Interview with Shawntelle Madison and Giveaway - April 25, 2012

Please welcome Shawntelle Madison to The Qwillery as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Coveted, Shawntelle's debut, was published yesterday!  Read Shawntelle's Guest Blog - Writing a character with OCD - here.



TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Shawntelle:  When I am in the zone and a story is pouring out of me, everything around me seems to go to hell. My house gets messy, my wardrobe choices aren’t the best, and dinner every night is a pizza night. I’ve written until my hands hurt and I had to use Dragon Naturally Speaking to get the words out. So, ummm, I guess you could say I’m driven?

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Shawntelle:  The author who has influenced me the most is science fiction author Octavia Butler. I love her work. I read her a lot in high school and I always wanted to write speculative fiction. Some of my other favorites include Marjorie M. Liu, Patricia Briggs, and Lynn Viehl/S.L. Viehl.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Shawntelle:  I’m actually a hybrid. I’m a plotser. I plot out the whole book from a macro prospective, but when it comes to individual scenes anything goes.

TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Shawntelle:  Finding the time to write when I actually feel like writing. It seems like when I want to write I have plenty of other things to do.

TQ:  Describe Coveted in 140 characters or less.

Shawntelle:  A hoarding werewolf with a house of full holiday trinkets must fight for the love of the man who left her behind & her life.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Coveted?

Shawntelle:  The idea for Coveted came from reading one of my husband’s physician magazines. The article on the cover piqued my interest—it was about obsessive compulsive disorders. I read the article, which include treatment plans and symptoms. I chewed on ideas for a while until I finally asked myself the question, “What would happen if you had a werewolf with OCD?" From that point, the plot and secondary characters emerged.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Coveted?

Shawntelle:  For Coveted I read a lot about antiques—which was very fun. I also got to research a lot of the phobias I mention in the book. Naturally, you can’t do research on how Muses would be afraid of the authors they inspire, but hey, I gave it my best shot. I also watched a lot of episodes of Hoarders, one of my favorite television shows. The transformations of the homes on that show are amazing and inspiring.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Shawntelle:  Nat by far was the easiest character to write. She just comes out of my head like she’s a girlfriend who wants to chat about what irked her that particular day. Actually, none of the other characters were really difficult to write. They spoke and I wrote. LOL

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Coveted?

Shawntelle:  My favorite scene by far is when Nat and her friend Abby go to the store for supplies. They learn something about Nat’s brother Alex that they never saw coming. :D

TQ:  What's next?

Shawntelle:  I hope everyone reads Coveted and checks out Kept, which is a continuation of Nat’s story. That is coming out on November 27th!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.


About Coveted and Kept

Coveted

Coveted 1
Ballantine Books, April 24, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages

SOMETIMES WHAT YOU COVET IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP.

For werewolf Natalya Stravinsky, the supernatural is nothing extraordinary. What does seem strange is that she’s stuck in her hometown of South Toms River, New Jersey, the outcast of her pack, selling antiques to finicky magical creatures. Restless and recovering from her split with gorgeous ex-boyfriend, Thorn, Nat finds comfort in an unusual place: her obsessively collected stash of holiday trinkets. But complications pile up faster than her ornaments when Thorn returns home—and the two discover that the spark between them remains intense.

Before Nat can sort out their relationship, she must face a more immediate and dangerous problem. Her pack is under attack from the savage Long Island werewolves—and Nat is their first target in a turf war. Toss in a handsome wizard vying for her affection, a therapy group for the anxious and enchanted, and the South Toms River pack leader ready to throw her to the wolves, and it’s enough to give anybody a panic attack. With the stakes as high as the full moon, Nat must summon all of her strength to save her pack and, ultimately, herself.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Read The Qwillery's 4 Qwill review of Coveted here.


Kept
Coveted 2
Ballantine Books, November 27, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

Fresh from defending her pack in battle, Natalya Stravinsky, a whip-smart werewolf with a lovable neurotic streak, wants a little rest and relaxation. Once an outcast, she’s now eager to rejoin the ranks of her New Jersey pack, and has even gotten a handle on her obsessive urge to hoard holiday ornaments. Yet Nat barely has time to revel in her progress before the next crisis comes howling at her door.

Nat’s father has suddenly gone missing, captured by the Russian werewolf mafia. And as Nat steps up to save her dad from a mob boss’s deadly game, two men step in to play another round for her heart: her gorgeous alpha ex-boyfriend, Thorn, and her new flame, the sweetly sensitive wizard Nick. With her life growing more harried by the minute, Nat must stay cool, calm, and collected . . . or else risk losing everything.

Preorder
Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Shawntelle

Shawntelle loves to write stories where something mysterious always happens. Her stories unfold in either a magical place or she drop kicks her heroine and hero into the mix of crazy magical circumstances. Her characters have been swimming around in her head for the longest of time, but its only recently that she has given into their demands and wrote down their adventures.

Why paranormal? Well, every time she thinks about writing something straight forward she gets caught in the what-if exercise. What if her hero was a werewolf or if her heroine was a nymph? How far could she go down the rabbit hole and not sound crazy? (Yet still be somewhat believable?)

Writing is one of her first loves, besides web development. She is a die hard geek who earned her undergraduate degree in Math from Iowa State University. (She even almost finished a degree in Russian Studies.)

As far as memberships, she’s a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and Romance Writers of America (RWA), in particular the Missouri RWA and Young Adult RWA.

She currently lives in Missouri with her husband and children (the Den of Evil).

Shawntelle's Links:

Website
Twitter
Facebook


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Coveted from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:

Who is your favorite werewolf from books, movies or TV? 

(You can list more than one!)

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)   Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*