to do more newsletter swaps and social media shares with these authors.

It’s important to band up with other authors as often as possible. Anyone can reach me on Instagram at @sofiasimpsonauthor or Facebook at @sofiasimpson4. I’m also available by email [email protected].

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Sofia Simpson

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