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)?
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.
