AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Shannon Work Mystery/Suspense Writer

by Brett Nelson

March 18, 2022

Welcome to the March installment of my AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT. It’s humbling how many people have found their way to my little blog every month, and even more humbling that they come back for more. I’ve had many people reach out and thank me for bringing them authors to read that they may not have otherwise ever heard about. To play a small role in introducing someone to a new author is such an amazing thing. When you read a book, you can go anywhere you want to go, and I like to think I played a small role in sending them on their journey.

Speaking of journeys, I’ve been on a wild one since becoming an author. Every writer’s conference I’ve attended has different things to offer, different ideas for how to succeed, how to grow your author platform, marketing ideas you may never have thought of, or just in general how to become a better writer. Regardless of the angle of the meeting, though, one topic always comes up: TikTok.

For those of you who don’t know, TikTok is the “cool kids” version of Youtube, except the videos on TikTok are short clips rather than the larger videos you see on Youtube. Most videos on TikTok range from 15 seconds to a couple minutes at most.

I always said I would never join TikTok, but guess what? Never say never, because I’m now a TikTok creator. Every single seminar I’ve attended has said a variation of the same thing: “If you’re an author and aren’t on TikTok, get started now!”

Apparently, authors are doing incredibly well on TikTok. Finally, even though being on camera is not my thing (plus, I just don’t think I have the “cool factor” needed for that particular platform…or for any platform, for that matter…ha!) I released my inhibitions and created my first two videos (as of the time of writing this blog, but hopefully I will have produced much more by the time this blog publishes.)

Will I ever produce something so incredible that it goes viral, making me an unexpected TikTok sensation? No, probably not. I always try to keep my visions of grandeur firmly in check. Keeping that reality check in place is how you keep life interesting without stubbing your toe on the mountains of disappointment. I may never be a popular content creator, but I think it will be a great platform because TikTokkers tend to be more willing to watch, engage, and even follow the virtual antics of a complete stranger.

I may never become an overnight sensation at anything I do, and honestly, I’m totally fine with that. I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I am what I am, and at least I’m willing to trudge into unknown territories, right?

I think that’s an important factor in living a fulfilled life. When we live our lives doing the same old ordinary things day in and day out, we’ll live a boring and ordinary life. Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with an ordinary existence if it’s what you really want, but I think branching out and trying new things, going new places, and meeting new people outside your typical circle–these are the spices of life that give you a boost toward the extraordinary life we all want to experience on one level or another.

You and I may never top the New York Times Best-Sellers list. The world may never see our faces in Hollywood’s next blockbuster phenomenon. We may never scale the sky-high mountains of the world. We many never accomplish anything “huge,” at least not in the world’s eyes, but get out there and climb the mountains in your own life: Instead of ordering the same old burrito at your favorite Mexican restaurant, why not try the chimichanga for a change? Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t, but at least you’ve tried something new. Instead of buying that same old boring dark blue shirt, maybe get the bold new pattern. Instead of the Tuesday night sloppy joes for dinner, spring for the ribeye on occasion. My point is, do something a little different and see how it enriches your life in even a small way.

If you have a song to sing…be brave and sing it! If you have a poem to write…be brave and write it! If you want to put a silly video on TikTok or Youtube…be brave and go do it. Even if only twenty people hear your song, or read your poem, or watch your video? Well, yay for you, because at least you did it, and maybe your effort gave someone else a little infusion of joy they needed that day.

When you put yourself out into the world, will you have your fair share of critics along the way? Unfortunately, It’s a mathematical certainty because we live in an ugly world of competition and pessimism where people see other people reaching for the stars and want them to fail.

As a novelist, I can tell you with a resounding “YES!” You will have your fair share of critics when you branch out into the unchartered territories of your life. You may shed a tear or two at their biting criticism, and you may even want to hang it up beneath the stinging whip of the world’s criticisms, but I encourage you to keep plodding on regardless of what your naysayers have to say about you. Let your dissenters fall into the abyss of your mind where they belong, and instead wrap yourself in those who choose to the see the good in you rather than your many deficiencies. Despite what they say about you, get our there and climb your mountains–achieve new heights!

The topic of mountains is the perfect prelude to introduce you to today’s guest on AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT. Today’s author has written and published three novels. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Master of Science in Land Economics from Texas A&M University.

She and her husband split their time between Houston, Texas and Telluride, Colorado. She enjoys reading and hiking the mountains of Telluride. She is an avid sports lover, especially Texas A&M Football and basketball, the Houston Astros, San Antonio Spurs, and the Denver Broncos.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to my guest: Novelist Shannon Work

Brett: Shannon, thank you for taking the time to do this with me. Take our readers and me back to the time before Shannon Work became a published author. Were you an avid reader as a child? If so, what were your favorite books to read?

