Jeanna Mason Stay once had tomatoes thrown at her while she was reciting poetry, and honestly, it’s all been uphill from there. When she’s not being pelted with vegetables, she enjoys avoiding dishes and laundry, sewing costume projects that force her to learn new skills, and playing board games. Jeanna loves a good happily-ever-after in book, movie, or song, but her favorite is in real life: she and her husband have been happily-ever-aftering for the last twenty years, including in Maryland, Australia, and Utah. They have four children who’ve been raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels, math trivia, and word nerdery, so naturally they are delightful.

Jeanna writes in a variety of genres, but rom com, fantasy, and ghost stories are her favorites. Her short stories have been published in numerous locations. Marrying Off Celeste is her first published novel.

FAQs

How do you pronounce “Jeanna”?
It’s like “Gina.” Or “Jean-nuh.”

Where did you live in Australia? Tell me about it.
We lived for five years in Alice Springs, in the gorgeous Red Centre of Australia. If you’re from the US, picture the entire country (minus Alaska and Hawaii). Then picture that the only major cities with high population density are LA, DC, and five or six more coastal cities. The rest of the country is largely outback. We lived in Nebraska. It was beautiful, with blue skies for ages and charming lizards and colorful birds, and I could go on about it forever.

But what about the spiders and snakes?
The good news is the big spiders eat the little spiders, and the dangerous ones are little. The big ones are only startling, every once in a while. And snakes—you just have to follow a few basic rules and it’s not usually a big deal. Honestly, Australia is not as terrifying as you probably think.

And kangaroos? Were there kangaroos everywhere?
We saw quite a few, including some in the bush behind our house. And a couple of memorable times we saw them hopping down our neighborhood streets—including once one was politely taking the sidewalk to wherever it was going. So, everywhere? No. Lots of places? Yes. They’re a bit like deer in that way.

Are you tired of Australia questions yet?
No. I love talking about Australia. It was a beautiful place, with all sorts of awesome wildlife. I got to see a perentie wandering down the street, and that was a highlight. Seeing the galahs (a bird kind of like pigeons in New York—everywhere, and not too bright) never got old. The night sky in Alice, where there’s very little light pollution, were so full of stars that I just stared in awe every single time I looked at them. I could go on and on.

Why do you write ghost stories along with rom coms and fantasy?
Why not? But in reality, I sort of fell into it. I entered a contest many years ago where writers were given a genre, an object, and a character—and then we had 48 hours to write a flash fiction. I kept getting ghost stories for my genre and discovered I loved it. I love the eerie haunting feeling, but I also love the explorations of grief, what it means to be alive, and what is scary. I don’t really write horror, but I do love a little bit of light haunting.