Profile: Staci Jost

By Dawne Belloise

Staci Jost has been coming to Crested Butte for years, visiting weekends to ski in the winters and mountain bike in the summers. Her husband, Jonny Jost, had a condo here and she laughs that he needed to import a wife because there were slim pickings. She had been attending Metro State College in Denver when they met, and they moved up to Crested Butte in 2019. Staci is a self-published romance novelist in a specific genre called “Romantasy,” which is fantasy romance. Her book, Restored, is part one of a duology. 

Staci was always a big reader. “As a kid, throughout middle school and high school, I grew up reading Harry Potter,” she says of the famous series, as well as the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini. She wrote fan fiction throughout middle and high school and would get in trouble for staying up late and reading. And Staci’s fan fiction had a strong following where her readers could access the stories on Quizilla, a website where writers in this specific genre can post their fan fiction. But in her 20s she lost interest in writing. “I lost my love for it. You’re out with friends and living the city life and you’re not home reading and writing because you’re in school reading and writing.” 

Staci was born and raised in Parker, Colorado, where both of her parents were entrepreneurs. They had a cabin in Coal Creek, Colorado, that her great-grandfather had built and her parents moved her and her two sisters up there. Staci says of her middle school days there that there wasn’t a lot to do there, “But I was outside playing with friends and catching bugs as a free-range child. We were outdoors all day.” In high school, Staci hung out with friends and was avidly reading and writing. She had a job as an usher at a movie theatre at Cinema World in Parker when the family moved back there for her high school days. She graduated in 2010. 

Staci didn’t know what she wanted as a career path, so she worked a variety of jobs, including at Planetary Fitness as a maintenance coordinator. Her hubby owned the business, which they later sold. The couple married in 2016 and their son, Summit, was born in 2019. “We moved to CB to raise our son. I wanted him to grow up like I did, safe and wild with the freedom to be a kid,” she tells. With a lull in her employment, having sold the fitness franchise, Staci finally had time to think about what she wanted to do and fortunately that led her back into a creative writing space. Staci feels that her inspiration for creating story was rekindled when she moved to Crested Butte. “Here, everyone explores their passions more. There are a lot of artists and entrepreneurs and that inspired me to get creative again.” 

She started her book as her New Year’s resolution in January of 2024. Staci dedicated her book to the women of the world who take care of everyone and that was the inspiration of the story. “Every writer takes inspiration from what they read,” she feels. Her creative time is when she’s driving. “I promised myself I would write every day, and I feel the more you write, the more you get into that creative space and allow the story to take shape and come together. You have to give yourself permission to do it imperfectly and commit to it. Writing is a muscle and the more you use it the stronger it gets and the better you get at it. Writing this book was a huge learning curve for me. I don’t think I had a clue about how much work goes into writing a book. From my first draft to the last, it was a completely different book. You keep revising it over and over,” she says of the process. 

By May of 2025, she had finished and published the novel. Staci explains that the book is getting great support and she feels everyone is excited for the journey she’s on. She had looked into the traditional route of getting published but noted that it can take years, “And that’s after you get an agent.” But self-publishing her own book took only about a year from start to finish. The impetus for writing was from her love of reading both romance books and fantasy books.  “That’s what I primarily read so I just wrote what I like to read,” she says. The first book that piqued her interest in the Romantasy genre was Blood and Ash, by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Staci offers advice for those who want to write but are procrastinating or putting it off for various reasons. “Start messy, don’t wait to be perfect. Write the themes that excite you even if they’re out of order. Don’t let a messy house steal your inspiration, by the time you’re finished cleaning, you’re tired, so write first. Give yourself grace because it’s a huge learning and growing experience. And don’t give up, persevere through those days you think you’re a horrible writer. Words on paper can always be edited but you can’t edit a blank page. It’s never too late to figure out what your passions are and what you want to do with your life and at 34, I’m just starting to figure it out.”

 When she’s not writing, Staci is actively involved and hanging out with her son. She’s also half finished writing the final sequel to her first book, which she says should be out next year. “Readers are already clamoring for it because the first book ended with a cliffhanger,” she smiles. In the winters, she finds time to ski both alpine and Nordic, while in the summers, Staci is outdoors all day on the rivers and lakes and attends hot yoga classes.

Staci emphasizes, “I love Crested Butte, even though as a city girl I get a little frustrated with the lack of amenities. Everybody who lives up here I think knows it’s not the easiest,” she acknowledges about living at the end of the road. “But it’s what builds community and the sense of support because we’re all doing it together. The summers go fast and it’s a dream up here. I don’t think there’s any place in the world that can beat Crested Butte in the summer.” 

In August, Staci will be doing a book signing at Townie Books in Crested Butte and at Barnes & Noble in Denver.