Clay Stoner crafts fiction where the surreal meets the raw–West, horror, and the unknown. Stories that linger. Worlds that unsettle.His stories haunt, provoke, and stay with you long after the last page.

Tales Without Boundaries

West of Oblivion

Where Time Betrays the Living

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Clay Stoner’s Legacy:
Stories That Stay With You

Step into the bold storytelling of Clay Stoner, where grit, wisdom, and raw emotion collide. Each novel is a journey—unpredictable, thought-provoking, and unforgettable. Browse the collection and discover your next great read today!

WEST OF OBLIVION

West of Oblivion blends Western grit, sweeping fantasy, and forbidden romance into a haunting tale of destiny and redemption. As past regrets collide with the present, the thin veil between memory and reality unravels. Some choices echo forever—will you dare to face them?

THE WEEPING PAST: A FORBIDDEN LEGACY

Deep in the Washington mountains, Chrisma-La hides a forgotten world, steeped in ancient druid rituals and forbidden desire. A young druid princess captivates Rocky Rolls, luring him into a realm where prophecies whisper of darkness. But beneath its beauty, an ominous fate looms—a trial that will push him to the edge of destiny. Will he survive what lurks beyond the veil?

Available Winter 2025

Available Winter 2026

Clay Stoner: What advice for new writers? Hmm... let me think about it... Don’t fall for the saying that you should write from experience–that’s ridiculous. Not if you’re a good writer! But I do agree, you must write from the heart. Who wants to read a novel written by an author who didn’t put his heart into it? Man, I got a headache answering all these tough questions. This is the last one.

Copilot: How has your writing style evolved over time, and what triggered that change?

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 Clay Stoner: Now that’s a tough question. Balancing intrigue and subtlety into deeper themes is something I don’t think about when I write. When I first start a story, I like to start in the “real world.” Since I don’t work with outlines, I take my main character and confront him/her with “situations,” and that’s when I say, how can he solve or get through it in the unique way?

Copilot: What has been the most challenging scene you’ve ever written, and why?

Clay Stoner: My mind works in “pictures.” In my current novel, West of Oblivion, the main character, Cole Gunne, suffered from an “adverse reaction” to a combination of stings and juices from a cactus plant. I had a hard time picturing how he would “evolve” after that happened. It was a tough scene because I did not know where to go from there. I wrote myself into a corner.  But  you’ll have to read my book to find out.

Copilot: Do you have a particular philosophy that influences your writing?

Clay Stoner: I don’t know if I have one philosophy. I find religion always creeps up into my work. My parents sent me to Catholic schools while I was young. But when I write, the one thing that I enjoy, and my characters thrive on, is surrealism. I like to throw my characters into a hot pot of boiling surrealism and watch them struggle to survive.

Copilot: In your mind, what makes a protagonist compelling—flaws, resilience, or something else?

Clay Stoner: If anything, my protagonist has to succeed. If for the better, that’s up to the reader to determine. I rarely give my protagonist a lot to work with to get through a situation. I used the word “evolve” earlier. That pretty much says what my characters are all about and must go through each scene to move on.

Copilot: Is there a specific emotion or experience you hope readers take away from your work?

Clay Stoner: Oh, yes! The reader must take away with them—if nothing else—that I’m an excellent writer! And they’ve not wasted their time reading one of my books.  

Copilot: If you could give one piece of advice to new writers, what would it be?

Clay Stoner: Good, last question. I started writing young adult fiction, fantasy, and horror. I found I couldn’t go too deep with “hidden meanings,” a favorite thing for me to do. Eventually, something had to give. I had a novel written, the first in a trilogy, The Weeping Past: A Forbidden Legacy. I went through a lot of ideas and threw much under the table in that book. I never published it—it was too raw. It needs some major rewriting. But in it, I enjoyed shaping characters’ lives and changes they go through

as a person. Look, writing is hard. And I mean, it’s really hard. Keeping track of what I wrote at the beginning without an outline till the end makes my brain hurt. Sometimes I get it right, other times, I get an editor!

Okay. That’s it. I’m done. Thanks, CoPilot, my favorite A.I., for this interview!

Copilot: What drives your storytelling—do you start with character, theme, or world-building first?

Clay Stoner: None of those. I start with a title and genre. Then I seek a name for a character or characters. But if I’m honest, I get many of the ideas while I’m dreaming. I watch a great number of movies, and as I grew up, I read many of the classics. I told myself I’d try writing one day. And that day has come.

Copilot: How do you balance intrigue and subtlety when weaving deeper themes into your books?

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