Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom and pastor’s wife. Her debut novel won the 2011 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband, their son, and church congregation. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. Her goal is to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch.

Jim:  When did you start writing?

Shannon:  I wrote my first book in 1999. A reworked version releases in November.

Jim:  On Amazon, I found a book Lover or Deceiver published in 1984 attached to your name.   Is there a story there?

Shannon:  The story is that Amazon has me linked to Diana Palmer somehow. That title is her book. They did have her reviews on one of my titles and I thought it was all fixed, so I’m glad you asked the question. I’ll get my author concierge back on it.

I did have book published in 2001 by a Print on Demand publisher. It took from then until 2009 to get published traditionally. To clarify—traditional means I work with editors employed by my publisher and they pay me instead of me paying them.

Jim:  What do you like to write?

Shannon:  Inspirational contemporary romance. The first two books I wrote were romantic suspense. But I realize pretty quickly, I stink at suspense. At a writer’s conference, I heard a speaker say that whatever you read most is the genre you should probably write. I’ve always read contemporary romance and switched to inspirational when they became available. It was an Aha and Duh moment for me. I’ve written romance ever since.

Jim:  You won the 2011 Inspiration Readers Choice Award in short contemporary.  Was that based on a particular book or series, or what?

Shannon:  The award was for my debut novel: White Roses.

Jim:  Is Arkansas Weddings you latest book to be published?

Shannon:  Arkansas Weddings is a compilation of  all three titles in my first published series including White Roses, White Doves, and White Pearls. Initially published by Heartsong Presents, the titles weren’t in stores when initially released and were only available to Heartsong Presents book club members. With the 3 in 1 release, the book will be in stores and online.

Jim:  Tell us a little about these weddings.

Shannon:  Here’s the Blurb for Arkansas Weddings: Love’s never easy in three Arkansas romances.

Pastor Grayson loves his wife. The problem is, Sara was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years ago. He knows he needs to move on, but it’s not until florist Adrea Welch arrives at his church that the seeds of healing are planted in his heart.

Laken left home eight years ago and never looked back. Who knew when she applied for the promotion to postmaster that she’d end up in Romance, Arkansas, and much too close to her past—and Hayden Winters?

Shell doesn’t have a good reputation. But no matter what everyone in Rose Bud, Arkansas, thinks of her, she’s back in town with a job to do. Ryler also has reasons for being in Rose Bud, and they don’t include Shell.

Jim:  And Rodeo Queen is set to release on November 1, 2013. Is that the third in the Texas Rodeo series?

Shannon:  Actually, it’s the fifth in my Texas rodeo series. The first three books were published by Heartsong when Barbour owned the company. When Harlequin bought the line, they let me continue the series with three more books.

Rodeo Queen is a reworked version of the first book I ever wrote. Back then, I didn’t know what I was doing. Hopefully now, I do.

Jim:  I’m betting you do. Give us a little flavor of

Shannon:  Here’s the book blurb: Caitlyn Wentworth loves being a rodeo queen – until she starts receiving threatening letters from a stalker. The good news is, the Texas Ranger assigned to her case is none other than her former sweetheart Mitch Warren—the man who chose his career over love.  Mitch vows to focus on protecting the woman he’s never forgotten. But Caitlyn stirs up memories best left in the past. When Mitch insists on hiding Caitlyn away on his family’s San Antonio ranch, will he keep things professional or seek out a second chance?

Jim:  I like the sound of that. What are you working on right now?

Shannon:  I just turned in the sixth book of the series, Rodeo Song. It releases in April. I’m finalizing a proposal for three more books with Heartsong. But I still get rejections, so we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’m finishing a longer book I’ve wanted to complete for a long time.

Jim:  Who is your first reader of a manuscript?

Shannon:  I have two critique partners I connected with through American Christian Fiction Writers. One in Iowa and one in Minnesota. We critique each others work usually on a weekly basis.

Jim:  Have you had a mentor, or anyone who has helped you a lot in your writing?

Shannon:  My critique partners are priceless. As far a mentor, I’d have to so ACFW. I attended local writer’s groups and conferences for five years before I discovered ACFW. Four national conferences, online classes, and my critique partners got me past the basics and to publishable level.

Jim:  What advice would you offer to a person just starting to write.

Shannon:  Join ACFW. Take the online classes. Search the archives and attend the conference.

Jim:  Thanks, Shannon, for sharing a little bit of your exciting publishing with us.  Readers, you can find more on Shannon’s books on Amazon at:  http://amzn.to/18Yv1Wk       Shannon will give away a copy of Arkansas Weddings to one person who leaves a comment – drawn at random. So, please leave a comment and get a chance at this interesting trio of stories. Thanks and good luck.