Interviewing Author Shannon Taylor Vannatter

Interviewing Author Shannon Taylor Vannatter

Q1. Tell us about yourself. What are your favorite books to read?

A. I started reading clean romance when I was fourteen. I married my high school sweetheart and worked as a hairdresser for ten years. Once insurance became important, I went to work at a bank and the corporate offices of a large fragrance company. After our son was born, I became a stay at home mom. I love reading Christian Contemporary Romance.

Q2. Where did the inspiration to write come from?

A. There came a time when I couldn’t find anything clean anymore when I was in my early thirties, so I decided to write what I wanted to read. My characters kept praying and talking to God and I realized I was writing Christian romance instead of merely clean. It took me nine and a half years to get published.

Q3. How did you come up with the titles of your books?

A. I start with a working title that fits the theme of the book. Sometimes, I change it as the book evolves. The publisher often changes the title, so I don’t spend a whole lot of time on it. I got to keep my title for the first 9 books, which is very rare. In my last series, two of the titles were mine.

Q4. Anything you're currently working in 2019?

A. I just signed a three book contract with Love Inspired. I don’t have release dates yet, but probably 2020. One of my previous titles, Reuniting with the Cowboy is being re-released in a two-book volume with Tina Radcliffe’s Rocky Mountain Cowboy as Sweetheart Reunion in May. So this is a good opportunity for readers to try two different authors for close to the same price as one.

Q5. How long have you been writing?

A. Twenty years. 

Q6.  What advice would you like to give to other authors?

A. Find a local writer’s group. Writing is very solitary, so it helps to hang out with people who get you and there are always people there who are farther in the journey that you can learn from. Attend local conferences. When you feel like you’re not learning anything new, find a national group and conference geared toward your genre.

Q7. Where can we connect with you online?

A. 

Website: shannontaylorvannatter.com     

Blog: shannontaylorvannatter.com/blog (I blog twice a week and host weekly book giveaways)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannon.t.vannatter

Newsletter: http://shannonvannatter.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=408fed51a61a22306f738f7d3&id=06a6584afe (Sign up for my newsletter and get a free e-book copy of my title, Rodeo Dust)

Q8. Do you plan on writing any more books in the future?

A. I have more proposals in mind, ideas, and half written stories waiting in the wings.

Q9. How many books have you written? 

A. I currently have fifteen published titles. I have one complete long length book waiting for its a big break. And one very badly written, unedited print on demand book that haunts me.

Q10. Did you go to college to be a writer? 

A. No. I tell people I went to the school of hard knocks. Before publication, I learned about writing from groups and conferences. I had a book stolen by a print on demand publisher. When I finally got an offer from a traditional publisher, I signed with an agent with a bad reputation in the industry and lost the contract. My publishing line closed. Twice. Since publication, I’ve learned from editors.

Award-winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does. 

She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.

Connect with her: Shannon’s Website, Shannon’s Blog, Shannon’s Facebook, Shannon’s Goodreads, Shannon’s Pinterest, Shannon’s Twitter, and  Shannon’s Amazon Author Page. Sign up for her Newsletter to get a free e-book and behind the scenes info: Shannon's Newsletter

Sweetheart Reunion: Hearts Reunited in Cowboy Country

Reuniting with the Cowboy by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

The Cowboy Next Door 

A charming cowboy moving in next door shouldn’t be bad news. But veterinarian Ally Curtis knows Cody Warren—she’d never forgotten the boy who left her when she needed him most. Cody is doing everything he can to show his beautiful neighbor he’s not the wild bull rider he once was, from helping her find homes for her beloved strays, to protecting her when her business is threatened. But Cody has a secret that keeps him from fully reaching out. Yet as they continue to work together to promote her shelter, he can’t keep himself from hoping that Ally might have a home for him…in her heart.

Rocky Mountain Cowboy by Tina Radcliffe

A Cowboy’s Second Chance

The last person cowboy Joe Gallagher thought he’d see on his ranch was high school sweetheart Rebecca Anshaw Simpson. Twelve years after she married another man, she’s back as his physical therapist. But healing his body is nothing compared to guarding his heart against the woman he never forgot. There’s much the single mom would rather forget, but Becca won’t let regret and a surly rancher get in the way of her job and the chance to start over with her little girl. She has only a few weeks to make peace with her past. But Becca never expected she’d fall all over again for her first love.

Purchase Link: https://www.christianbook.com/sweetheart-reunion/9781335007827/pd/007827