Monday, January 9, 2012

Time with Shelena Shorts (an Interview and Giveaway)

Hello my fellow readers,
I’m here to introduce you to a great writer and a wonderful and exciting series. I stumbled upon this series through an author friend of mine and the minute I started her first book; “The Pace” I was both hooked to the characters and their world.  Before I begin the interview with her, here’s a summary of the first book in the series:
                                              
Summary: Weston Wilson is not immortal and he is of this world. But, aging is not part of his existence, and eighteen-year-old Sophie Slone is determined to find out why. In doing so, she could also uncover something about her own life expectancy that she may not want to know. Suddenly, immortality will mean everything and nothing all at the same time.
The Other books in the series is “The Broken Lake”, “The Iron Quill” and the last book in the series and soon to be published later this year “The Hour of Dreams
Shelena Shorts is sweet and a very talented writer, and through the interview I got to know her even more and I hope you too as a reader will take a chance on this amazing series and be introduced to some amazing characters. And to add more spice to this interview there will be a giveaway along with it, as soon as you finish reading the interview look at the details of the giveaway at the bottom.
The Interview:
Me: What inspired you to start writing the “Pace” series?
Shelena: I love to read and watch any movie where there’s a relationship worth rooting for. At the time, I was having difficulty finding one that stuck with me in books, so I started imagining my own and then realized it was worth writing.
Me: What was one of the hardest things to overcome when you first started the series?
Shelena: The beginning! I had a story in my head, but no idea how to start it, so that was the hardest part for me. I actually started in the middle and went back to it. If I stayed trying to write from the beginning, I’d still be there!
Me: What came easiest to you during the process of writing the first book “The Pace”?
Shelena: I think writing Sophie and Wes, so they felt real came pretty easy. I saw them as real people, so I made sure they acted like it all the time.  
Me: Out of the three books, which one did you enjoy the most writing?
Shelena: The Iron Quill. So many things I was rooting for along the way in book 1 and 2 happened in that one.
Me: How do you come up with names of your characters?
Shelena: Well somehow Sophie’s name just popped up easily. For Weston, I needed him to have a traditional, but also modern, English name, so I went to baby name websites and searched. I got all the way to the W’s before the perfect name for him popped out!
Me: Who is your greatest fan?
Shelena: I’d have to say Rebecca from The Netherlands! She chose The Pace for a huge literary project she needed to do for school and she still sends me awesome messages all the time. She’s definitely a fan of The Pace Series, and I appreciate her very much.
Me: When you write do you prefer silence or noise?
Shelena: It depends. If I know exactly what I plan to write, then I like silence. If I need a bit of inspiration to think and feel a certain way, then I like to listen to music and it gets me going!
Me: The Pace series is so unique, to me it seems like it would take ages to write, how long on average has it taken you to write a book?
Shelena: I don’t get hung up on the editing part while writing, so I usually just focus on the storyline itself first. That way it takes me about 3-4 months to write the book, but then another 3 months to go back and do a few rounds of editing, because it usually doesn’t flow very well at first!
Me: Do any of your characters “speak” to you? (Do they help control what happens?)
Shelena: Absolutely! They speak to me all the time and they do control what happens. In order for them to feel like real people, I have to believe I’m letting them control what happens, even if it makes me sad or upset.
Me: What is your favorite beverage while writing?
Shelena: Coffee!
Me: Do you do an outline before writing? Or do you just go with it?
Shelena: I do a general big picture outline so I don’t forget key scenes when they go through my mind, and then I go with the in-between from there.
Me: If there was one piece of advice you could give aspiring writers what would it be?
Shelena: Just write for the story first and don’t get hung up on the editing even if it sounds terrible when you go back and reread. Once you have the story finished, it is so much easier to go back and make what’s there sound and read better. To me, writing is more enjoyable that way.
Me: How did you create your characters? Did you ever remove them from their world to tweak them?
Shelena: I just saw them interacting and sharing a certain conversation and then I asked myself where they were, why they felt that way and where they were going? The world built itself around those answers!
Me: Is writing the ending to the series hard for you? Is it going to be hard to let the characters go?
Shelena: It is extremely hard. Especially for this series, since I want to keep it real and plausible. Their conflict is almost impossible to resolve, so I find myself hesitant to finish for fear of where it will take me.
Me: Would you ever consider doing a prequel to this series?
Shelena: Yes. I have had a few people ask and ever since then, images have been popping up, so maybe. In the meantime, I think we will all get a peak of the past in the last book, The Hour of Dreams :)


