As a tattooed heavy metal fan Steff Green blows any stereotypes of romance writers out of the window.
But then she does not write ''normal'' romance. Green, under pen name Stephanie Holmes, writes paranormal romance.
She has written more than 30 novels, reached the USA Today bestseller list and climbed as high as 45 on Amazon's top 100.
Her success has meant she has been able to give up her day job and write full-time from her South Head, rural Auckland home.
''Instead of leaping from one book to another, I have the breathing space to think long-term about what I want my career to be and how I want to pay it forward to other writers.''
Hence, her visit to Dunedin for the New Zealand Young Writers Festival where she plans to assure writers that it is a viable, rewarding and creative career if they are willing to put the hard work in.
''I want to show young writers that if you have the right tools you can share your story with the world.''
She grew up with an eye condition, achromatopsia, meaning she is completely colour blind, light sensitive and legally blind.
''I was a genuinely weird kid who sucked at sports and had an unhealthy obsession with ancient Egypt.''
For her, reading was an escape and from a young age she wrote about worlds she invented and the people who inhabited them.
She continued to write through high school and university, finishing four full-length novels, one of which she sent to a publisher and got a ''very encouraging'' rejection letter back.
''They [her early novels] are all completely terrible.''
But archaeology was her true love and she went on to get a postgraduate degree, volunteering for every museum and excavation that came up.
But when she completed her studies, no-one would hire her.
''I was told I was a 'health and safety risk' because of my eyesight and a museum curator said I 'couldn't be trusted' around artefacts. I took the bus home in tears.''
After continual knock-backs, her husband suggested she consider a different career path and she instantly thought of the half-finished novels on her hard-drive.
''I always wanted to be a writer. It was something I could do myself, without someone hovering over me waiting for me to fail.''
So, as she puts it, ''I did what any self-respecting millennial would do''. She searched ''How to make a living from your writing'' and set to work.
She pitched articles to magazines, started a blog and wrote product descriptions.
Her first cheque was for $10.50, but she kept at it.
''I learned that I couldn't take rejection personally because then I would never move forward.''
She finished an old novel and pitched it to an editor at a writer's conference.
''But the publishing world works slow, and interest is not the same as a book deal.''
Then she finally got the call that every writer dreams of - a publishing deal for three science-fiction books.
But her editor retired and the deal got chopped.
''I was devastated. So many years of hard work and I'd have to start all over again.''
At the same time, she heard of writers doing well self-publishing e-books on Amazon. So she decided to give it a go with one of her ''chopped'' novels.
''It was a terrible book that sold exactly 122 copies, but I loved editing it and designing a cover and promoting it.''
She was hooked.
Green was at a party where the merits, or lack thereof, of 50 Shades of Grey was being discussed, and a friend said it was not as if she could write a ''sexy'' book like that.
She took it as a challenge and in secret began writing a story about a fox shapeshifter named Ryan, a reclusive artist, and the gallery curator that brought him out of his shell.
''I'd never had so much fun or found the words came so easily.''
She published it under the pen name Stephanie Holmes and expected nothing to happen except that one day she might not be ''so mortified about the sex in it'' that she could show it to a friend and have a laugh.
Green, who is from the Hawkes Bay, sold 1000 copies in the first week and had to come clean to her husband about where the money was coming from - that it was not the science fiction but from ''this smutty fox-shifter romance story''.
Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, last year leaving her job to become a full-time writer.
''I earn six figures from writing and have the most incredible fun doing it.''
Her career really took off when she released her first ''reverse harem'' novel - a romance trope where a heroine falls in love with not one but three or more heroes and has her happy ever after with all of them.
A series she released earlier this year based around a mystery plot with reverse harem elements has been even more popular.
Then, in May, she noticed readers asking for ''bully romance'' (dark romance featuring an antagonistic lead), so she read a couple and got hooked.
''I never planned to write one but one day the idea for Shunned came to me in a dream. I dropped everything and wrote ... that book in three weeks.
''This book just poured out of me - it reminded me of the time I first tried to write romance. I felt like I was on to something magical.''
Shunned reached number 45 on the Amazon bestseller list and stayed there for five days.
''In 30-plus books, it's the first time I've had a real hit, and this series changed my life.''
When she is not writing, Green listens to heavy metal music and describes herself as a ''metalhead''.
''I love how strong and intense and powerful the music is, and how uniting it can be. Metal fans are like a big family - even if you don't speak the same language, you can connect over the music.''
While her publishing success has been mostly in the United States, people have also taken notice here. In 2017, she received the Attitude Award for Artist Achievement and she was a finalist in the Women of Influence Awards.
To see
Steff Green, self-publishing workshop, New Zealand Young Writers Festival, Fringe HQ, October 4, 10am-noon.
