The Author Behind the Story Blog Series - Shannon Taylor Vannatter (and a giveaway!)

Well, 2020 is gone, and already people are closing their 2021 accounts, claiming the 7-day trial was enough. It's in jest, for the most part, but their is some truth in there somewhere. 2021 has not gotten off to a great start, but in its defense, it didn't have a great progenitor, so there's that. :-)

I, for one, am having a good year so far. Some plans are coming together. My relationship with the Lord is strengthening. My writing is plugging along. So, it's a matter of perspective, as always. It's about upon Whom you keep you eyes, not the what, when, why, or how.

We had a break in 2020, as December's spotlighted author had some things occur that caused a cancellation. Life happens, right? But that's not the case for January 2021. Our next guest on ABTS was introduced to me in a unique way. She and Linda Fulkerson purchased a portion of the company that owned the rights to my latest novel, The Letters. I have since gotten to know her a little, and have even been featured on her website. So, with further delay, let's welcome to the Florida Front Porch, where it's been a little chilly of late, Shannon Taylor Vannatter!

Shannon, start us off in ABTS tradition by giving us a quick bio. In fifty words or less, who is Shannon Taylor Vannatter?  

I’m a pastor’s wife, mom to a nineteen-year-old son, editor and part owner of Scrivenings Press, and an author of going on nineteen Inspirational Romance novels. I love to craft and go flea marketing. Almost every piece of furniture in my house came from a flea market. I’m a fan of wing back chairs, white wicker, and seashells. I’m equally a dog and cat person, a tea and coffee person. Tea should be sweet and iced. I love anything from a Frappuccino to a cup of hot coffee, lukewarm, or gone completely cold as long as it’s sweet. I’m an only child and introverted. I love being with people, especially church members and writers, but I need recovery alone time afterward. I love high heeled shoes, glitter, sequins, rhinestones, and lace. For years, I thought if I had somewhere to go, I’d dress like a modest Dolly Parton. A dozen years ago, I decided church is somewhere to go. Our ladies dress in anything from jeans, skirts, dresses, and slacks. And then there’s me. I bought a champagne-colored rhinestone jacket with my Christmas money. My husband is still cringing.

Before you ever got a notion of becoming a writer/author, how old were you, and what were you doing in that time of your life?

I was in my early thirties, an ex-hairdresser, ex-bank clerk, working as a receptionist in the corporate offices of a large fragrance company. My husband and I had been married thirteen years and were still childless. I had the most boring job ever and wondered what I’d really like to do. The answer came to me through a great friend who was always redecorating her house and it looked like fun. Yes, I wanted to be an interior decorator.

But I live in small town, with little call for such things, and it would probably take some sort of schooling. There is an area where all the rich people live and I thought if I could get a foot in the door there, it would be my big break. And it hit me, decorate the doctor’s office where the rich people go, for free and leave my business card.

I never did it. I transferred to accounts payable in the company and enjoyed that job. My friend moved to Memphis and dabbled with interior decorating as a career. She told me how hard and frustrating it was, so I changed my mind. But thinking about that interior decorator, yep, it became a book.

I’m going to give you a shotgun list of favorites. List your favorite in each category and then tell us in one sentence why it is your favorite.  

Favorite Song of All-Time: "Martyr’s Song" by Todd Agnew. It’s from God’s perspective, tells how He’s been waiting for me to get to Heaven to dance with me in fields full of colors I’ve never seen. I love it because I never thought of God anxiously awaiting my arrival. And I love color. I always want to know the exact name for color. It’s not pale blue, it’s aqua. It’s not orange or peach, it’s watermelon or salmon. So, thinking about seeing colors I’ve never seen is awesome to me. I cry every time I hear it. Not because of the colors, but because God can bring me there any time He wants to, but He’s waiting for His perfect timing. And even though He knows when that is, He’s anxiously awaiting my arrival. Gets me teary just writing this.

Favorite Bible Verse: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 KJV) This assures me that no matter how I flub up, I’m still okay. Because God loves me anyway and he can’t see through the blood of Jesus to my flaws.

Favorite Movie: Remember Sunday. It’s a sappy romance about a guy who has no short term memory after an emotional breakdown. Every day, he wakes up in a new world and has to read all the notes his sister put together for him to catch up on where he is in his life. He meets a girl and really likes her, so he records everything about her, so he can remember. He basically has to fall in love with her all over again every day. I love it because I love romance, it was a clean movie, and it had some twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

Favorite Actor or Actress: The guy in Remember Sunday – Zachary Levi. I first saw him in a silly Chipmunks movie when our son was little. He played a really dorky guy who was annoying. Then he did the voice for Flynn Rider in Tangled, which is a cartoon take on Rapunzel. I loved the movie and fell in love with Flynn Rider. I couldn’t believe it, when I found out Flynn’s voice was the guy from the dorky Chipmunk movie. And then I saw him as the hero in Remember Sunday and fell in love with him all over again. I’ve only seen him in a few other things, but he’s convincing in every role he plays.

