Meet Cara J. Stevens | Writer, Editor & Book Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cara J. Stevens and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cara J., can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in New York. I always pictured staying there forever. I didn’t visit Los Angeles until I was 22. I used to joke that I didn’t believe it existed until I saw it for myself. Even then, I never thought I’d end up living here.

My parents always encouraged my creative side. I have a really close relationship with my whole nuclear family back east, and my identity is still really tied up in being a New Yorker, even after living in LA for a good portion of my adult life. I met my husband on a cruise. He was from LA and I was from NY and we fell in love and became the same person in a lot of ways, which meant that we’ve been bopping back and forth between the East and Eest coasts for the past 28 years. Our kids have had a taste of life on both coasts. My daughter lives on the East coast now. My son just graduated high school and for now can’t imagine living outside of Southern California. As for me, I feel like everywhere I go, I’m just getting my bearings, and I like it like that. I don’t want to ever get too comfortable in one place.

I was really tiny and quiet as a child. I always felt most at home in a world of books and dollhouses and my imagination. Small worlds and small spaces were my comfort zone. I was always writing and making up stories. I think I knew I wanted to be a writer from the time I was in second grade.

I always felt more at home in the world of stories and imagination than among other kids my age, and kids sensed that. Feeling like an outsider among other kids my age and being on the outside kind of fed on itself at that time. The more different I felt, the more I was able to sit back and observe, and I guess that’s how the writer in me was born.

That feeling of being an outsider I had as a kid — not fitting in and not always sure I wanted to, and building worlds of my own in my imagination and in stories and physically creating tiny worlds in small spaces — that’s all part of who I am as a writer and as a person in the world now.

I always wondered as a kid when I’d truly feel like a grown-up. I’m still waiting. I feel like I’m always going to be asking questions and not having answers and not being entirely certain. I’m happy about that. It means I’ll never stop growing.

What should our readers know about your business?
While I’ve almost always known I wanted to write children’s books, I also knew that fresh out of college I’d have to get an actual job. My first job was creating interactive Sesame Street games for what’s now Sesame Workshop. I was there for five years and it was an amazing experience working with the most creative, intelligent, and delightfully nonsensical people. I’m still in touch with many of them almost 30 years later! I still consider it one of the best work experiences of my life.

I haven’t had what you’d consider a straight trajectory for a career, but I’ve gotten a taste of many different types of creative jobs. Over the years, I’ve worked in educational video games, done corporate copywriting and business development, worked in marketing, taught preschool, and worked in media sales. These days, I spend part of my time working on media sales and the other part helping writers realize their dreams of writing and completing their first book. I offer coaching and editing services for those who can afford it. I give talks at local libraries and online and on podcasts, encouraging people to find their voice and embrace their creativity. I write a weekly column on Medium called Writegeist, where I write about the art, craft and spirit of writing, and I offer a free consultation call for people just starting out on their writing journey who are considering hiring a coach or editor to help guide them through.

Last year, I started a podcast, The Picture Perfect Podcast, and self-published a book called Picture Perfect (it’s available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback!), to help guide first time picture book writers. It’s been such a fun journey and I’m thrilled to see so many people, even non-picture book authors, listening in and sending me their questions.

And, of course, I never gave up the dream of writing for children. I have worked really hard at making contacts and meeting the right people, asking lots of questions and doing a lot of research. It’s paid off in so many ways. To date, I’ve written more than 80 books for young readers. Almost all of them have been media tie-ins or work-for-hire books, meaning that publishers come to me and ask me to write specific books based on well-known properties they have the rights to, like Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues, Mickey Mouse and friends, and popular video games.

I get so much joy out of receiving fan mail from teachers, parents and kids. I’ve seen books I’ve written on bookshelves all over the world, and I’ve even received photos from friends who have caught kids reading books I’ve written out in the wild, on the NYC subway, on an airplane, in a park… That’s why I do what I do.

What I’ve discovered through all the years and all the different jobs I’ve had is that what lights me up most is lighting up other people’s imagination and creativity. I read a book recently by Lauren Sapala called Firefly Magic. She says that your enthusiasm for something won’t light everyone up, but if you shine your light your way, it will light up the people who it’s meant to reach. I feel that way about creativity. I feel like that’s my purpose in this world — to encourage people to nurture their creative side, keep asking questions, and never settle for “just okay” when you can reach for something that lights you up.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I absolutely love the South Bay. Anything near the beach. Riviera Village in Redondo Beach is one of my favorite places to be. I love to eat out and my favorite places there are Gabi James and Little Sister, hands down two of the best places to eat in the South Bay. I love riding bikes on the Strand, starting at Rat Beach at the beginning of the bike path in Redondo and going up as far as you can. Now with e-bikes, we can go pretty far, but I usually can’t get past El Porto at the north end of Manhattan Beach.
We lived in Palos Verdes for years. It’s a magical place to live and visit. The Terranea is a wonderful place to go for the day, walk around, and then grab a sunset dinner at Mar Sel.
Moving farther north, Hermosa and Manhattan Beaches are great for the Volleyball tournaments and street fairs. They used to be a lot bigger years ago, with more fun booths and fewer people. Now it’s the opposite — more crowds, less exciting stuff — but it’s still an awesome experience, watching beach volleyball tournaments and surfing tournaments.
We just moved back to the Playa Del Rey area. We used to live right by the beach when we first got married. Cafe Pinguini was our big date place back then, and now it’s one of our kids’ favorite places, too. It’s still a magical little Italian place right next to the ocean.
I also love to walk on the strand by Muscle Beach and Venice Beach. There are tons of filming locations we recognize from classic movies that we like to point out. It gets a little weird there, but I also just love the variety of people. Everyone’s free to be themselves and it feels the most LA to me there. Also, the churros are fantastic! There’s a lady who has a chocolate fountain and she hand dips fresh strawberries on a stick and sells them from a cart. I don’t eat dairy anymore so I haven’t tried them, but it smells and looks amazing!
One thing I’d love to do is hit all the bookstores all over LA. There are fewer of them now than there used to be. I want to find more of them. One of my favorite things to do with friends is hit Downtown LA and do all the touristy things — go to Grand Central Market, take the trolley, visit The Last Bookstore, go to The Broad… I haven’t gotten tired of all the usual touristy things, so it’s nice to have visitors come so I can do things like go to Universal City Walk and not feel embarrassed that I’m totally digging it!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband, Larry Stevens, deserves the biggest shoutout. He’s my biggest supporter, both emotionally and financially. He’s built an amazing career, started his own business, and singlehandedly supported our family all these years while encouraging me to keep writing, teaching, and helping people. He’s also a fantastic human being, and he inspires me every day.

Writing children’s books, teaching creativity workshops, and everything that comes with a creative career doesn’t make a ton of money for 99% of the people who do it. I’m happy that I’ve been able to contribute to our family finances over the years, but I would never have been able to do all the things I have without his full support.

Website: https://www.carajstevens.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carastevens

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carastevens

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=S-cm17eSG82ybfKsFglBqw&utm

Other: The Picture Perfect Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0HhN0QLQFXi9jqUNcirCJE
Bookishly Yours on Medium: https://medium.com/@bookishlyyours