Interview with Shawndra Russell.

Please Welcome Shawndra Russell to our blog today. She will be letting us all get to know her a little bit more and telling us about her upcoming release. 

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My husband and I recently moved to downtown Savannah, Georgia after living for years on the outskirts, and we absolutely love it. I grew up in the country—my parents have 28 acres in Ohio—and I love the peace and solitude, but we’re city people now. I absolutely love being able to head out my door and know everything I need is only a 15 minute walk. I will always want to take vacations that are nature-focused, like skiing, whitewater rafting, camping, backpacking…but day-to-day, I like urban living. One car, no yardwork, tons of great food and nightlife steps away—love it!

Other than writing, what else are you passionate about?

I am a travel nut. In my first job out of grad school, I was a marketing director for an international travel company, so I was able to visit China, Italy, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, and Alaska all in under two years. Since then, I’ve revisited Alaska (everyone has to go once!) been to Greece with my family, and my husband and I took a two-week backpacking trip three years ago to celebrate our fifth anniversary, visiting six countries in nine days. It was unbelievable and totally worth the fact that we are still paying that trip off!

Why made you decide to become a writer?

I’ve been a book nerd my whole life, but I didn’t take the leap into becoming a professional writer until last summer when I heard the wonderful Claire Cook speak at the skirt! Creative Conference. Like me, she had started as a teacher but realized she was hiding from her true calling. When I heard that, I knew it was now or never.

What brought you to this genre?

Women’s fiction is what I have always gravitated to as a reader. Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger, Candace Bushnell, Jane Green, Emily Giffin, Claire Cook as a I mentioned…there are all women authors that I respect and hope to follow in their huge footsteps. They all deal with the most meaningful aspects of life—family, friendship, love, identity, perseverance—by dissecting the relationships we have with ourselves and others. These relationships define us. But if I could follow anyone’s career path it would be the great Nora Ephron. I like to think that my novel, Couple Friends, is the sequel to one of my favorite screenplays of all time, When Harry Met Sally, because CF is about what happens AFTER we couple up: finding couple friends. I actually wrote it as a screenplay first before turning it into a novel. She’s done it all—fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, blogs…and she has such spot-on observations about the human condition.

Where do you get your inspiration, e.g. music, dreams etc

Relationships hands down. The way that we interact with others, how we treat ourselves, who we are drawn to, how we hurt and love each other—these are the things that fascinate me. My husband says that I read people well, which is perhaps why I was originally a psychology major! Now I get to psychoanalyze my characters; it’s like playing therapist with these fictional people, figuring out what makes them tick and why they do what they do.

 

Can you tell us a bit about your book?

My book is about the world of couple friendships. To me, it’s like Round 2 of dating which happens once you’ve coupled up. Before we got married, I didn’t really think about double dates; I just wanted to be with my man or hang out with our group of friends. But when we moved nearly 1,000 miles away and had to start over essentially, we—well, my husband would probably say just me—were on a mission to find couple friends because it just made sense. If we could find couples we could connect with, then he would have new friends, I would have new friends, and we could do things with them together or separate. Seems perfect, but good couple friendships require a delicately balanced dynamic.

What are your current / future projects?

I have a second manuscript finished, also women’s fiction, titled tentatively Keepsakes. It’s also about a group of friends but is rooted in a love story. I also have a nonfiction book in the works about how the pursuit of the American Dream is detrimental to our society and individuals. Lastly, I have a few “how to” style ebooks that will be coming out soon, one about freelance writing and social media management—which I do as a day job—and a few travel guides that I am finishing up.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

I learned that the “power through” method of getting a first draft down works really well for me, which stemmed from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Starting November 1, I wrote 3,000 words per day every morning and would not allow myself to get up from my seat until I had reached this word count. I absolutely loved this method, and I did the same thing for my second book, except I threw in a couple of 10,000+ word days which were seriously thrilling. Sure, the second draft needs A LOT of work, but getting that skeleton down works best for me.

 

What do you think readers will find most notable about this book?

When I mention the title of my book, people usually chuckle or scoff or something—a knee-jerk reaction if you will because most of us have either experienced something screwed up when it comes to couple friends or have heard about someone else’s messed up situation. One of my friends said he was with a girl for five years before she up and left him for his best friend. Another friend told me she and her husband had been friends with a couple for a year before these friends admitted they were swingers and wanted to try an “experiment.” I’ve heard plenty of wacky stories like that, and I think readers will be able to relate and hopefully examine the friendships in their lives and make sure these relationships are the real deal.

How did you decide on your books Title?

Couple Friends has always been the title even before the screenplay or book existed. It’s what the book is about, but it’s also a term that has become more popular in recent years and is sort of an obsession of the main frenemy. Yet, I feel like couple friendships—which are really valued, important, and potentially complicated relationships—really hasn’t been examined quite this way yet.

What has writing made you learn about yourself?

I’ve learned that this is what I want to do, forever. Not just write books, but write any and everything. I honestly love researching, writing profiles and articles, posting on my blogs, Facebook, and Twitter…I was born for this, and I’m so glad I took the (very scary!) leap to this profession. I actually have a “dream box” full of 3 X 5 notecards, each with a different book idea. There are at least 50 full-length novels or screenplay ideas in there!

If I asked you to include the phrase ‘A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.’ Somewhere in your next book, would you?

Only if my next book is YA or has a teen in it!

Would you consider yourself adventurous?

I am an adrenaline junkie. I want to skydive, learn how to sail and fly a plane, scuba dive, zipline…and I want to see as much of the planet as I possibly can. My husband and I have talked about taking a year-long roadtrip to see all of the USA, but I also want to do a world tour over the course of a year at some point too. We are currently saving up for a month-long road trip to Ireland. I have no idea when that will happen, but it’s a good goal to work towards!

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Try the “power through” method by starting with a detailed outline. If you’ve never written a book before and it seems daunting, try writing a screenplay first. I’m not saying that a screenplay is easier, but I feel like they allow you to just focus on the characters voice and thinking of the book in terms of “scenes,” which allows you to have mini-celebrations every time you finish a scene whereas in novel writing, you sometimes have no idea how to end a scene. It’s more obvious when a conversation is over.

Where can readers find you and more about your book(s)? Where can they purchase your book(s)?

I actually have a Kickstarter funding that ends May 31 where you can pre-order my novel at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shawndrarussell/publishing-my-first-novel-couple-friends. Every dollar helps! You can also stay up-to-date about the release of Couple Friends by following me on Twitter at @ShawndraRussell or visiting my website at www.shawndra-russell.com 

What is your guilty pleasure?

I absolutely love craft beer. A pick-six pack of six different new-to-me beers is pretty much bliss. I have an app on my phone so I can track all the new beers I try. Two of my favorites are St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Three Philosophers. Yum.

Erotica or passionate romance?

I just finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker, and I will tell you, they were HOT! I will definitely be reading the third one soon. But I love emotional romances more, like The Bridges of Madison County, P.S. I Love You, and The Notebook.

If you could marry any character from any book, who would it be and why?

I’m already married to a character from Couple Friends—my hubby was the inspiration for the male narrator in the book, Tyler, who takes turns telling the story with his wife Kieran. The events are fictional, but his voice and reason are evident.