Q&A Interview and Giveaway with Shannon K. Butcher

Good morning Book Monsters and Literal Addicts!  Book Monster Reviews and LITERAL ADDICTION are VERY happy to welcome Shannon K Butcher to our sites today!   

As a little girl, Shannon never wanted to write.  When asked what she wanted to be, she’d say she wanted to be a daddy.  After she learned the biological impossibility of that happening, she decided instead to become what her dad was: an Industrial Engineer. So, that’s what she did.  She faithfully stuck to it, and after she graduated, she went to work for a big telecom company earning a steady paycheck while her husband pursued his dream of becoming a published author.

For those of you who might not know, Shannon’s husband is Jim Butcher, fantasy and sci-fi author extraordinaire.  Shannon learned to write in an effort to help him improve his own work, and as soon as she discovered that writing was more a learned skill than a natural talent, she knew she had to give it a try.  The challenge of taking bits and pieces of a story and putting it together was more than she could resist.  It was actually exactly the kind of puzzle that make her want to become an engineer.  So, she thought she’d try her hand at what her husband did, and after picking up her first romance in 1998, she was hooked, and decided to write romance herself. 
Shannon comes from an entire family of what she calls ‘geeks’.  Shannon and Jim live in Missouri with their teenage son and a dog who is only one four-foot stick away from being a dust mop.

Shannon is the esteemed creator of the EDGE, DELTA FORCE and SENTINAL WARS series.  Her latest release, “Blood Hunt”, Book #5 of the SENTINAL WARS was just released on 8/2/11.  She also had a recent Romantic Suspense release, “Living on the Edge”, Book #1 of the EDGE series, which came out on 3/1/11 (Book #2, “Razor’s Edge” is due out November 1^st). 
For those of you that are new to Shannon and her work, we’ll give you the 2 books’ synopses and peak your interests a bit.

“Blood Hunt” Synopsis:

Hope appeared out of nowhere, naked and alone, a woman without a past. The only thing she knows is that she is imbued with a strange power. It's in her blood. And two men want to posses it. One is Logan, a Sanguiner demon-fighter who needs Hope's essence to survive. The other is Krag, a Synestryn lord whose desire is to enslave Hope, and drain her of the lifeforce. When Hope and Logan both fall prey to Krag, a powerful desire grows between them. But is it enough to thwart their captor's diabolical plan and his demon warriors, and survive a vampire's destiny written in blood?

“Living on the Edge” Synopsis:

After a devastating injury, Lucas Ramsay knows he's finished as a soldier.But when the general who saved his life asks him for a favor, he says yes. All Lucas has to do is keep the general's daughter from getting on a plane to Colombia -- which is easier said than done...

Independent to the core, Sloane Gideon is a member of the Edge-a group of mercenaries for hire. But she's not on the clock for this mission. Her best friend is being held by a vicious drug lord, and Sloane must rescue her -- no matter how many handsome ex-soldiers her father sends to dissuade her.

With little choice, Lucas tracks Sloane to Colombia-where she reluctantly allows him to aid her in her search. But as they grow closer to the target, they grow closer to each other. And before the battle is over, both will have to decide just what they are willing to fight for...

Sound good?  Guess what, they are!!  Now that we’ve told you a bit about Shannon and gave you her latest releases’ synopses, what do you say we get to know her and her books even better?

"Razor's Edge" Synopsis - Roxanne "Razor" Haught is an expert in stealth security for corporate espionage cases. But now she's a target. Tanner O'Connell has no intentions of leaving Razor's side. Despite her objections to having a "babysitter", his orders as the newest member of the Edge are to watch her back. With a brainwashed assassin after his partner, Tanner cannot afford to let his desire for Razor interfere with his duty. His special ops skills may be all that stand between saving Razor-or losing her forever.

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Hi Shannon!  We’re incredibly happy to have you with us today!  Thank you so much for taking time away from writing to let our followers and members get to know you and your books a little bit better, and for letting your fans talk to you a bit as well.