Shannon: I loved to read as a child, but we lived in the country and I spent most of my time outdoors. I would disappear for hours at a time exploring the countryside and even a nearby cave. But when I did read, it was widely and in a variety of genres—I still do! Several of my childhood favorites are Where the Red Fern Grows, Ben and Me, and the occasional Victoria Holt novel I’d sneak from my grandmother.

Brett: I love that you sneaked your grandmother’s romance novels! At what age did you stop and think, “Hey, writing is something I think I could do!” Was a novel your first attempt at writing, or did you start smaller and work your way into full-length novels?

Shannon: I’ve always written. I still have the poetry I wrote as a child. I was the editor of my high school newspaper and then majored in journalism in college. I didn’t think of writing a novel until I was in my early thirties when I started a historical family saga (John Jakes is still one of my favorite authors). I wrote about a hundred and fifty pages, but never completed it. I started a second novel probably ten years later but never finished it either. Then ten years after that I decided to get serious about writing and actually completed a project. That’s when I wrote Now I See You, a traditional mystery set in Aspen, Colorado.

Brett: One of my all-time favorite authors is Mary Higgins Clark. Before her death in 2020, she dusted off one of her first attempts at writing, a short story from 1973 called Death Wears a Beauty Mask, which was never published. Instead, she abandoned it to write what would become her first best-selling novel. To the glee of her millions of fans, she finally pulled out that story almost fifty years later, finished it, and published it. Is there a story you’ve started that you abandoned and never finished?

Shannon: Mary Higgins Clark is one of my all-time favorites, too! When I decided to write a mystery, I reread many of her novels to learn how to write one. Yes, like Mary, I have unfinished projects hidden away in my closet—the two unfinished novels that I know I’ll never complete, and one short story set in the Big Bend area of Texas that still intrigues me. I might pull the story out one day and finish it!

Brett: When it comes to novel writing, are you a “plotter” or a “pantser?” In other words, do you plot your novel before writing it, or do you just jump in and figure it out as you go along?

Shannon: I’m a plotter. I like knowing where the story is going. I’ve tried writing both with and without an outline and found that I write much faster and more efficiently when I have the story already sketched out. Of course, once I start writing, things always change. I’ll come up with new ideas, or certain characters will pop up and take on a life of their own. My outlines are a living document. I modify them as I go.

Brett: As an author, choosing the favorite book you’ve written is like choosing which of your children is your favorite. That said, of the books you’ve written, which would you say is your favorite?

Shannon: My favorite book is always the one I’m working on or have just completed. Right now, that’s The Killing Storm.

Brett: Now I See You was your debut novel, which I’ve read and loved! For readers who haven’t read the book, share with us some highlights of that novel.

Shannon: Thank you, Brett! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Now I See You is a murder mystery set in Aspen, Colorado. At the beginning of the story, one woman has already been found dead and another, the daughter of a wealthy financier, is missing. Georgia Glass, a news anchor from Denver, finds the body hidden in the garage of an old Victorian home she’s just inherited. Her journalist instincts kick in and she’s determined to help Detective Jack Martin with the Aspen Police Department solve the case. But in doing so, she attracts the attention of the killer. Will she be his next victim? The story includes an eclectic cast of characters set in the ritziest town in the Rockies. I had a lot of fun writing about them. And one of them is a murderer!

Brett: What inspired the idea for your Mountain Resort series?

Shannon: After I decided to write a mystery, I thought about where to set a story. I’ve read and studied many of Mary Higgins Clark’s novels, which are largely set in New York or New Jersey, where Mary lived. My husband and I spend roughly half the year in Houston, Texas, and the other half in Telluride, Colorado. I know and love the Rockies, and decided they would make a great setting for mystery novels. I’m intrigued by the resort areas, where glitz and glamour meet the beautiful but rugged terrain. So far, I’ve set stories in Aspen, Vail, and Telluride. But I have ideas for a future book that could eventually bring Detective Jack Martin back to Texas, too!

Brett: Of the books you’ve written, is there one that stands out as being the most difficult one to write, either emotionally or technically, etc? Why?

Shannon: To paraphrase Danielle Steel, “writing some books are easy, others are like dragging an elephant across the room.” I’ve written three novels and have already experienced both types. I’ll never tell which ones were the easiest or most difficult to write. I hope my readers can’t tell the difference!

Brett: On average, how long does it take you to write one novel?

Shannon: My first novel, Now I See You, took almost two years to write. I was studying and learning as I went. But I’ve gotten faster. It took roughly four months to complete the first drafts of my last two novels.

Brett: As a southern gentleman, I live with constant heat and humidity for what feels like nine months of the year, and I often yearn for biting cold temperatures and snow piles up my knees. Your Mountain Resort Series, which includes Now I See You, Everything to Lose, and The Killing Storm, all take place in Colorado. What made you choose the amazing Rocky Mountains as the locale for your book series?