Favorite Novel (other than your own): The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter. It has a really good premise. The characters are so real, and I love them. And the main thing is the hero has been in love with the heroine for years, but she barely sees him. He finally gets a chance to fix her life and be her hero. Hallmark made it into a movie, but the book was so much better.

Favorite Author (other than you): Denise Hunter. I discovered her when I was looking for comparables – where you have to list books similar to yours when pitching a book to a publisher. After reading one of her titles, I quickly bought all of her backlist, and I preorder each new release. I want to write like her when I grow up.

Favorite Teacher in School: Mrs. Edwards. She was my only true friend there for a while when I moved to rural Arkansas when I was twelve and had a hard time fitting in.

Favorite Time of the Year: Fall. I hate being hot, so much so, I prefer winter over summer.

Favorite Place to Vacation: Texas. We have family there and love visiting the ranch in Medina. All the ranches in all my cowboy books are based on the family ranch. My husband’s step-mother still lives on the ranch, and she’s an amazing woman. She loves completely as if we were really hers.

Favorite Food: Shrimp Carbonara. Yum. I love seafood and noodles and creamy sauce, so it covers all the bases for me. I’ve told my husband if I ever develop an allergy to shell fish, to just shoot me and put me out of my misery. 

Do you have a crazy, interesting, behind-the-scenes story about the publishing world you’d like to tell your readers without boring them to death with industry gobbledygook? 

Let’s see, without going into all the boring details, I once had a book stolen by a publisher. This was back when everything was submitted by mail. The publisher wanted the entire manuscript with a self-addressed stamped envelope to return it in case the answer was no – to the tune of $16 in postage. They said they’d take floppy discs, and that was so much cheaper to mail, so I sent the book that way. I never heard back from them. A year later, when my husband tried to order my first published book from a store, they didn’t have it, but they had another of my titles. Yep, the one I’d sent on floppy disc. The publisher said it accidently got loose in his system. I guess that’s why he went ahead and sold five copies and never sent me any royalties.

And that’s not all. My second agent lost my very first book contract for me. She had a bad reputation in the industry, but I didn’t know it.

I reported the publisher and the agent so no other authors could get taken in by them and both are out of business now. I landed on my feet, so I don’t have any bad feelings. But they make for interesting stories.

I think we all have a story or two like that. There are miscreants in every industry, aren't there?

Tell us about your writing day. How do you go about writing? 

I’m a night owl. I go to bed at 2:00 am and get up at 10:00. For the first time in my life, I’m living on my internal clock schedule. When I was a kid, I had to get up and go to school. As adult, I had to get up and go to work for sixteen years. As a stay at home mom, during our son’s school years, I had to get up and get him off to school.

Finally, he’s graduated and works nights, and I have a job where I can set my own hours. I usually work from noon until five or six, then get in another three hours from eleven pm until two am. Sometimes, I write during the day and edit at night. Sometimes I edit during the day and write at night. It depends on which deadline is tighter.

My husband does his studying and sermons during the day while I’m sleeping or working, since he’s an early bird. We usually have family time in the mornings or evenings when our son is off. My husband and I have our time each evening. And back when the world was normal, he did his church member and hospital visiting during the day, and sometimes I’d go with him in the evening.

When the world was normal...will we ever get back to "normal"?

Knowing what you know now about writing, publishing, etc., what piece of advice would you give to the person thinking about writing that novel they have always wanted to pursue since they were young, or the person who believes they have a non-fiction book in them that would be helpful to others?  

Join a local writers group. Join a national writers group specific to your genre. Join a critique group, preferably through a national group. Writing can be such a solitary pursuit. It’s important to find other people who understand you more than even your spouse or family can. And there’s always a writer farther along in the journey, learn from them. Enter contests that give feedback. I got to publishable level by joining ACFW, a critique group through the organization, and contest feedback.

Why do you live where you live?  

I was born in rural Arkansas. When I was a year old, my dad followed the pipeline to Michigan, then Indiana. When that job ended, he followed the housing boom to Chicago when I was two. We stayed in a Chicago suburb until I was seven, then followed the housing boom to Atlanta, Georgia. We lived in an Atlanta suburb until I was twelve, then moved back to rural Arkansas where the bulk of our family is.

The only thing wrong with that was my favorite cousins stayed in GA, and all my friends were there. My plan for several years was to graduate and go back to GA. I didn’t like the country. Farm animals stunk, there was nothing to do, the skating rink floor was wavy and none of my classmates liked to skate. The closest neighbor my age was a quarter of a mile away. I was used to a neighborhood where my back yard connected to my best friend’s on the other side of the block. There weren’t any sidewalks for bike riding. I was a city girl and had a hard time fitting in.

Finally, when I was fourteen, I met my future husband. Once he finally noticed me, I was fifteen. He’s a Texan, but grew up an army brat. He’s all country. Over the years, country life grew on me. The city of 7,000 people ten miles from us would be much too big for me to live in now. Farm animals still stink, but there’s a new skating rink, though I wouldn’t go if my life depended on it. I’m pretty sure if I fell these days, I’d break something. It’s peaceful and relaxing where we live. My parents live across a hayfield from me. My cousins are across the gravel road we live on and my aunt and uncle live at the end of it. It’s only fifty yards off the highway. Yes, there are paved streets here, you just have to take a gravel road to get to my driveway.

