Rae Shawn's Blog
January 13, 2022
Rae Shawn 
August 21, 2020
Childhood Memories
When I was a child, I had a library less than one block from my elementary school. I spent a great majority of my time there. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood were at that library and not on the streets surrounding my house just five blocks away. Some would say I was a bit of a nerd or a dweeb because I preferred to be in the library surrounded by books, but I played outside whenever I wasn’t hol’ up with a good book.
I used to go to my neighborhood library after school and ...
August 5, 2020
Protected: Second Chances Aren’t Everything
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July 24, 2020
Building Better Stories
Something I recently discovered thanks to an amazing author, Tasha L. Harrison, is that plotting out story ideas and banking them for later very much helps to keep your mind flowing, and figure out if your ideas are actually good enough to be a story.
I’ve been doing a few workshops and researching how to avoid certain things, and make other things stronger in my writing as well, and what I’ve learned over the past month or so, is that: 1. Plotting, even if it’s just getting your premise and ...
July 8, 2020
Wait For It
It was not safe. We stopped at this motel because we had been roadtripping for 17 hours straight and we needed real rest in a real bed and a real shower, but it wasn’t safe here.
On the outside it looked great. It sat on a nice large plot of land and there were a few places to eat just down the street, but it wasn’t safe here. Why did we stop? We should have just kept going. But for some reason we had to wait. At least that was what Simone kept saying.
“No.” someone outside the door scream...
July 4, 2020
Short Stories Galore
Do you like short stories? I mean stories that are 5,000 words or less? I think people who can get from beginning to end in that short amount of words have some serious talent.
I’ve been wanting to dip my toes in this world, but it’s a task. I mean I’m used to writing 70,000 word stories. I just finished my second book and it’s 50,000. I also wrote a novella that was 24,500.
I have a 3,000 word short story on here and I think it’s interesting but it’s a true crime, so it was easier to tell...
June 26, 2020
Don’t Give Up on Yourself
“It’s better to have tried and failed than to have never failed at all.” People have told me some variation of that for years. I would always get annoyed because I didn’t like failing. I got sick of people telling me it was okay to fail. I would always think ‘No. It’s better to succeed. Failure is weakness.”
It took a long time to understand that failure is a part of growth. If everything was handed to you, if everything was easy, then it really wasn’t worth it. It didn’t serve the purpose of...
June 15, 2020
A Mind Meld
The handcuffs sing as his wrists dance back and forth behind his back. He shifts side to side as he struggles to free himself. Don’t let anyone notice what you’re doing or how it’s done. The tiny click sounds and the metal clanks to the ground behind him. “Tada,” he exclaims as his daughter cheers wildly. That animated girl? It’s me.
My dad reminded me of this magic trick he used to show me when I was a bright-eyed, curly haired, spoiled little brat. His words. I was just a tiny one-year-old....
June 12, 2020
Want a character named after you?
Ever wish you could name a character in one of the books that you’ve read? Ever wanted to have your name immortalized in fictional print? Want the chance to die, but not actually die? Well, that’s possible now. Let me murder one lucky reader.
The Cane’s sequel is nearly underway and if you’d like the chance to choose the first name of one of the character’s there’s only two things you need to enter.
1. Tell me your favorite LeAnne quote in Cane’s Justice and 2. Send a photo of your ebook ...
Mental Health is Important
Have you ever taken a moment to really think about what keeps you healthy? You ingest foods that keep your body healthy. You take care of your skin and your hair. You want to look your best at all times. You work years at it. To maintain it. To appear the way you want others to see you. But, what about your mental health? What about your emotional health? What do you do to keep these areas of yourself well?
I used to think if you felt healthy, then everything else didn’t really matter. But no...
