Hello, Protagonists!

Welcome to another episode of the Creative, Inspired, ALIVE podcast—where we go behind the scenes with the storytellers shaping our culture.

Our next guest, Stacey Lee, is a NYT and Indie bestselling author of historical and contemporary YA and middle grade fiction, including The Downstairs Girl, a Reese’s Book Club pick, Kill Her Twice, a school Library Journal best book of the year, and her most recent novel, Heiress of Nowhere. Stacey is a fourth-generation Chinese American and a founder of We Need Diverse Books.

Today, we talk about:

* venturing into Gothic literature,

* the fun of historical research,

* the current landscape of YA fiction,

* and promoting books with the heart of an introvert.

xo, Joanna & Evelyn

🎥 Watch the Conversation

You can watch the full video on:→ Our Website | Youtube | Substack app

Captions and full transcripts are always available on the website version (just click the “CC” button or the transcript tab below the video).

🎧 Prefer to Listen?

Stream the episode wherever you get your podcasts:→ Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Audible | or your favorite platform

🎙️ Browse all past episodes HERE

📝 Want to Ask a Future Guest a Question?

We invite the community to submit questions via our community chat—available in your browser or in the Substack app. We love including your curiosities in the conversation!

Connect with Stacey:

You can find Stacey Lee on Instagram. Her newest novel, Heiress of Nowhere, is available in bookstores everywhere or from your favorite online retailer!

This spring, I’m going to try a small experiment: a live studio for writers actively building a novel, where I’ll read your opening pages and we’ll work on them together, live.

____

Atelier Skye: The Studio for Serious Novelists

Here’s what this will look like:

Twelve novelists. Six Saturdays. Live sessions. Direct developmental critique.

No recordings. No passive consumption. A working studio.

This studio is designed for writers who:

* Are actively drafting a novel

* Have 8–10 strong opening pages ready

* Want developmental-level critique

* Care about both craft and industry positioning

* Take their work seriously

This is not an introductory writing class.

It is a professional room.

REGISTER here: https://buy.stripe.com/fZu5kCgtd5PY1nV1Fs8EM00

Enrollment is first come, first served until the atelier reaches 12 writers.

About the Studio Lead:

I’m Evelyn Skye, a New York Times bestselling novelist and the author of eleven books, published by major houses including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Disney, and translated into sixteen languages worldwide. I have also written for Netflix in a literary-film collaboration starring Millie Bobby Brown, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright.

My work has been featured in PEOPLE, Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, CBS New York, The Morning Blend on NBC, The Mirror, Woman’s World Magazine, South China Morning Post, Book Riot, PopSugar, Bustle, Psychology Today, Mochi Magazine, and more.

I’ve been a featured speaker and guest of honor around the world—at the Festival du Livre de Paris, the Danish Fantasy Festival, San Diego Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, and more. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Russian literature from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Over the past decade, I’ve developed a deep understanding of what makes a manuscript not only compelling on the page, but viable in the marketplace.

In this studio, I bring that experience directly to your opening pages.

More details about the studio at:

https://www.creativeinspiredalive.com/p/the-studio-for-serious-novelists-writing-workshop