Interview with Stephanie Morrill

About the Author

Stephanie Morrill is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com and the author of several young adult novels, including the historical mystery, The Lost Girl of Astor Street. Despite loving cloche hats and drop-waist dresses, Stephanie would have been a terrible flapper because she can’t do the Charleston and looks awful with bobbed hair. She and her near-constant ponytail live in Kansas City with her husband and three kids.

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The Interview

1. What/whom inspired you to become an author?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since first grade. My elementary school encouraged writing time and we had freedom to write whatever kind of stories we desired. Then a parent volunteer would type our stories up for us, and we could pick the color for our cover and the binding. At the end we were supposed to illustrate it (I was awful) and then read it to the class. I loved it so much, and after that I always wanted to tell stories for a living.

2. What can you tell us about your current WIP?
The Lost Girl of Astor Street is a 1920s mystery set in Chicago. The main character, Piper, has a best friend who goes missing from their affluent neighborhood, and she knows her friend never would have run away. She throws herself into search efforts, and finds more than she bargained for. It has a Veronica Mars meets 1920s feel. February 7th is the official release date.

3. What are some of your favorite books?
I adored The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, the Heist Society series by Ally Carter, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, and I just finished Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco.

4. What inspired the story for The Lost Girl of Astor Street?
My initial idea for The Lost Girl of Astor Street came while I was putting away laundry, of all things. My mind was wandering (as it often does during chores), and I started thinking about different stories I like. I thought about Veronica Mars for a while, and then something triggered a thought about Downton Abbey, and I thought, “I wish there was something out there that was like Veronica Mars but in a Downton Abbey kind of setting. Oh, maybe I could do that!”

5. What do you want readers to take away from reading The Lost Girl of
Astor Street?
The lesson I was learning as I wrote it is that we can only take responsibility for our own choices. It’s wonderful to try to stir change in our communities, but ultimately we can only control our choices.