Shannon: Thanks for inviting me!  I always love taking time to chat with readers.

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  We like to start out by getting to know our guest author a bit more, and then we’ll dig into the books. 

Q1): Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we can't find out on the internet?

Shannon: Honestly?  Probably not—at least not things I’m willing to confess and allowed to be used against me in a court of law. J

Q2):  What are 2 things that never fail to make you smile and 2 things that never fail to piss you off?

Shannon: Clumsy puppy videos and babies laughing always make me smile.  Political tweets and rude parking are the bane of my existence.

Q3):   What’s your fondest childhood memory?

Shannon: Dressing my little brother up in drag and taking photos.  He had it coming.

Q4):  What is the one thing that you absolutely cannot go your day without?

Shannon: Coffee.

Q5):  What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing or taking care of other author business?

Shannon: I’m a bead whore. Any bead, anywhere, any time.  I also play with fabric and do glasswork in my kiln. I often give away my version of crooked macaroni art in my monthly website contest.

Q6):  What is your favorite inspirational quote?

Shannon: That would be Jim’s battle cry of, “I don’t have a muse. I have a mortgage.”

Q7):  If you could have 1 superpower, what would you want it to be and why?

Shannon: I’d have a perfect memory, because that would come in really handy with the whole book thing. Pesky characters and their color-changing eyes.

Q8):  What’s it like having a 2 author household?  Do you find yourselves fighting over things over dinner, is it amazing to have someone to bounce ideas off of that understands, etc?

Shannon: We do bounce ideas and vent at each other on occasion, but we work hard to keep our relationship about us and not the writing.  When you work for as many hours a day as we do, and you work from home, said work can easily take over your life.  We make sure that doesn’t happen, because it simply isn’t the most important part of our lives.

Q9): What are some of your favorite television shows and movies?

Shannon: Supernatural.  I’d so like to be the meat in a Sam and Dean sandwich.  Mmmm… I also like Chuck, Psych, Bones, Leverage and Fringe.

Q10):  What book are you currently reading for pleasure, and what are some of the titles at the top of your TBR pile?

Shannon: I’m reading one of Lori Foster’s new releases right now, and then when I finish that series, I’m moving on to read some Lisa Marie Rice.

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  O.K, now let’s find out some more about your incredible books…

Q11):  Was there a specific inspiration behind the creation of the SENTINAL WARS series?

Shannon: Mostly that whole world came from years of me being a big ol’ gaming nerd.  I love world building and exploring different races and magical system.  The Sentinels was the result of a two-year project to see if I could do it or not.  I wanted something that was similar and accessible to readers, but not the same thing you see all the time. I really enjoy the unexpected.

Q12):  If you could life the life of one of your characters for a day, who would you choose and why?

Shannon: None of them.  Those people are tortured horribly by some heartless bitch. I like my nice, quiet, boring life where no one is chasing me, shooting at me, or trying to eat my face.

Q13):  How do you go about doing research for your books?

Shannon: I usually dive in to the writing, and research only those things that actually end up in the final version.  Research is one of those tar pits that can bog a writer down, and I don’t like it enough to spend more time than necessary doing it.

Q14):  With Fantasy and Suspense being such popular genres these days, what do you find most fascinating about it, and did you always know what direction you would go in with your romance?

Shannon: I like that you can do anything.  As long as you stick to whatever rules you set up, there are no boundaries.  That’s really freeing, speaking as someone who also writes stories set in the real world.  By the time I’m done with one of the suspenses, I’m ready to get away from the real world and sling around a bit of magic.  Then after I finish one of the Sentinels books, I’m ready to get back to the real world where there’s much less weird, complicated stuff to going on.

I actually started out writing paranormals when I was slogging through my many crappy practice books.  It was pure coincidence that the first publishable book I wrote was a suspense instead.

