Authors Answer: Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
Authors Answer Q&A #617
Author interviews almost always focus on questions regarding an author’s latest publication (and that’s great because it’s how readers discover new books!) but sometimes it’s fun to ask authors to talk about their lives beyond the book they’ve just written. Authors Answer (started as a blog in 2020, moved onto Substack in 2025), is an attempt to give authors space to wax eloquent about the other influences on their writing. The questions posed here move beyond the formulaic classics like, “What books are on your nightstand?” or “What book inspired you to be a writer?” and even “You’re having a dinner party….which three authors (dead or alive) do you invite?” There are 20 standing questions. Authors pick FIVE that they want to answer.
Are you an author? Visit the Questions page to learn more about participating.
Today’s post features Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson.
Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson is a writer living in Toronto. His novella “The Man Who Went Down Under” won the Black Orchid Novella Award and the Crime Writers of Canada Best Novella Award. His first novel, The Road to Heaven, was nominated for an Edgar Award and a Shamus Award. The second book in the Patrick Bird Mystery Series, Opposite Sully’s Gym was released in March 2026.
Instagram: @alexis.stefanovich.thomson/
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I can’t listen to music while I’m writing. I just find it too distracting — or conversely, I am so focused on my writing that I don’t hear anything — in which case, why have the music on at all? But I do find myself thinking about music and lyrics frequently, when thinking about dialogue, turns of phrase, or even plots for stories and novels.
I find the American post-punk bands of the 1980s (bands like The Replacements, Husker Du, The Lemonheads, and Dinosaur Jr.) to have a lyrical genius in their ability to string simple words together in a way that manages to be both poetic and real: the economical phrasing of “The Summer’s past, It’s too late to cut the grass;” the raw bitterness of “I don’t want to know if you’re lonely;” the throwaway humour of “What if something’s on TV that’s never on again?” all make me wish I’d written them.
And as a last word, I will say that I think the narrative lyrics of early country music (Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings) is a goldmine of story ideas.
Favorite non-reading activity?
I am a self-confessed chess addict. I used to go to Chess Club and that was pretty fun, but as with any activity, once you start self-selecting into the group of people who take things seriously, suddenly you move from a gifted amateur, to someone who is struggling to keep their head above water. Still, as G.K. Chesterton said, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” Life wouldn’t be much fun, if we could only participate in those activities we are “good” at. (It would certainly limit the number of activities open to us.)
Now, I mostly play online against others. I still play some street chess out in the world. Last time I was in New York I had a couple of games in Washington Park and a couple in Union Square and came home with a very respectable 2 wins, a loss and a draw. There isn’t as much street chess in my hometown, Toronto, but occasionally I stumble into a game. Playing in person always increases the excitement of the moment.
Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
With almost every story and novel I have had published, I have experienced varying levels of anxiety. As publication day approached, I felt myself almost shaking. I had always identified this as the somewhat normal process of having something intimate and personal become very public in a short period of time. I had not thought it to be “Imposter Syndrome,” but now that you use that term, I wonder if that is a more accurate description of what I experience. Certainly my worries included the feeling that I was not worthy, the worries of what others might think of my offerings, and the concern of what the public might find in my words, and, by extension, in my head.
On each occasion, I was able to wrestle my anxiety to a standstill and enjoy the launch of my books, and the different events that surrounded publication. And with each passing publication, the stress of it all is lessening. I am becoming used to being a writer. Perhaps, it was imposter syndrome after all.
Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
I almost always finish a book I start, and when I don’t, I consider it a failure on my part. I have been rethinking this compulsion recently, wondering, as I get older, whether life is just too short to read books that don’t interest me. The thing is, that I am always holding out that there will be a shard of magic, a twist of the plot, a phrase that makes it all worth while. And I don’t want to miss out on that.
Usually, if I don’t finish a book, it has to do with what is happening in my life at the time; that I have become to busy to put in the time to finish, and, as it were, lost the plot. The last book I didn’t finish was Antonia Fraser’s Cromwell. I had read other books by her, the very good Mary Queen of Scots, and the equally enjoyable The Gunpowder Plot about Guy Fawkes. Perhaps the fault was not with me, but with Cromwell, a decidedly cold fish to read about for 600 pages.
Is there another profession you would like to try?
Almost every day I come across someone doing something and think, that could be my part time gig in retirement. One of the most persistent interests is to be a bike delivery person. Sadly, I will never do this because companies that employ these people in the new gig economy treat their employees so badly. I already ride my bike to work through the city most days. I enjoy riding on the crowded streets, enjoy jostling with cars, enjoy bad-weather bike riding, and would quite enjoy the casual interaction that would be part of the delivery job. But, alas, it is not to be.
And, although I ride my bike because I hate the traffic in the city, I also wonder about being a bus driver and whether that is something that would work for me. But these are romantic notions. My real goal should be to put my energies into my writing full time.
Endnotes!
This newsletter is a passion project started by me, Elizabeth Rynecki, to try to help shine a light on new-to-me authors. I am also an author (and a documentary filmmaker and podcaster) and if you want to learn more about me, you can visit my website or read my personal newsletter, Ink Trails: A Chronicle in Creativity.
I’ve never made Authors Answer specific social media accounts, but you can find me on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.
If you are into Noir books, this is certainly one to read!