Thanks for the interview Shelena! It was an honor for you to take the time to introduce us into your world as well as your characters world!

I hope you were able to get an insight into the mastermind behind this series, and to help connect those who haven’t read this series we’re hosting a giveaway!!

Prizes: Grand Prize: Autographed copies of “The Pace”, “The Broken Lake” and “The Iron Quill” 
Second Winner: any book out of the series per the winner’s choosing
Duration: January 9, 2012- January 23, 2012
Requirements: Must be a US or Canada Resident (Sorry!)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

19 comments:

  1. I can't enter ughhhh! so here's my tweet : https://twitter.com/#!/CatheeBooks/status/156401872931012608 and my email : foreverlostinbooks@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, I tweeted also I couldn't write in the comment box.

    THe interview was good, I am going to add the book to my list to read. Thanks Tana

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just went and checked on the entries and you both are entered, it says you've both tweeted and Tana, it shows you done everything, so you're good to go!!

    And good luck to all of you! Can't wait for others to read this series, with each book the series gets better and better :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. what a GREAT giveaway! loved it.! i totally agree with that! the series gets better and better.! <3.<3

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't read the books yet, but I really want to, they sound amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I haven't read this series yet but it was been on my Amazon to read for a while! I really enjoyed the interview it is fun to see what writers enjoy and their writing preferences.

    New Follower!

    -Emily
    www.fallingforya.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is such a great series and is definitely under-represented on book blogs. Thanks for the interview and post about it :) I'm always so bummed when I walk into a book store and they don't carry this awesome series.

    This is Your Brain on Books

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great interview. I loved finding out the fine details :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great interview!
    My favourite part were the authors answers. She was so forth coming! Plus the questions you asked were great.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the interview :D I liked finding out more about this series I hadn't heard of before!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for checking out my blog! Yours looks great- LOVE the borders! Thanks so much for letting me know about this on GR!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for stopping by my blog and letting me know about this giveaway!!! your blog is beautiful! This series looks exciting thanks for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for the giveaway & thanks for the follow!

    Katrina
    Kindred Dreamheart

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have not read this series yet, but I want to. I even checked out the Pace along with 10 other books a while back; but I didn't get around to it and ended up having to take it back to the library unread. Now there's a wait list for it. *SIGH* I still really want to read this series. So I guess if I don't win it here, I'll have to wait my turn. I really enjoyed the part of the interview where Shelena mentioned it takes 3-4 months to write and 3 months to edit a book. Geez that's a long time! Much respect!

    Katrina
    Kindred Dreamheart

    ReplyDelete
  15. Enjoyed reading the Interview and love the sound of the books too. my email is jeanz@btinternet.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great interview, I have to agree that starting the story is the hardest part, I've tried writing a book once, didn't go so well, I somehow lost it all :(

    Thanks for the great giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love coffee! I can never drink the stuff black though *shudders* And I'm not much of a writer, but I appreciate the writing tips. I'm always trying to get better, though it's not really my niche. And I agree, I definitely prefer silence when I'm in the writing mood. But sounds and music is better when i'm stuck. Thanks for the giveaway!
    Shae @ Understanding Shae's Story

    ReplyDelete
  18. So cool she picked me as her greatest fan! I do love her books! Great interview!
    And, I like your blog! I hope mine'll be this great one day :) www.gottoreadthosebooks.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete