CAROL STREAM, IL – Stephanie Mack, freelance writer and author, is coming out with a new book. Tyndale House Publishers announced the forthcoming release of Twenty Something Else on Monday (Feb. 9).
Inspired by the classic short story and film It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), Twenty Something Else follows Sutton Layne, who appears to have it all. Sutton is a wife, mother, and successful business owner. Or is she?
In reality, Sutton is a mom to a preteen son who is taking far too many risks. She is the wife of a husband who doesn’t want to throw a party in honor of her fortieth birthday. To top it off, Sutton’s interior design business is one client away from collapsing.
Things seem headed for a mini crisis when Sutton Layne has an accident that takes her back in time. Suddenly, she is a woman in her 20s and the sky is the limit. Sutton can go where she wants, whenever she wants, and she can stay for as long as she desires. She can also fall in love with whomever she wants. Life is full of second chances in this hilarious story written with middle-aged women in mind.
Stephanie Mack has written for several publications throughout her writing career. She recently sat down with Voyage LA to share the origins of her career.
“Every story has a beginning—and so does every writer,” Mack told the publication. “From the time I could pick up a pencil, I felt it deep in my bones: I was made to write. To tell the stories swirling in my imagination. To search for deeper meaning. To find connection—with people, with the world—through words. The call never left me. I’ve always believed that if something is truly your calling, it will keep calling. Guaranteed.”
Writing fiction for a living did not come immediately. Stephanie Mack worked as a hostess and freelanced while laying the foundation for her career.
“I commuted from Orange County, working odd jobs—hostessing at Houston’s, freelancing for magazines—and eventually landed my first real break: a full-time writing role at Echo Media Group,” Mack told Voyage LA. “That job launched a successful business-writing career throughout my twenties. It wasn’t fiction yet, but it was strategy, storytelling, imagination.”
Stephanie Mack began to delve into fiction right before the COVID pandemic. “I wrote my first novel, When We Blinked, in three months. I couldn’t stop,” the author shared.
“The book poured out of me,” Mack continued. “I was completely possessed by this thirty-something divorced couple, Seraphina and Connor, who weren’t done with each other yet. I finished in February 2020.”
Queries during the pandemic proved fruitless as the publishing industry was at a standstill. “I received encouraging feedback but no yeses,” Mack revealed. “So I self-published. Readers adored it.”
Twenty Something Else will be Stephanie Mack’s third book when it releases on June 9, 2026. “I still can’t believe it,” the author told Voyage LA when reflecting on her journey.
“[I can’t believe] how persistence, faith, and obedience to that relentless call led me here. That maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.”