Stacia Moffett, author of the two-book series Lost and Found in Tennessee, which includes the titles The Missing Girl and Jessa is Back, was born into a family of educators in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father, an artist, but also a farmer at heart, moved the family to a small farm where Stacia and her brother, Carl, grew up surrounded by the natural beauty and challenges of rural life. This upbringing fostered her lifelong love for growing things and her affinity for dogs, books, music, art, and the warmth of her loving grandparents.
Moffett’s academic journey took her to Mississippi in the early 1960s, a time and place that deeply influenced her understanding of the South. She pursued graduate studies in the fascinating field of invertebrate behavior and neural control, which led her to work with a wide array of creatures, including millipedes, crabs, insects, and spiders.
Accompanied by her husband, David, Stacia earned her Ph.D. at the University of Miami and completed postdoctoral training at Duke University. The couple eventually settled in Washington where they both taught and conducted research at Washington State University while raising their three children: an immunologist, a vintner, and a poet.
Now retired, Moffett and her husband reside in a wild canyon of the Snake River where they built their home, planted fruit trees and a garden, and established a commercial vineyard. With retirement came the call to write, which took Stacia back to her Southern roots.
Through her writing, Stacia Moffett aims to share her experiences as a white girl in a bygone era, offering readers insights into the forces that continue to shape lives in the South. Her work captures the essence of a time gone by, inviting those who did not live through it to understand its enduring impact.
For more about Stacia Moffett and her work, visit her website.
Why do you write in the genre(s) that you do?
I am happy writing fiction because my imagination can run free and pull from many sources. I began to write in a spiralbound notebook and never considered the structure of the plot or what voice to write in. It just came together.
Do you keep a notebook of ideas?
I have an overflowing notebook — in my head — and every day brings new experiences.
Do you have a muse?
My muse is a little girl sitting up high in a willow tree with her dog (I carried her up) and a book. From that vantage point, anything was possible.
Are you more of a fan of plot-driven stories or character-driven stories?
I have to like the characters, at least one character in the story, to be interested in a book. I am very analytical about plot, I guess very critical. I have to find it credible, and for science fiction, it must be plausible, but that doesn’t mean that I reject a fantasy world.
Fill in the blank: “People will like your book if they like stories about…”
…people who try to change the world, especially young girls.” There are many instances in which girls the age of my main character have had an impact on their world, and some have even been awarded the Nobel Prize.
What are your thoughts on typewriters?
I learned keyboarding one summer but never had an attachment to a typewriter like the affection my mother had for her Remington.
Would you rather own a bookstore or run a library?
How about operating a bookstore that also deals with second-hand books? So many beautiful books are being discarded these days because people are downsizing, and I want to recycle these to make the world of books available for everyone who wants to hold the book in their hands.
How do you name your characters?
For my novels, the character names just jump onto the page with little hesitation; many of them are the names of family and friends – names I have a connection to. I recall one instance of seeing a newspaper ad with a version of the name I used for an insurance salesman in The Missing Girl: Ernie Eider. That name kept bugging me until I found a character to give that name to.
What is your favorite website that you use to promote your writing?
I have met with so many of my e-mail friends over the books. That has been most rewarding.
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
When I was writing, I pictured the action as if it were a movie. I think my books would be very easily adapted to a movie or miniseries.
Who is your dream audiobook narrator?
I understand that much of the reading is now done by AI. I would like a real person narrator who is able to shift voices without sounding ridiculous.
How many words or pages do you typically write in one writing session?
There is absolutely no typical writing session, but my stories live in my head, and the action continues even when I am not able to get it down.
Do you have any writing rituals?
No.
What are your passions/obsessions outside of writing?
Gardening is essential. I love flowers and fragrant vines and bushes, and I tend to favor an edible environment. Music and art are integral to my life. Other passions are tied up with our dogs and the other creatures we have on our farm.
Have you made any public appearances to promote your book?
Not yet. When the books are finally released, I have a shirt printed with “Ask me about my book” that I am looking forward to wearing.
Who would you most want to read your book?
Aside from everyone, I would love for these books to be read and discussed in book clubs because of the issues relating to integration and the rise of white supremacy in today’s world. I have rendered the smalltown life in the 1950’s as seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old white girl.
I want those old enough to remember the 1950’s to read it, and also those, like our children, who were disbelieving when we told them our experiences with Jim Crow. I want daughters to introduce their mothers to the book and vice versa, but the men who read the manuscript also found it appealing.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of greatest/inspirational authors?
Southern writers, such as William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, Russian writers like Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Tolstoy, Hilary Mantel, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood. I can’t stop!
Is there a book that somebody gave to you that helped you pave the way to becoming a writer, or is there a book on writing that you recommend all writers read?
All the books I have read over the years have had an impact I guess, and perhaps that is why when I finally turned to writing I had absorbed the technique. My husband and I attended two sessions of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and I think we learned a lot about the industry. Books about writing are abundant and most of them are good, but I feel that the genre-based constraints can stifle creativity.
Have you ever mentored another writer with their writing?
Yes, but only when asked. Writing is a very personal endeavor.
Is there an idea that a non-writer has pitched to you that you have considered writing?
All the time. I correspond about our life on the farm and am repeatedly told that it is so cinematic that I should make it available in a blog or memoir. I have just begun to respond to this challenge.
Do you ever use dreams as inspiration for your writing?
I have always been a daydreamer, and that is the modus operandi of my writing.
Are you a big reader? Do you own a large collection of books, or are you more of a borrower?
We have an enormous library of all kinds of books, from poetry to how-to with lots of history, science, biography, and so, so many novels. Where can we put another bookshelf?
Have you ever gone away to work on a piece of writing? If not, where would you go if you could?
I don’t need to go away because the action is in my head and transforms my environment. I literally live the story as I am writing it.
What is an annoying thing that a non-writer has assumed about writers or the act of writing?
People who are not writers have no grasp of the process of story evolution and revision, so they cannot fathom why writing takes so long.
How do you measure the success of your writing career?
I want the people closest to me to enjoy my books, and I want the readership to be as wide as possible because the era described in my books has relevance to the challenges we face in today’s world. I want readers to clamor for a third book in the series!
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