creators Interview with 'Control' author Stephanie Guerilus

[Jordan Miller]

Hey Exhale!

I haven't had a chance to flex my interviewing skills in a minute since the world flipped upside down due to the Coronavirus, but I'm so grateful I got to jump back into one of my passions again. 

I had the fortunate opportunity to cross paths with a writer named Stephanie Guerilus.

She published a book titled Control, inspired from the iconic Janet Jackson album. It's available on Amazon! 

Here's a synopsis below:

Quote

Theresa Marie Jenkins is a 17-year-old who thinks she knows it all. As the saying goes, a hard head makes for a soft *** and Reesa learns the hard way that she doesn’t really know much about life. Reesa quickly becomes an It girl after speaking up at a Black Lives Matter protest but her activism gets in the way of her career. She wants to be the next pop diva on the charts. For that to happen, Reesa will have to be packaged; smile and wave as though she’s at a beauty pageant. She’ll have to give control to advisers who want her to sing on cue, tap dance on command, no throwing shoes at parties and keeping her mouth shut on the culture. Control is a novel that addresses the political climate, #MeToo, identity and what it means when you are a young woman of color who the world doesn’t automatically think to protect.

Stephanie is also a huge Britney fan. She's been following BreatheHeavy for years, and had nothing but sweet and genuine things to say about B in our Skype interview together. 

We chat about what it's like being a writer and a creative person amidst a pandemic, her book Control, your pop faves like Britney, Janet and Mariah, and more. 

OH, and did I mention TODAY (March 31st) is Stephanie's birthday?! She got dressed up in a pretty gown for our interview to celebrate. 

I'd love for you to carve out 10 minutes of your day and enjoy this interview. Also, since we're all stuck at home for the foreseeable future, grab a copy of her book and indulge yourself!

 

 

BTW, if you're interested in joining BreatheHeavy's Creators series, please email me at Jordan[@]breatheheavy.com. 

[redacted statement]

Exciting!  I want to become a writer, so I'm sure this is going to be insightful. Definitely giving this a watch tomorrow.  Burried in homework right now, though. that's why I'm on Exhale 

[Roxxy]

Hi Stephanie! ❤

Omg I like youuu. I wanna be your friend. I like that you're so brave talking about your history of abuse and putting it to writing. 

I love the idea of Control. 

I love your self awareness. I admire and respect people who knows when something sucks and is not afraid to start all over again, and slay. I like people who like the slayage. I admire that in a creative. 

[PokemonSpears]

I thought the interview was gonna be with the actual songwriter of the Janet song, but congrats on starting this new chapter. 

The lagging didn't help, but hopefully it'll get better in future interviews. 

[Jordan Miller]

7 minutes ago, iAlwaysSingLive said:

Exciting!  I want to become a writer, so I'm sure this is going to be insightful. Definitely giving this a watch tomorrow.  Burried in homework right now, though. that's why I'm on Exhale 

Are you going to school to become a writer? If yes, watch tomorrow. If no, watch now 

[Jordan Miller]

7 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

Hi Stephanie! ❤

Omg I like youuu. I wanna be your friend. I like that you're so brave talking about your history of abuse and putting it to writing. 

I love the idea of Control. 

I love your self awareness. I admire and respect people who knows when something sucks and is not afraid to start all over again, and slay. I like people who like the slayage. I admire that in a creative. 

awe you watched! 

She really is super brave. I'm glad you noticed that.

[Jordan Miller]

7 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

I thought the interview was gonna be with the actual songwriter of the Janet song, but congrats on starting this new chapter. 

The lagging didn't help, but hopefully it'll get better in future interviews. 

Yea ugh. Me watching the playback and noticing the recording has lag 

[PokemonSpears]

46 minutes ago, rik said:

wow thats a deep v-neck king, just take the whole thing off next time

but in all seriousness, super cool that you're doing this!!! 

I watched that video and fell down the rabbit hole of VH1 clips and ended up with what Schatar (  ) is currently up to 

 

[Roxxy]

5 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

I watched that video and fell down the rabbit hole of VH1 clips and ended up with what Schatar (  ) is currently up to 

 

OMG so this  is her? Wow! I've always been curious about these emotes.

[PokemonSpears]

4 minutes ago, Roxxy said:

OMG so this  is her? Wow! I've always been curious about these emotes.

I thought I didn't know them, but after watching the clips it turned out that I did get to watch those reality shows back in the day lol 

Flavor of Love on VH1, and then it was Charm School a sort of spin off from that show. Tiffany "New York" (  ) and Schatar "Hottie"  were contestants

 

[Roxxy]

9 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

I thought I didn't know them, but after watching the clips it turned out that I did get to watch those reality shows back in the day lol 

Flavor of Love on VH1, and then it was Charm School a sort of spin off from that show. Tiffany "New York" (  ) and Schatar "Hottie"  were contestants

 

Omg there's the emote!  I might just watch these clips on Youtube after i finish rewatching the Live & More DVD that's playing right now. Thank you for this, Pokie! ❤ 

[Jordan Miller]

4 hours ago, rik said:

wow thats a deep v-neck king, just take the whole thing off next time

but in all seriousness, super cool that you're doing this!!! 

It's more of an oval neck

[It'sAllAboutControl]

On 3/31/2020 at 3:43 PM, Roxxy said:

Hi Stephanie! ❤

Omg I like youuu. I wanna be your friend. I like that you're so brave talking about your history of abuse and putting it to writing. 

I love the idea of Control. 

I love your self awareness. I admire and respect people who knows when something sucks and is not afraid to start all over again, and slay. I like people who like the slayage. I admire that in a creative. 

I really appreciate that. It's not easy knowing and then admitting that you've just got to start over.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who took the time to watch the video. I hope you guys will check out the book and let me know what you think. 

 

[Jordan Miller]

2 hours ago, It'sAllAboutControl said:

I really appreciate that. It's not easy knowing and then admitting that you've just got to start over.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who took the time to watch the video. I hope you guys will check out the book and let me know what you think. 

 

Ordered my copy!