Shannon: It was an easy decision to set the series in the Rocky Mountains. There haven’t been a lot of mysteries set in the Rockies, yet they lend themselves so well to stories of intrigue and suspense. The mountains have mysteries and secrets of their own—stories of feuds and murders, missing people, and lost treasure. And always in the background is this beautiful, yet rugged and brutal landscape. It’s been fun to add a contemporary element to these stories by setting them in some of the ritziest resort towns. When you gather rich and famous residents and tourists together with locals in such an unforgiving setting, it provides for a lot of potential conflict!

Brett: You’ve published three books, and as a result you’ve written several characters. Which character that you’ve written would you not get along with in real life? Which one would be a friend you most wish you had in real life?

Shannon: Charles Stratton in Everything to Lose is the character I would least like in real life. He’s an insufferable snob. I can’t stand snobs in general, but snobbish men are the worst! On the flip side, I’ve written several characters who I would welcome as friends. My favorite, again from Everything to Lose, would be Doris Reed. If you’ve read the book, you’ll know why! I would also love a friend like Judith Hadley in my latest novel, The Killing Storm.

Brett: When you start writing a book, do you always know the title before you begin writing, or does the title emerge somewhere in the writing process?

Shannon: Titles are tricky—and fun! I’ve done it both ways. I’ve known the title before I started and had it emerge while writing the first draft.

Brett: Do you ever worry after completing a book that you’ll never be able to write another one, or am I the only one plagued with this fear?

Shannon: You’re not alone! Thinking I’m out of stories is my worst fear! Each time I’ve finished a book, I’ve worried it was the last story I had in me. I think the problem is mostly mental, and something as authors, we just have to work through. At least I hope so!

Brett: Give us a short description of your working space. Is there anything you must have to flow in the creative process? When you take a minute to look out the nearest window, what do you see?

Shannon: I write everywhere—inside, outside, sitting at the dining room table, or in bed. I even wrote one of the most pivotal scenes in The Killing Storm on a plane. I write on my laptop, so it goes everywhere I do. We spend summers in Colorado, and I’m always writing outdoors there.

Brett: Let’s pretend Hollywood just called and they want to make a blockbuster movie of ONE of your books, and you must choose which book. Which would it be?  You also get to be the Casting Director—who plays the main protagonist and the main antagonist?

Shannon: This is a difficult question to answer. When I’m writing, my characters are so vivid to me. I know what they look like, how they talk, what they think. I almost never start out with a celebrity or someone I know in mind. One exception is the victim in The Killing Storm. I took a famous quote from Mary Higgins Clark to heart. Mary has humorously said on several occasions that if someone is mean to her, she kills them in her next book. I’ll just leave it there!

Brett: Who is your current favorite author(s)?

Shannon: Mary Higgins Clark is my all-time favorite author. I love her suspense stories. Plus, she seemed like such a nice lady. I regret never having met her in person, but I recently won her favorite “super sleuth” cape donated by her family to a charity auction. I was thrilled! I posted a picture of myself wearing it on my social media accounts. Other authors I always enjoy reading are William Kent Krueger, Ruth Ware, and Donna Leon.

SIDE NOTE FROM BRETT: That’s cool. I want to see the picture of you wearing it! Shannon, you’ll be VERY JEALOUS when I tell you this. I actually met Mary Higgins Clark at a book signing once!! She did a book signing about an hour from where I live, so of course I went. I stood in line for two hours to buy her newest book and have her sign it. It was a few years ago. When my turn finally got there, I was so nervous! She had this amazing “jeweled” ink pen that had jewels lining the barrel of the pen. I commented on it, and she handed it over to me and said, in her heavy New Jersey accent, “You gotta feel this. The darned thing is dreadfully heavy. My publisher gives me a jeweled pen every year when I release a book, and sometimes I use it at my book signings, but it’s so heavy that I have to switch off between this one and a Bic!” When I thanked her and walked away, she asked me what my favorite book of hers was, and I said, “Anything with Alvirah in it!” She said, “Alvirah is a great broad, isn’t she? Oh, and by the way, I love your name…Brett. It sounds so sexy! If you see Brett pop up in a future book, you’ll know I was thinking of you when I wrote it.” I almost passed out when I saw the name Brett in her first “Under Suspicion” book I’ve Got You Under My Skin. The character Brett is Laurie’s boss’ name, and he shows up in all of the “Under Suspicion” novels. Now, I can’t say with 100% certainty that this was the case, but I’ll go to my grave thinking that she remembered me and, in fact, named the character after me!

Brett: What book(s) are you reading right now? How many books are in your ‘to be read” pile?

Shannon: My ‘to be read’ pile is endless. I purchase more books than I’ll ever be able to read. But when I finish a book, I never know what I’ll be in the mood for next, so I like to have lots of options! I’m currently rereading the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. They’re classics in the crime genre.

