Writer's Grove

Meet Shawntelle Madison!

Hey everybody—

I’d like to introduce you to a new talent on the shelves, Shawntelle Madison. Shawntelle is a wonderful person from St. Louis with quite a story behind her road to getting published. She was handpicked out o’ the submission pile by my own editor, Tricia Narwani, and her debut, COVETED, is now available. It’s a paranormal romance with a delightfully neurotic (yes, delightfully neurotic) heroine. Here’s the summary, followed by a guest post and giveaway by Shawntelle herself: 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.

Shawntelle: It’s amazing sometimes to realize what I’ve reached at this point. I’ve published a book. Yippee! But this blog post isn’t about what I’ve accomplished today. It’s what I’ve experienced in the past and what I hope for in the future. So much has happened in the past year. A year ago I was still waiting for my first book to come out. I’d completed edits and soon I was looking forward to copyedits and more. At the time I was impatient, I had no idea what was coming and how much work and stress would be waiting in the wings. It’s so easy to think, I can’t wait. I want my book out now. Well, now that I’ve had my book come out, I can say the wait is worth it. Rest up. Stock up on pain meds. Get sleep.

I remember back when I was in high school. I’d written a book in a folder than had pictures from my time in middle school. Life was a lot different back then. I was living in Perry, Iowa, a small town with a small library. At the time, I didn’t know their selection was small, but for someone like me who loved to read science fiction, it was perfect. After school I could lose myself in a book. I could sit and read Robert Heinlein, Harry Harrison, and more. My relationship with Stephen King’s books began at that time as well.

But what resonated with me the most were the books by Octavia Butler. They were incredible. I can’t recall the first one I read off the top of my head. I think it was Kindred. I loved it so much. I’d read nothing like it before. It was fresh. New. And I’d read a lot of books. I’d never read a book before where the main character was African. An African in a science fiction book! It was so awesome! After I read it, I devoured her books. I tried to find out anything I could about Octavia Butler. She was not only a fantastic author–she was a black woman. That to me was so inspiring. I’d written a little, but I’d never imagined I could be a writer. Hell, I’d aspired to be a surgeon. I was that high school geek who looked up careers in the counselor’s career book and picked the one that made the most money–the surgeon. It was all about the money. I guess I just couldn’t see myself being an author. I knew my writing wasn’t the best. I also didn’t have any relatives who wrote. No mentors to offer advice or help me along. I didn’t keep up with my writing in high school. I actually spent more time drawing and working with computers. (486 anyone?) After high school, I pursued a degree in math.

Fast forward a few years. It wasn’t until I began to write that I noticed there were other authors of color who wrote in the genres I preferred to read. They were just as amazing and inspiring as Octavia. The late L.A. Banks and Tananarive Due were some of the first authors I added to my collection.  I loved the romance that Leslie wrote. I thoroughly enjoyed Tananarive’s darker works. To be honest with you, I wondered how come I didn’t see more authors like them. Was that a sign I wouldn’t succeed? I learned that wasn’t the case when I got my literary agent and then a year later sold my first book in a two-book contract to Del Rey (It was later switched to Ballantine.)

I still remember the day when I visited Betsy Mitchell’s office at Random House. (She’s the former editor-in-chief. An amazing lady!) I was with my editor Tricia Narwani and we stood outside of Betsy’s office. At the time, I was so excited about the future. It was July 2011 and I was in NYC for the Romance Writers of America Conference. I still had many months until my book came out. As we talked, I revealed my admiration of Octavia. I learned from Betsy that she’d been Octavia’s editor. She’d edited her Nebula award winning piece, Parable of the Talents. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, it felt like things had come full circle. Octavia’s editor had read my book and thought my work was worthy of publication. She thought a geek like me had potential. (Makes me smile fondly every time I think about it.)

So, what have I learned from this wild ride? I always say, stay hungry to finish a book. I mean it. Persevere. (At this point, I’d say after you release a book you should take a much needed break. Zone out for goodness sake!) It’s all about your passion and the book. I was just as determined as other published writers to finish a book, edit that puppy, and then get it published. Anyone can do it. I still have to sit down and get to work in the next couple of weeks. The characters from another story are starting to get chatty. I’m tired, but since the muse has arrived, it’s time to get back to work again. I want to write more books. I want to write a story to stretch myself to write a good story that readers will enjoy—whether they like romance or not.

Are you that kid or adult who asked yourself, could I ever be a writer? Or an even deeper question, could I ever be an author of color? To that, I reply, “Oh, hell yeah.” But you gotta fight for it and you have to be prepared to trip and fall many times. I don’t have a degree in English (a degree in math hasn’t been too handy as of late) and my grammar skills can be quite lacking. But I do have are dreams and that’s something everyone has in abundance.

Thanks so much for stopping by to say hi! I’d like to offer two copies of Coveted to two folks who leave a comment. :)

Okay, I’m headed off to zone out again!