Q&A with Author Stephanie Dawn Askew

With her book When My GiGi Flies set to hit shelves this summer, Stephanie Dawn Askew was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule as a flight attendant and GiGi to answer a few of our questions for her readers to get to know her better. See what she had to say below!

What is your connection to reading and writing? Have you always wanted to write a book? Are you a big reader? What kind of things do you like to read?

I’ve always enjoyed reading but I never saw myself as a writer much less an author.  I enjoy reading self help books, documentaries and most of all fiction stories.   After some tough life experiences, I began journaling.   Journaling became a source of healing for me.  I was amazed at how my thoughts and feelings ,when  transferred to paper, sounded when I reread them.  They told a story.  My story.  

From there I thought why not write a book of your own.   

What made you decide to write When My GiGi Flies?

When my grandson was born, it was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time.   I love him so much.    My experiences with him reminded me of some of my childhood experiences with my Grandparents. However,  some of the Grandmas of today are not sitting at home baby sitting, making quilts and rolling biscuits and wiping runny noses.  They are balancing commitments and traditions with their children and grandchildren while achieving personal goals and living out some of their dreams.  That Grandma would be ME.  Which explains the meaning of my title of GiGi.  Grandma on the GO!   

Being a Flight Attendant keeps me on the go and leaves my schedule UP in the AIR a lot.    I was not going to let that keep me from being the Best Gigi to Cannon that I could be.     Sitting on the jumpseat one day, the thought came to, "when Cannon gets older, what will he tell his friends about his Gigi.”  That prompted the title to my book, WHEN MY GIGI FLIES.    

What made you decide to work with Goudelock and the 3 Bears to publish your work?

I call it FATE!  I was on an overnight in Sarasota, FL and was having a conversation with a fellow Flight Attendant over dinner.  I started telling her about the book I wrote but I didn’t know what to do next to get it published.  She told me about Karolyn and her publishing company.   She gave me her information and told me she would let Karolyn know to expect my call.   My initial contact with Karolyn was GREAT!  She gave me so much information about writing and  publishing a book as well as her experiences with having her own work published.    After reading the rough draft of my book, she told me she loved my story and wanted to publish it.  Karolyn’s support and belief in my work motivated me and I’m glad to have the opportunity to work with such a great person and company. 

How has the publishing experience been for you so far? What is something you have learned during the process? What has been fun? What has been difficult?

The experience has been wonderful.  The team that was put together to get my book published has been AWESOME.  They work diligently to get things done.   Because of my busy flying schedule I sometimes feel like I’m the hold up and that can be discouraging  because I know they can’t move forward on some things until I approve them but they have a subtle way of pushing me through to keep things on track.  I am thankful for them.  I have learned how much work it takes to get your work published and how much easier that becomes when you get a great publishing company behind you.   

Do you have any more story ideas in the works? Anything you can share?

My dream is to write a series of books about Cannon under the umbrella of “Cannon’s World”.   He is so charismatic and full of energy.   I want to share my experiences with him with the world.  I am also working on a fiction story that I would like to also have published.  It’s based on a past experience in my life.   I have no time frame to get it finished because I want to make sure it’s impactful when it is done.

Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your work?

 I feel Gods calling on my life was to serve others in a capacity that exemplifies Gods presence in my life. I would like to leave a legacy for my children to build upon.

Working with Stephanie has been a joy and we can’t wait to see her book, When My GiGi Flies, fly off of bookshelves later this summer!