The World of Myth Magazine

CW Winter:Before we get into the business aspect of who you are, let's find out a bit about who you are? Where did you pick up the nick name Lupa?

Stephanie J. Bardy: It was a name given to me a very long time ago by someone very special to me. It is actually a character from a series of books I love. The Anita Blake series. Apparently her and I share similar qualities, and she is, at one point, called Lupa of the local werewolf pack. It kinda stuck and here we are 18 some odd years later.

CW Winter:How is working in the States and living in Canada?

Stephanie J. Bardy: In a word? It sucks. I feel ineffective at times because I don't always have the ability to have boots on the ground. I can't meet people in person or go business to business like I want too to promote our stuff. I find it hard to plan events from so far away as well. But I do what I can and make it work the best I can.

CW Winter:When did you get into writing?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I was very young when I started making up stories and little plays for my family. I actively started writing in high school with my first short story and a book of poetry.

CW Winter:Do you remember your first story?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Unfortunately I do! Ha ha!

CW Winter:Can you tell us about it?

Stephanie J. Bardy: It's about a band, I always wanted to be a singer, anyway, this band wants to make it big so, in true cliched fashion, they sell their souls for fame and fortune, but when it doesn't live up to what they expected, they have to find a way to get their souls back. Enter little Chinese man, and a demon. I may rewrite it one day.

CW Winter:You said in your weekly podcast, "Lupa's Bits," that you got into poetry writing before you started your hand at stories. Can you tell us a little about that?

Stephanie J. Bardy: After that first short story, I didn't feel I was as good enough to write more. Poetry always came easy. The words would just “appear” in my head, all of them, all at once, and I would scramble to get them on paper. So, that was where I stayed for a long time. I would dream of fantastic stories but only ever put poetry on paper. I had a lot of half baked ideas on paper, but nothing solid.

CW Winter:So what led you in the direction to write stories?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Desperation. I had read just about everything I could get my hands on. In the genres that I liked. But none of them had all the elements. I wanted supernatural, murder, intrigue, ghosts and a love story. So, one day, with nothing better to do than watch my daughter attempt to roll over for the thousandth time (don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful sight) I decided to try and write a story that I wanted to read.

CW Winter:What was the first thing you published?

Stephanie J. Bardy: The first piece of my work was a poem in a friends book. I've had several poems in other peoples books published, but my very first, on my own, all my words, piece to be published was Eternally Bound. My novel. The one I wrote that I wanted to read.

CW Winter:Again, quoting you from your podcast, how long did it take you to write your first book?

Stephanie J. Bardy: 14 very long, very painful, soul searching years.

CW Winter:So, you have your first manuscript and hand, was Dark Myth Publications the first place you pitched it to?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I may get fired for this, but no. I spent two years pitching my book to various publishing houses, large and small. I have a folder in my email of rejections. I kept them as encouragement. Reminding myself that even Stephan King was rejected hundreds of times before he got his first deal. I entered #PitMad each season on Twitter, I printed and mailed my manuscript, I sent queries, attended events with my sorry excuse for an elevator pitch. I did the leg work.

CW Winter:Okay, how did, so how did the manuscript land at Dark Myth?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Purely by accident, or luck, or the lack of interest on one parties part. Depends on how you look at it. I was feeling rather defeated and looking for an editor. I thought maybe my book needed fresh eyes and some rewrites. An editor friend of mine was looking to broaden his horizons in the editing field and offered to give it a look. Apparently it was to broad a horizon and he dropped it in his friends lap. That friend happened to be the publisher of Dark Myth. He read it and loved it. And here we are.

CW Winter:What was that entire experience like?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Nerve wracking. Nail biting. Gray hair inducing. Ulcer forming. And that was just waiting to see if he would publish it or not! But in all reality, it was an incredible and surreal experience. You have this pile of papers, with words on them, that you hoped would make some sort of cohesive sense, and along comes someone who is just as passionate about your story as you are. And they want to put it out into the world. I can never say thank you enough for making my dream come true. Because it really was a dream come true. The whole experience was one that I will always remember and cherish. It was the moment I became an author. With the word published in front of it.

CW Winter:Tells us about The World of Myth's Lupa Clause?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Well, Dave, the publisher, and Mike, the editor at the time, felt that I needed to build an audience before my book came out. So, Dave wanted a story each month, for 6 months, before he would publish my book. And the Lupa Clause was born. We now incorporate it into all our contracts.

CW Winter:Those stories in the magazine lead to your second book, "The Chosen," correct?

Stephanie J. Bardy:They did! It seems I can't just write a one and done. I always have more to tell. So, when the character from the first story popped into the third, or was it fourth, story, I ran with it and The Chosen was born. I'm doing it again as well with Penance. I find that when I am expected to write each month, I can stick to it. And believe me, I am expected too write each month. I have a small but dedicated fan club that won't let me miss a month.

CW Winter:How many time have you been published since becoming apart of the JayZoMon/Dark Myth Family?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Oh boy….hmmmm…counting anthologies and full length books? Well, I have three books of my own, and appear in 9 anthologies from various publishers. Damn! I didn't realize it was that many!

