Glad I got to do this interview with author Shawna Coleing.
Tell readers a few things about yourself
My husband and I live in Cairns, Australia. Although I was born and raised in western New York — which is a whole crazy story in and of itself and includes the fact that I barely ever went to sleepovers as a kid because I’d get homesick. We’ve been married for almost sixteen years and have three kids. We pastor a church here and I’m also doing admin work part-time (alongside with writing). We live on a sugarcane farm with a nice view out of the window where my desk sits. It’s a great element to have for the writing process.
Did you always want to write?
When I was a kid, I wrote a few stories…or more accurately, started to write a few stories, mostly mystery. But once I was in high school, I stopped. I was better at Math than English and thought it was because I wasn’t a writer. After I graduated from college, I was looking for something to do as a hobby. I thought it was strange I wanted to write, but I went with it. Mostly, I wrote nonfiction at the start (articles and blog posts), but in the last five or so years, my writing has been focused on novels which started because my son was getting into reading chapter books and I couldn’t find the type of book I wanted for him to read, so I decided to write it myself.
I can’t wait to download Shawna’s Minecraft Devotional Tool.
What book or article are you currently working on or just released?
Over the past several years, I’ve been working on a couple of young adult Christian fiction novels with supernatural elements, I found myself overwhelmed by the desire to write something powerful that would change lives and would basically be amazing. It was a consistent barrier that had me continually second guessing what I was writing.
So, what I’m currently working on is an experiment that I’m documenting on my website. I’m writing a secular genre novel under a pen name because I wanted to see what difference it made to take all the pressure off and also to see if people like what I write…and because it’s a pen name. If it goes badly, I can just delete the book and no one will know it’s me! I’ve finished the second draft of that book and expect it to be final by the end of August when I will implement the next step in the experiment. If things go well, I will eventually divulge my pen name and book.
Shawna’s Minecraft Devotional
A parent’s guide to using Minecraft as a devotional tool can be found on Amazon.
Do you write in silence or with background music?
I prefer to write in the quiet, but I don’t live alone. So, if the tv is on in the other room, I put headphones on and usually listen to instrumental worship music. Although, funnily enough, if it’s the kids making the noise, I’ve gotten really good at tuning that out.
What do you want your readers to take away from your writing?
At a minimum, I hope people will be entertained, but of course I would love for my books to impact people on a deeper level. But like I said, that builds up too much pressure into my writing so I leave that part to God.
Where do you get your inspiration to write?
I am a big day dreamer, so usually I get the kernel of an idea and then stare out the window and let the story develop in my head. Once I’ve got a big chunk, I start writing it down in an outline and whenever I get stuck, I just go back to the movie in my head. That’s the best part of novel writing. Then comes the hard part of actually writing.
For Young Writers
What advice do you have for young writers?
The biggest thing for me was when I decided that I would write no matter what, and giving up was no longer an option. I made this decision in my mid 30’s. So, I lost a lot of writing time over the previous fifteen years when I’d writer, then tell myself I wasn’t really a writer and give up, then pick it up and start again…over and over. So, don’t let giving up be an option from the start. Just keep writing.
Did you dream of being a writer/author when you were young?
I don’t think I thought of myself as being an author when I wrote as a kid. I think I just did it because I though it would be fun. That’s why I only wrote as far as the end of the first act. When it got hard, it wasn’t fun any more so I’d go do something else.
You can find Shawna on her website and facebook.
More author interviews can be found on Monday Morning Author Interviews.