We know “Readers are leaders, and leaders are readers.” Is there a book you’ve read in the past five years or so that has helped you become a better you? If so, which one was it, and how did it affect your life? 

The Screwtape Letters. It’s completely different than what I normally read, and I only read it because my husband insisted. It opened my eyes to the spiritual warfare we face daily as Christians. When things go wrong, I can just see that demon’s evil glee. It makes me pray and harder to get past his evil plan.

What a book for today's headlines, right?

When you are looking for a book to read, what are the things that are important to you? 

I look for Contemporary Romance and occasionally, I’ll delve into Women’s Fiction. But I’m leery of WF because I like a good happily-ever-after. There for a while, it was hard to find CR. Everything was Historical or Amish. So I’ve pretty much gotten to where if it’s a long length Contemporary Romance, I’ll read it. If I like it, I’ll buy the author’s entire back list and preorder new releases.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, or anything we didn’t cover?

Signing on as acquisitions/content editor and part owner of Scrivenings Press has been a joy. There were times when I wondered what I’d gotten myself into at first. But now that I’ve gotten the hang of editing and am faster, I’m able to keep a schedule and not feel overwhelmed. And find time to write.

I hate e-mailing rejections, but I always give the writer advice on how to improve whatever they need to work on. I love sending acceptance e-mails. I’ve gotten to send them to the authors we acquired with the company on their new projects.

My favorite part has been discovering new authors and contracting their debut novels. I’ve gotten to do that twice. Every writer dreams of The Call, when an editor calls to say they love your book and want to offer you a contract. By the time, I got mine, it was an e-mail. I’ve gotten to make The Call twice to debut authors and both signed with us.

Editing other’s work has also made me a better writer. As a result, I’m better at revising my own work before I turn it into my editor.

Shannon, it's been wonderful having you on our blog. Thanks for taking the time out of your hectic, "country" schedule to be a part!

And readers, there's more! Shannon would like to hold a giveaway by giving one lucky reader a paperback copy of her book, A Texas Bond! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment in the comment section below, and when you do so, please leave your name and e-mail address. Shannon will be contacting the winner directly. The giveaway starts Jan. 13th and ends on Jan. 20th!

Readers, if you want more information on Shannon, here's an author bio she shared that includes all of her social media links as well:

Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.

She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.

Connect with her: Shannon’s Website, Shannon’s Blog, Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, Newsletter Archives, Shannon’s Amazon Author Page and Shannon’s Bookbub. Sign up for her Newsletter to get a free e-book, recipes, behind the scenes info, & enter exclusive giveaways: Shannon's Newsletter

Recently, Shannon joined Scrivenings Press as co-owner/acquisitions/content editor.

Until next time, may God bless America, and more importantly, may we, as Americans, bless God!

Kevin

www.ckevinthompson.com

PS - If you're looking for an example of Shannon's and Linda's work, look no further that Kevin's latest novel, The Letters! And see what other readers are saying:

"Wow. I wasn’t sure what to expect as this doesn’t fall into the genres I tend to read, but I am so glad I read it! The story quickly grabbed & held my attention. It has many twists and turns. And behind it all, an amazing message of love, forgiveness, and redemption." - Amazon Reviewer

"It has been awhile since I read a great story . One with joy and sorrow and most of all suspense. Rachel had so much to overcome only to be plagued by letters in her daily mail. I believe that you will enjoy this story to the very end, I know I did." - Amazon Reviewer

"What an intriguing story! I did not know that the setting of this book would be in December and that the story would include Christmas. I love to read books around this time of year!...Once I began to read this book I could not wait to get to the finish. The time went quickly for me. I was very surprised and glad for the way the author led us to complete this journey." - Goodreads Reviewer

"From the start of this book it drew me in and I simply could not put it down (just ask my husband). What a beautiful faith filled story. Please write more for us to read." - Amazon Reviewer

THE WORLD IS A CRAZY PLACE

WHEN THE LIVING ARE DEAD

AND THE DEAD ARE ALIVE.

Rachel Hamar—a Manhattan bank teller—lives nothing close to a Manhattan lifestyle. Residing in Washington Heights, NY, the only thing keeping her in The Big Apple is her mother—a long-time patient in a local psychiatric hospital. It’s December, 2014, and the twentieth anniversary of her high school sweetheart’s tragic death. She’s not sure how much more heartache she can endure, especially after being told earlier in the day she no longer has a job at the bank. A casualty of downsizing.

In the midst of spiraling depression, Rachel receives a mysterious letter in the mail. When she opens it, she becomes cautious and skeptical of its contents and discards it as a mistake, concluding it’s simply addressed incorrectly or a postal worker’s faux pas in the midst of a busy Christmas season. But another letter arrives the next day. And another the day after that. Before long, she is in possession of several letters. Each one more puzzling than the last.

Thinking that someone may be playing a cruel game, she contacts the police, and this propels Rachel and the two detectives into one of the most bizarre cases they’ve ever encountered. Is it a friend’s cruel joke? Is it some stalker’s perverse idea of manipulation? Or is it something more?