Q&A With Shawn Maravel

[Shawn]

Here you can ask me any questions you might have about the books or their characters. I'll do my best to answer while not giving too much away!

Also feel free to ask me about my writing, upcoming projects, self-publishing, and whatever else!

[Literary Chanteuse]

I just wanted to tell you I love the cover of the second book. I grew up in northern BC and I've been down a road just like that one. Snow,snow and more snow. I hate to admit I get a little sold on covers that appeal to me. Good for the marketing dept. to know it works on me lol!

[Shawn]

Margaret wrote: "I just wanted to tell you I love the cover of the second book. I grew up in northern BC and I've been down a road just like that one. Snow,snow and more snow. I hate to admit I get a little sold ..."

haha, I'm glad you like it! I was a little worried that the cover might not appeal to younger audiences as much because there's no people on it but I'm a big fan of Nicholas Sparks covers. The photography and simple layouts. I mean, the template I used was limited to begin with but either way this is basically the layout I would have wanted even if I had free range. The cover for Severance definitely makes you want to go on a walk or something through there.

Shawn

[Literary Chanteuse]

Shawn wrote: "Margaret wrote: "I just wanted to tell you I love the cover of the second book. I grew up in northern BC and I've been down a road just like that one. Snow,snow and more snow. I hate to admit I g..."

Absolutely but dress warmly!!! lol!

[Natalia]

Are you an author that plans or has no plan and lets the characters tell you what happened???

[Shawn]

Natalia wrote: "Are you an author that plans or has no plan and lets the characters tell you what happened???"

I am not, or at least I hope that I'm not! That bugs me as a reader so I hope that I've been smart enough to avoid it in my writing! I like for character interaction and setting to tell the story. In other words...I'd rather paint a picture then tell the reader word for word what is going on. I want the readers to have a chance to make guesses and to get excited about being right in their assumptions or surprised if they end up being wrong. I don't want to hand hold a reader through the book. In saying that...I hope that my reads will agree that I've followed through with this in my story telling! :)

[Stephanie]

Will there be more books in this series? And are you writing anything else at the moment?

[Shawn]

Stephanie wrote: "Will there be more books in this series? And are you writing anything else at the moment?"

Volition and Severance are the only two books. Severance is basically just the sequel to Volition. I would have liked to make it a trilogy but I didn't want to stretch the story out and ruin it just to make it fit into three books. I have actually written another book called The Wanderer; not under the YA genre, but general literature. Kind of like a Nicholas Sparks book (minus the southern charm and cancer patients, haha). I have sent out query letters for it in hopes of getting an agent. Depending on how that goes I will either publish through an actual publishing company or self-publish again. It's a great story and I loved writing it! I have many more ideas as well, the well is far from dry!!! :)

[Shawn]

Volition is STILL my best selling novel since publishing all four and it's been over 2 year since its release. Who of you have read Volition and what did you think? Have you read Severance yet? If you haven't heard...it's EVEN BETTER than Volition. ;)

[Shawn]

For those of you who have read my books and want SIGNED copies, check out the new information page on my blog about obtaining signed copies =). http://shawn-kirsten-maravel.blogspot...

Happy Reading,

Shawn

[Shawn]

With a baby on the way I haven't been in a place where I've been able to really sink my teeth into writing a new novel. The good news, however, is that I'm nesting; cleaning up and getting things in order. This also applies to my writing. I believe that before I move on to writing my next novel, I need to feel completely confident in the ones I already have out. And honestly, I'm not.

As you may know, I wrote Volition and Severance while my husband was deployed to Iraq for a year. It was an outlet for me to explore writing, a hobby that I've always loved, and to really submerge myself in something that could keep me busy. However, I was still very much a rookie in the literary world. I've earned a stripe or two since writing both novels and have learned so much from all of the great reviewers out there. I owe it to myself, those who took the time to read and review my novels, and my future readers to really take the time to go back and work on perfecting these novels.

No book will ever be flawless, at least not in its author's eyes, but that doesn't mean they can't be improved upon now and then. I am just so grateful to still be making sales after about two years of publication and I feel that I owe it to my readers to live up to the standard that I believe I should be held at.

Everything from punctuation, over description, and even the covers will be cleaned up. While I love having a harmonic on the cover of Volition, a symbolic and poignant object in the series, it just didn't turn out how I hoped it would. The cover doesn't do my vision justice and pales in comparison to Severance's vibrant and beautiful cover. So, I have a great new cover all lined up that I think everyone will love.

In addition to a new cover for Volition I will be taking all of my reviewers suggestions into mind as well as family members and critics to come away with a much more polished and deserving product. You guys are awesome and I'm so happy that you all have embraced Charlotte and Joel. Thank you for your endless support and for your readership. You guys and gals rock. :)