Q: Tell us the first thing that pops into your head when I say: Tell us about yourself. Give us a brief biography in your own words.
First thing that pops into my head, huh? Since this interview is related to writing, the first thing I think of at your prompting is my publishing accomplishments--books published, genres, awards, etc. But if we look beyond the writer, we'd find a former teacher, a quilter, and a lady who couldn't walk very well until she met a very good surgeon last year who has put her back on her feet again.
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Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What was the biggest influence on this decision?
In third grade I read a poem which really caught my attention. It inspired me to write a poem of my own. I enjoyed the experience very much. Much later, after dabbling in writing off and on over the years, my cousin, a clergyman, told me I needed to get serious about being an author. His inspirational words changed everything for me--no more dabbling. I began to work every moment on becoming a writer. Within a couple of years my first book "Montana Match" was published by Avalon Books.
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Q: Tell us about the genre in which you write and why.
Contemporary romance was my starting point when I began writing. I loved reading the books Avalon published. My only writing goal was to publish a contemporary romance with Avalon Books. Since I met that goal within a couple of years of getting serious about writing, I had to come up with more writing goals. :-) Now I write historical romance and novels for young people as well.
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Q: Tell us about your latest book. Then tell us about your Avalon books.
I have two books being released in May, "Kelly and the Candidate" and "Stolen Son." Both are contemporary romances. Full details can be found at my web page: http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff
My Avalon Books, "Montana Match," "The Love Trap" and "Ever so Humble" are also contemporary romances. Details for those books can be found at my website. But I don't write only contemporary romance. I've also been published in historical romance and young people's genres.
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Q: What do you like to do besides write?
I love to quilt and do various other needle craft projects. We recently acquired a camper, and I'm really looking forward to getting into the outdoors again, now that the endless months of snow are finally over. Naturally, like all writers, I love to read too.
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Q: What would you like us to know about you or your writing above anything else?
Hmm. Another excellent question. I guess what I'd like readers to know about my writing above anything else is this: I don't like to write "ordinary" romances. I prefer to write stories which put powerful challenges to the characters. For example, in "Stolen Son" a man discovers a year after his wife has died that his five-year-old son was kidnapped by his wife when he was an infant, and the adoption she arranged was illegal. Being an honest man, he wants to set things right, but he can't tell the birth mother anything until he gets to know her so he can be sure she is someone he can trust with his son. He arranges to do some home improvements for her and ends up falling in love with her before he tells her about his son--her son--their son. And she's in love with him too. There is nothing ordinary about this love story...
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Q: Where can readers find you?
Readers can find me at Twitter, Facebook, Jacket Flap, MySpace and many other places on the Internet. My web page is located at: http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff My blog is at: http://blog.myspace.com/franshaff My books are available at libraries and all over the Internet. Readers will find the majority of them at Amazon. I also have a couple of short stories in the Amazon Shorts section at Amazon.com and my blog appears at Author Central on Amazon. In addition I do guest blog spots at Internet sites such as Fresh Fiction and romance-focused websites.
2 comments:
Nice interview, Laurie Alice. It's always fun to get to know a writer a little better. Good to know you're a fellow quilter, Fran.
Fran Shaff, here. One correction in the interview. I found out after I'd done the interview that the Amazon Shorts program was closing effective June 1. The stories I had there, consequently, won't be re-released for a while at another venue. I'll let you know when you can find these 2 romantic comedies once again.
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