Amy Markstahler has always loved to write.
As a young girl, she would handwrite long stories to pass the time as she grew up in the country surrounded by cornfields.
She stopped writing as she grew older and graduated in 1998 with a college degree in Graphic Design. That led her to work in the marketing department for a hobby distributor. In 2001 she decided to be a stay at home mom.
Her love for writing reappeared in 2010 after reading the “Twilight” book series. She would send her kids to school and spend hours constructing the first draft of her first book. Markstahler said that draft was awful and she put the book down and hasn’t looked at it since.
In 2013, she traveled to Ireland with her mother. The experience was invigorating and inspiring.
That summer Markstahler began the first draft of “The Housekeeper’s Daughter” a story inspired by her mom and dad’s life when they were in their 30s.
Markstahler was 37 when she began her novel and was reflecting on her childhood.
“As a young child, I lived in Tennessee when my dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” Markstahler said. “I wanted to tell a story that conveyed what we’d been through.”
One challenged Markstahler faced was the fact that she was five and six when this event occurred. She needed her main character to be older. That is how Elise was born. Markstahler decided to write Elsie as a coming-of-age teenager.
Markstahler knew she needed a love story to soften the heavy issues the family was dealing with.
“Although inspired by my past, this is a complete work of fiction,” she said. “In other stories I’m writing, I try to pull from real life circumstances, hoping the reader feels the emotion in an authentic way.”
Markstahler said the novel’s overriding theme is family and losing those we love and finding the love of your life.
“I had read some fiction that portrayed aggressive or possessive men and wanted to write about how a girl should really be treated,” she said. “That’s when Tyler was born. In my heart of hearts, I hope this story shows young ladies what a real gentleman looks like.”
Markstahler also decided to change the title of her novel. She noticed there were many novels that had daughter in the title and she thought she needed a new title so the novel would stand out.
“The Housekeeper’s Daughter” then became “Life Happens on the Stairs.”
Markstahler started asking people to read her novel and entering the novel in contests to get feedback.
She won third place in the Linda Howard Award of Excellence in 2016. On May 15, 2018, she found out that her novel was a finalist for the Breakthrough Novel Awards.
The winner was announced on June 15.
The winner was “Life Happens on the Stairs.”
“Because of the Breakthrough Novel Awards, “Life Happens on the Stairs” is now the beautiful book it is,” she said. “The Book Khaleesi and Eeva Lancaster have given me all they promised from this contest and so much more.”
That includes online banners, advertising promos, an author website, Facebook and Twitter banners, copy editing, and a beautiful cover and typesetting.
“ Working with like minds to create a great project was and is a dream come true,” she said. “I will always be grateful for this opportunity.”
The Breakthrough Novel award winner is chosen by a panel of eight published fiction hours, two editors and one publicist.
The judging criteria is as follows: Is the Prologue or First Chapter intriguing enough to capture a reader’s interest? Is the author a good storyteller? Does the narrative flow? Do the dialogues sound natural? Are the characters interesting and multi-faceted? Is the plot original, engaging, and convincing? Does the author follow grammar rules and have a command of the English language? The contest is for unpublished and completed manuscripts with a minimum of 50,000 words. The novel must be fiction and must be written in English.
Markstahler was originally worried she wouldn’t qualify for the contest because she had previously signed with a small independent publisher. Markstahler said the publisher didn’t invest in her work.
“The contract never set well with me,” she said.
After winning the Breakthrough Novel Award she read a book called “Being Indie” and realized she made a big mistake signing with a small publisher.
She eventually bought the rights back to her novel.
“A huge learning curve and an expensive mistake,” she said. “ I have to say though, at the time I didn’t have many other choices to publish, and although they didn’t ask for me to pay them to publish, I also wasn’t offered a paying contract.”
Because of the Breakthrough Novel Awards, Markstahler was able to go the self-publishing route.
“I’m so grateful it’s happened,” she said. “If it hadn’t, I’d be handing over 50-80% of my royalties to a company that didn’t necessarily believe in my work. BNA, the judges, Eeva Lancaster, they believe in this story, and that’s what matters most to me.”
Markstahler’s husband and two children have been incredibly supportive of her endeavor.
Markstahler described her husband as one of her biggest cheerleaders and fans. Her daughter was described as her muse and an encourager through it all and her son is proud of what his mom has accomplished.
“Without their support, I would’ve been lost,” she said. “As a mom, you want to show your kids that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. I’m so thankful they’ve watched this dream come true. I hope it inspires them to follow their dreams.”
On Sept. 1 Markstahler’s book was released on Amazon for sale.
Markstahler said her friends and family filled her Facebook with support as did many authors she had connected with on Twitter.
“I am so humbled by the local response,” she said. “The Homer Library bought a copy and I hope more will follow. Many friends and family had already pre-ordered, but were also anxious for the paperback. Their generosity and love was not only a surprise but truly a blessing.”
Markstahler has 18 five-star reviews on Amazon and nine reviews on Goodreads. She said she is grateful for the feedback because reviews mean a lot to authors, even if they are critical because the feedback helps them improve. Markstahler said she was eagerly anticipating the reviews for the novel.
“When I receive a message, post, review, I honestly tear-up,” she said. “I’m so grateful for all the love and support.”
Markstahler said her only regret with the process is that she didn’t start writing sooner.
“I’ve been a stay-at-home Mom for almost 18 years,” she said. “I’ve grown cut-flowers to sell at the Urbana Farmers Market, I’ve dabbled in painting and drawing, I’ve sat twiddling my thumbs as I watched SpongeBob, for all these years. I wish I’d gone to my longtime love of writing sooner.”
Markstahler is continuing her journey as an author. She is currently working on a story that tells readers more about Claire and Brandon, the parents in “Life Happens on the Stairs” when they first met as teenagers. She is also planning a sequel to “Life Happens on the Stairs” that will focus on the continuation of Elsie and Tyler’s story. Markstahler has also written another novel called “A Precarious Lead.”
“It needs some love, but I think one day it will be a good read,” she said.
She has also written “The Exemplification of Carter Winslow.”
The novel is available as a short story on spillwords.com but she plans to expand it into a novel.
“Carter’s a privileged violinist who breaks his hand and falls into a world of opioid addiction,” she said. “I feel Carter’s story is important to today’s epidemic of opioid overdoses across this country. I hope to bring so much more to the table. I love to write, create and find purpose through my work. If it helps, inspires and motivates just one person, I feel like it’s all been worth the journey.”
