The SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS column on Mondays and Wednesdays is a place at Shannon Muir’s author website open to interviews and guest posts from other authors. One thing Shannon firmly believes in for readers not only to learn about new books available, but about those who craft the tales behind them. As its name implies, SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS weekly column features writers from all genres of fiction who want their potential audience to get to know them, and their works, better – and occasionally may offer features from Shannon herself that support readers to discover words.
Today, find out more about PAWNED.
What initially got you interested in writing?
I started writing when I was a little girl. I loved telling stories about the places around me, my toys, the family pets, and people I’d seen on television. As I got older, the stories got to be more elaborate – they became my own secret world. I shelved my own stories with my books and they mingled together in my head and in my room.
I abandoned that world for a bit in my early adulthood, but came back to it because I wanted to give myself permission to play again. I wanted to create, to make things that I hadn’t seen before. So I went back to my secret world and created some new territory.
How did you decide to make the move into being a published author?
I was initially very afraid to. Sharing my stories with other people felt a lot like being naked before strangers! But I convinced myself that I was anonymous, that nothing ventured was nothing gained. I wanted to open the door to the secret world just a bit, to see if others wanted to come play there with me. I know that there are people out there who are just as fascinated by dinosaurs as I am!
What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?
I hope that readers will take away that it’s okay to take time to play, even as an adult. I sometimes feel like the world is a swirl of activity, and the only antidote for that is carving out the time to sit down with a book.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
The most rewarding part for me is when I can finally see the shape of the story, when I understand the references and threads I created in the first chapter coming to completion at the end. It’s like there’s a second unconscious thought process going on as I write, and I don’t discover what I meant until the story is complete. I know that sounds a little confusing! But I believe that stories have lives of our own, and the joy in being a writer is getting to uncover them.
What do you find most challenging about writing?
One of the things I find challenging about writing is carving out distraction-free time. It’s as if the world is a lot noisier now than it was when I was a little girl. I can’t go off to my corner with paper and a box of crayons and scribble like I used to for hours on end. It seems like, as an adult, there are a lot of little worries and concerns that pile up and get in the way of creating. So I try to set aside a place and time to be eight years old again.
What advice would you give to people want to enter the field?
The best advice I can give is to give yourself the gift of time to create. It’s not selfish or decadent to choose to spend time with your art, whatever it may be. I think we tend to be pulled in many directions in modern life, but we have to figure out what is nourishing for us at a soul-deep level.
What ways can readers connect with you?
The latest info on my work is at www.laurabickle.com. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Most of the time, I’m taking cat pictures and exclaiming over my new action figure acquisitions. I’d love to connect with readers…come play with me in the digital world!
Thank you so much for hosting me today! I appreciate it!