CW Winter:Now, you are writing away, you have your first book in the bag and you wake up one morning to find out that you were now a co-host of The World of Myth Bits Podcast, how annoyed were you?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Ahh yes, the volun-told incident. I had considered various forms of torture and dismemberment for both Mike and Dave, and a brief period of not talking to them, but decided that my very obvious lack of skill would speak for itself. Apparently they were willing to over look my lack of bubbly-ness and here I am, some two hundred episodes later, with my own podcast and still going strong

CW Winter:Mike and Dave kind of did the same thing when they selected you to be the Managing Editor of the Magazine.

Stephanie J. Bardy: I never actually put that together until just now. Hmmm. So it seems. Mike was retiring and asked me if I wanted to take over. Seems it was already a done deal. But I've loved every minute of it.

CW Winter:How long in did you become the Editor in Chief, which covered all of Dark Myth Publications, not just the magazine?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I'm not exactly sure how long it was but it was within the first year. I made a crack about how one day I would take over the company. Dave laughed that laugh he has when he knows something you don't. Again, I love what I do. But do keep an eye on him more closely now.

CW Winter:Now you are the longest-running editor for the magazine in its eighteen-year history, even surpassing Terry D. Scheerer. How does that feel?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I don't know. I've heard so much about Terry, that it feels almost wrong in some way to surpass part of his legacy. He was such an important part to not only the magazine, but to Dave and many others. I can only hope that I have done his memory honor and done this magazine justice. I k ow I keep saying it, but I love what I do. I have a connection with our contributors and strive to do my best every month.

CW Winter:In 2021, Dave incorporated the business as The JayZoMon Dark Myth Company, what was that like for you?

Stephanie J. Bardy: It was my idea. I felt that by making it all one and bringing all the imprints under one banner we could tighten things up. For me, it made things easier. One company, various brands.

CW Winter:Do you remember the first Board of Directors meeting?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I remember it was long and chaotic. Oh and full of policies. Dave has a thing for policies and we had to go over all the old ones and find what worked and what didn't. We also found out within that first group, who worked and who didn't.

CW Winter:In July, I believe, you caught some major behind-the-scenes fraud happening with the Assistant Administrator of Live Events. What was the red flags that you caught on to that the of members missed?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Ahh yes. The biggest red flag for me was his inability to produce accurate financials. None of his receipts added up to the money he was spending. So I asked to do an audit because our final total from one month never matched our starting total for the next month. As I was going over the banking records I started noticing charges that were not event related like cab fair and such. In the end the employee admitted to stealing a small amount which would have legally got him a slap on the wrist, but we knew it was far deeper and much more than that. I could just never find the hard evidence to prove it and those who participated wouldn't admit to it.

CW Winter:From this, and with your accounting background, you became the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, and have been until January 1st when you get the keys to the kingdom and become the CEO of JayZoMon Dark Myth. Before getting into that, tell us how was it as CFO and being the secretary of the Board of Directors?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Do I have to be honest here?

CW Winter: Yes, please.

Stephanie J. Bardy:I do huh….well, sorting through the mess that was the financials for ScareFaire was a nightmare. I still have dreams about it. But once we got passed that it hasn't been to difficult. We haven't really done much financially because we lost so much. Being secretary can be a pain in the you know what at times, especially when we all talk at once or someone's internet connection is crap and they sound like a robot under water. But it's been fun.

CW Winter:As I mentioned, in January, you become the new Chief Executive Officer of The JayZoMon Dark Myth Company. What are we to expect to see differently under your term?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Fear. A lot of asking questions and hoping my board of directors has the answers. But seriously, I want to see this company thrive. I want to focus on our core elements and bring them soaring into the new year.

CW Winter:There has been a serious shift inside the company, will the Board of Directors be the same or will that change too?

Stephanie J. Bardy: That is changing as well. We are seeing some long time faces leave and some new ones come in.

CW Winter:First day on the job as CEO, what do you to do as the first order of business?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Fire everyone! Oh wait, this isn't Twitter. All jokes aside, I will be asking my board to submit all their ideas for the coming year and ways to improve our products. I want all of us to move this company forward. We are a team and we will work as such.

CW Winter:I believe that I can speak for the entire readership and consumers of not only the magazine but the entire company, we are excited to see you in this new role. Before I go though I have one final question, Who will be the Editor in Chief moving forward?

Stephanie J. Bardy: Me dammit! Me! I'm not leaving! I will be remaining as Editor in Chief for both the magazine and Dark Myth Publications.

CW Winter:I want to thank you for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to talk with us today. Is there anything you want to say or talk about before we sign off that I may have not covered?

Stephanie J. Bardy: I just want everyone to k ow that I will still be just as available to them as I was before. This is just a title, I am still the same old Steph our contributors on the magazine have come to know and love, the same goofy girl who puts out a podcast once a week and the same writer, looking for validation and acceptance. That won't ever change. Oh and I will be keeping Dave close at hand for those tricky CEO questions.

CW Winter:Again, thank you, for everything you have done for not only this magazine but the entire company in general. All right, gang, this is CW Winter signing off until the next time they need me to ask the hot ticket questions!

Stephanie J. Bardy: Thank you so much for having me. Sometimes I forget I am more than what people see publically.