Brett: Have you ever killed a character, then had “killer’s remorse?”

Shannon: I often have killer’s remorse. I’ve killed several characters that I liked. But when it’s for the sake of a good story, you take one for the team! The victim I regret the most is Elliot Banks, who is murdered at the beginning of Everything to Lose. The more I delved into his back story, and the more I wrote about him, the more I liked him.

Brett: I remember the first time I cried when writing a particularly emotional scene in my Christmas novel A Christmas to Live For. I wasn’t expecting that to happen, and it took me by surprise. Has this happened to you? If so, can you describe which book and scene that was?

Shannon: You’re not alone! I’ve cried several times while writing each of my books. And always while writing the last scene—I refer to them as my wrap-up scenes. I don’t know if it’s because the story is finally over and time for me to let the characters go, or if it’s from pure exhaustion. But I’ve cried every single time. And I still cry if I reread one of them. We authors are a peculiar bunch!

Brett: You primarily write suspense novels. What are the chances of you ever genre jumping and writing something in a different genre? If so, in which genre(s) would you like to dabble?

Shannon: My first attempt at writing was historical fiction, but I wasn’t able to complete it. I love history and got lost in the research. I’m enjoying writing mysteries. I don’t see myself trying something new, but you never know!

Brett: If I were to drive to your home in Houston to have dinner with the Work family, what would be on the menu?

Shannon: Mexican food! Enchiladas, fajitas, beans, chips and queso. I’d bake a Tres Leches cake for dessert. I grew up in Del Rio, Texas, which is on the border. Mexican food was always on the menu, and still is!

Brett: I love Mexican food, so just tell me when, and I’m there! If you could spend an entire weekend doing nothing but bingeing your favorite television shows, what would you watch?

Shannon: I don’t watch a lot of television, so I would probably re-watch one of my favorites—Downton Abbey or Peaky Blinders.

Brett: What’s your favorite hobby/activity for the rare occasions you’re not writing?

Shannon: When not writing, I enjoy Texas A&M football games in the fall and hiking around our home in Colorado in the summer. And of course reading!

Brett: What’s your favorite format when you have time to sit down with a book (ebook, physical book, audiobook?)

Shannon: I will read the occasional ebook, but physical books are my go-to. I much prefer the feel and experience of reading a physical book.

Brett: Have you ever read a novel and left thinking, “I could have written that better?”

Shannon: No. I can’t think of any. It must be the insecurity of still being a relatively new author. I try to learn something from every book I read—even ones I don’t particularly like.

Brett: As a relatively new published author, what advise would you give to someone who aspires to write their first novel?

Shannon: Read! And then read some more! I think writing in a genre you love to read makes the writing process so much easier and more enjoyable. But you still have to put in the time. Writing a novel is a lonely, solitary pursuit. To complete a book, you have to really want to do it. It’s not easy, but it’s so much fun when you’re finished!

Brett: You recently released your newest novel, The Killing Storm. Tell us a little about that book.

Shannon: The Killing Storm is a traditional murder mystery set in Telluride, Colorado in the dead of winter. On the night of the season’s worst snowstorm, a famous author goes missing from her historic mansion in the Rockies. Detective Jack Martin is determined to find her but is faced with an avalanche of secrets and lies from even those closest to the missing author. And one of them will do whatever it takes to keep Jack from learning the truth. It’s a fun, twisty whodunit set in Telluride where my husband and I spend half the year. So of course I included some of our favorite restaurants and places in town. I had a lot of fun writing it!

Brett: Well, there’s another title to add to my neverending to-be-read pile. Shannon, thank you so much for being a guest on my “Author Spotlight” blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers before we finish the interview?

Shannon: Thank you, Brett. I enjoy reading your blog and really appreciate the opportunity to be included! As a relatively new author, I’m so appreciative of everyone who reads one of my books. And there has been nothing more rewarding than getting kind reviews and personal messages (even a couple snail mail letters) from readers. I would like to thank each and every one!

Shannon enjoys hearing from her readers. If you would like contact her, her email address is: [email protected]. You can also find her on her author website at: https://www.shannonwork.com/

If you would like to purchase Shannon’s books:

“Now I See You: https://www.amazon.com/Now-See-You-Shannon-Work-ebook/dp/B08J454XPT

“Everything to Lose” https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093R4MKCF

“The Killing Storm” https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09RVTTH5C

If you would like to follow Shannon on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShannonWorkAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20702339.Shannon_Work?from_search=true&from_srp=true

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/shannon-work

If you would like to purchase Brett’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Brett-Nelson/e/B08D2C1YSC

Thank you for reading today’s blog. Come back in April 2022 for an interview with another great author!

Brett Nelson

March 18, 2022