Q15):  We know that there’s a 6^th book in the SENTINAL WARS series, “Dying Wish”, slated for February of 2012.  Can you tell us a little about it?  Is that the last book or do you have others planned?

Shannon: It’s actually coming out in March now, and is Iain and Jackie’s story.  They get to deal with the consequences of actions taken by characters in previous books, which is always fun.  *insert evil giggle here* It’s definitely not the last book in the series unless I die in the next few months.  I’ve contracted for nine so far, and I have stories in mind for more.  My goal was always to write 12-15 in the series. Any more than that and they’re all going to start sounding the same, which would be boring both to write and to read.

Q16):  How many books are planned for the EDGE series?  Can you tell us a little bit about where this series might take us in the future?

Shannon: I’m actually planning book three of that series now, and I’m really excited to get started.  There’s tons of intrigue, and I get to take some interesting twists that I’ve been planning for a while.  You can expect a lot of action—both in and out of bed.

I’ve planned two alternate endings, depending on how many books I get to write, but don’t expect that series will be more than six books. I could be proved wrong.  It happens all the time.

Q17):  Do you plan to write any more DELTA FORCE installments?

Shannon: No, I feel like that series is done.  I did allow for room to do more, but I currently have my hands full with the two series I have going, as well as occasional side projects.

Q18): What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview but have never been asked, and how would you answer that question?

Shannon: The question is, “Have you lost weight?”  I’d like the answer to be “yes” without being a big ol’ fat liar.

Q19):  What’s up next for Shannon K Butcher?  What can we look forward to from that amazing imagination vault of yours?

Shannon: I have an amazing imagination vault? Really? Do you have the key? J

Next year there will be a Sentinels novel coming out in March, and an Edge novel coming out late in the year. I also have another shorter project coming out early in the year.  Details will be coming soon on that super sekrit story, as soon as I’m allowed to spill the beans.  In addition to that, I’m planning out the next series I want to tackle, which is going to be big buckets of fun. Mwoohaha!

Q20):  Is there anything specific you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

Shannon: I love you. Thanks for giving me the best job on the planet!

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Thank you

so much Shannon!  It’s been amazing having you with us today, and we are incredibly excited for the chat later this afternoon!  We’re sincerely hoping that we’ve tuned some new readers into your amazing work, and we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next.  We would love to have you back for the release of “Dying Wish”, in February to help you celebrate that and ”Razor’s Edge”  if you’d be interested!!  J

Shannon: Sounds great! I look forward to it.  Thanks for coming out to play with me!  The bright, searing yellow ball in the sky is scary if I’m out all alone.

If you would like to find out more about Shannon and her books, please visit her at the following websites:

Shannon's Website:  http://www.shannonkbutcher.com/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/groups/literaladdiction/doc/274503649242543/#!/ShannonKButcherBooks

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/ShannonKButcher

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CONTEST:

For 2 lucky Book Monsters, Shannon has sent a signed copy of “Living on the Edge” with a handmade, Shannon Butcher blow glass bookmark, and a signed copy of “Love You to Death”.  So our winner of “Love You to Death” doesn’t feel left out and doesn’t lose their spot, Chelle of LITERAL ADDICTION and Chelly Belle Designs has made a one-of-a-kind matching bookthong inspired by “Love You to Death” (a picture to be posted on FB soon).

To Enter: Make sure you are a follower of the BMR Blog and then post a comment on the interview and make sure you leave a valid email address. Any comments without an email address will NOT be entered into drawing. You must also be a follower of the BMR blog. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Don't forget to drop by the LITERAL ADDICTION website (http://www.literaladdiction.com/) and follow the directions and links to enter their contest for an extra chance to win!!!

Shannon is graciously offering up a signed copy of “Blood Hunt” with a handmade, Shannon Butcher blown glass bookmark and a signed copy of “Burning Alive” with a handmade, Shannon Butcher blown glass bookmark to 2 lucky winners from LITERAL ADDICTION.

GOOD LUCK!!!