Shannon MacLeod Interview Published on: 18, Sep 2024

I’ve been a voracious reader ever since I was big enough to turn my own pages. Years ago, I went through what I will call a “dark period” and spent much of that time escaping from the world into books. As I sat reading a romance novel one day, I found a glaring error that could have been easily researched and avoided. My inner critic promptly asked, “Do you think you could do any better?” After a little deliberation, my answer was, “Well, yeah. Maybe.” I started reading everything I could about the art of writing, researching, making notes of what I did and didn’t like, and eventually drawing up outlines for my first efforts. Being able to control my very own universe, even if only on paper, was the best therapy ever. Writing has been a large part of my (now bright and shiny) daily life ever since.

Being a member of both wonderful organizations is a great honor for me, as there are lots of heroes in their membership to look up to and learn from. I’m proud to have been selected as a judge for this year’s RWA Diamond Heart and Golden Heart awards! I became an RWA member before my first novel was published, and they were an invaluable source of the information I needed to make that happen. Being accepted into PAN came later; I framed the email!

There are No Trespassing signs everywhere, so I will not admit to playing midnight Scooby Doo amidst the skeletons of abandoned rides and rollercoasters! It’s an eerie place filled with dark magick, for certain. I can still remember when it was new and crowded with tourists, which makes it even more apocalyptic now. Much of the “Castle Wilde” layout was patterned after my happy memories of this park.

Nearly all my ideas have come from dreams or some random “out of left field” thought. I jot everything down, just in case. I receive a daily email with new book releases, and I make it a point to read every synopsis for common themes. The goal is to take one of those premises and turn it into a storyline that hasn’t been done before. Embrace The Lace came from a “what if” concept, as in “what would happen if the time traveler didn’t want to go home?” I’m delighted that Andrew and Van’s tale was determined to be award-worthy!

I grew up in a very rural Scot/Irish community, and many Celt customs/myths/superstitions were just facts of everyday life. My grandfather taught me how to look for signs of visiting fae, an irresistible lure for a kid with an overactive imagination. I absorbed the old stories and legends like a sponge, drawing on what I knew and using that basis to create my own. I research everything, even down to if a word I’ve chosen is appropriate for the time period. I’ve started adding glossaries in the back of my books detailing some of the interesting things I’ve learned while researching. Although I do take creative license occasionally, I strive to be accurate overall.

The heroic qualities are the same for both – a sense of honor, a glorious purpose (nod to Marvel there), a sense of humor, kindness, etc. What makes them compelling are their unique quirks, weaknesses, and how they handle mistakes or failures. One of the criticisms I received from Embrace the Lace was that the female heroine, Van, used the terms medieval and renaissance interchangeably. As the author, I know these are two very different historical periods, but as a mechanical engineering student, Van might not. The mistakes in her mislabeling were intentional on my part for a little character definition.

I love to laugh, and I’m a sucker for clever similes. I’m drawn to stories with humorous breaks in all the serious stuff. Like life, humor isn’t appropriate in all situations, but I try to work it in as soon as the opportunity arrives. My often dark sense of humor, combined with a marked lack of filters and a faulty mouth-to-brain connection, has gotten me in trouble on multiple occasions.

Night and day! Writing without character interaction vastly differs from using imagination to bring the words to life. I use an outline in both fiction and nonfiction. The biggest difference is that my nonfiction follows the outline down to the letter. With my imaginary friends, I usually get about 20k to 30k words in before the characters take over, saying something like “You go sit down - we got this.” At that point, I just try to keep up! They blissfully ignore my painstakingly crafted outline, so I’m always excited to see how it turns out.

The secondary characters are important because they often express emotions that the main characters (for whatever reason) cannot. A sidekick provides the perfect comic foil or straight man to a main character’s humor. I model these characters from friends, family, and occasionally even random interactions. For example, Farley, the blacksmith in Embrace The Lace, was modeled after a former neighbor. He came off as a crotchety old grump, the “get off my lawn” poster child. After making the effort to actually get to know him, I learned that his gruff demeanor hid a heart of pure gold.

My long-haired German Shepherd Dog Bear ensures I don’t go for more than an hour or two without a stretch break. He’s pretty big, so he’ll just toss a toy onto my desk and wait expectantly for me to throw it back. He loves plot snags because those usually end up in extra-long walks while I’m trying to work through it. While I’m writing, the cats rotate on some sort of feline work schedule, keeping my lap full at all times.

I come from a long line of seafaring folk, and my earliest memories are of being on a boat deck. My father captained his own boat and took daily charters offshore fishing. I crewed whenever I could and can attest that I spent more time on the ocean than on land growing up. The most popular charters were dubbed “Monster Fishing” where we searched for sharks, cobia, rays, and sportfish miles out to sea. Over the years, I’ve lived inland several times, but it never felt like home without the salt air and ocean breezes. My current project is set in a coastal community on the Atlantic, and many of the interactions happen on the beach.

I freely admit I am a walking fashion disaster. I wear what I like exactly how I like wearing it, regardless of the current styles. My daily uniform is a hoodie paired with jeans or sweats. I love the swagger you get from a good pair of boots, and stiletto heels are like a food group for me. Most of my characters aren’t fashionistas, with a few exceptions.

I read the trilogy over and over as a child, so getting caught up in Tolkein’s fantasy world was like coming home. It just resonated on a cellular level. In university, I did an English Lit thesis on the classic themes in the series. When the movies came out, I was in heaven – they looked almost exactly like I pictured them. My characters aren’t operating on such a grand scale as Middle Earth, but good vs. evil is a universal struggle we all face daily.

My newest tale is K9 Mine, and I’m hoping for a Spring 2025 release. Set in a coastal tourist destination, it's the story of a modern-day K9 police officer who wakes to find the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen sitting in his kitchen eating cold fried chicken. When she explains she’s a Fae from the 6th century, he’s pretty sure she’s nuts. But when she reveals her hidden talents and confesses she’s on the run from an evil druid who will never stop hunting her, what’s a sexy and single cop to do? Serve and Protect, of course – even if it puts his own life and immortal soul in jeopardy.

I joined as a free member when my first books came out. After too long an absence, I released Embrace The Lace and began exploring AllAuthor again. When I saw all the new features, I immediately upgraded to pro member – one of my best decisions ever. There are so many invaluable features, and your promotions are world-class! I especially love the promotional graphics tools, such as being able to create my own gifs. And you make it so easy to share on my social media! Anybody serious about promoting their work needs to go pro NOW. I just regret not having done it sooner!