Doyon, Stephanie

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Doyon, Stephanie

PERSONAL: Married. Education: Graduated from Colby College, 1993.

ADDRESSES: Home—Chatham, NJ. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Writer. Formerly worked as an accounting assistant at a literary agency in New York, NY.

WRITINGS:

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole (adult novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Ghostwriter for several young-adult book series.

"ON THE ROAD" SERIES; FOR YOUNG-ADULTS

Leaving Home, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

Buying Time, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

Making Waves, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

Taking Chances, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 1999.

ADAPTATIONS: Author's young-adult series of novels have been optioned for television.

SIDELIGHTS: A longtime ghostwriter of young-adult novels, Stephanie Doyon finally had her own name appear on a series of young-adult books in 1999 with the publication of four works that year comprising her "On the Road" series. "I didn't really want my name on those, to be honest," Doyon admitted of her ghostwritten novels to Gerry Boyle for the Colby College Web site. "It was not the best content. A lot of them were thrillers. I wrote about axe murderers. But I tried so hard to inject value in it somehow."

In her own series of young-adult novels, Doyon tells the story of a recent high-school graduate who decides to travel around the United States for a year before enrolling in Yale University. In Leaving Home she introduces the reader to Miranda Burke as she decides to begin her travels with a casual acquaintance named Kirsten. Miranda is quickly faced with a dilemma when she and Kirsten first stop to see Kirsten's mother. The visit ultimately results in Kirsten's decision not to go on the trip, leaving Miranda to determine whether or not to proceed alone. "Doyon's story features credible characters and the promise of future travels," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Debbie Carton, writing in Booklist, called Miranda a "multidimensional character, whose ambivalence toward her stiff but loving family and passion for new experience ring true."

Doyon's "On the Road" series for teens was successful enough to be optioned for a possible television series. Still, Doyon had no plans to continue writing in the genre, "the problem being that I'm not interested in writing teen books anymore," as she told Boyle. Doyon's first adult novel, The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole, received widespread attention bolstered by its endorsement by a former teacher, the accomplished novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo. The novel revolves around the middle-class town of Cedar Hole and its inhabitants. As depicted by Doyon, Cedar Hole is so boring that the residents look forward each year to the annual lawn-mowing contest. The novel's two primary characters are Robert, an accomplished Golden Boy who can do little wrong, and Francis, an underachiever who has held a long-time grudge against Robert for beating him in the mowing contest. Despite all evidence to the contrary, fate has something unexpected in store for each of them.

A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that the author "plucks a strong melody on the heartstrings" with The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole. Beth Gibbs, writing in Library Journal, commented that the author's "enjoyable story is well written and thought-provoking." According to a contributor to Publishers Weekly, "Doyon writes pungently, with a wry slant, and pulls no punches regarding gossip, jealousy, schadenfreude and the … foibles that are the backbone of farce."