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Interview with June Shaw
June wrote two short stage plays that were produced Off-Off Broadway and a screenplay that aired in New Orleans. Now she devotes all of her writing time to novels. RELATIVE DANGER, her debut and first mystery in a planned series, was published by Five Star, imprint of Thomson Gale, in December, 2006. She then sold Harlequin reprint rights for its Mystery Book Club.
Publishers Weekly praises “Shaw’s promising first mystery (with its) humorous dialogue, suspenseful climax, and good character development.” Romantic Times says this: “Refreshing twist – a granny with an attitude.” Author Alice Duncan describes the book as “Way fun!” Mystery Morgue says “RELATIVE DANGER not only has the twists and turns… that are a must in a good mystery, it is also peopled with a full cast of diverse and interesting characters. It is definitely a good read.”
June was recently thrilled when Deadly Ink notified her that RELATIVE DANGER is one of just twelve books nominated for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2006. She is well underway on writing KILLER COUSINS, the second book in her series. Contact her at www.juneshaw.com.
Q. How long have you been writing fiction?
A. I’ve written fiction in various forms for about twenty years.
Q. What inspired you to begin writing?
A. When I was in ninth grade, my English teacher wanted me to write a paragraph about a splinter. I figured that was a boring exercise but wrote a grammatically correct paragraph describing a piece of wood. He looked at it and said, “This is boring. Try it like this.” And then he wrote “Ouch!” That was my inspiration. He told me to take it from the splinter’s point of view. Someone just sat on him. I was so impressed to learn that writers could make anything or anyone come to life and do or say anything she wanted them to. At that moment, I knew that one day, I’d be a writer. It took many many years before I tried.
Q. What types of books do you enjoy reading?
A. I like mysteries, especially romantic suspense and mysteries with humor like those written by Janet Evanovitch. A book has to hold my interest. Life’s too short to waste time with material I don’t enjoy.
Q. What was the first thing you had published?
A. It was “Five Left to Love,” about surviving life with my five children after their father died while they were still young. I sent it to a magazine I thought would be a perfect fit. An editor rejected it, and I was so discouraged. But I’d learned to expect rejection and have another place ready to submit to. I sent it out again, and this editor bought it! I was excited about getting paid and seeing something I wrote in print. I checked to see where I’d sent it the first time – and it was the same magazine! I sure hadn’t purposely sent it to the same place.
Q. How did that first publication impact your writing career?
A. I knew I could sell material I wrote, and that someone would be interested in reading it. And I definitely learned not to give up. After all, different editors at the same magazine had different opinions. I realized so much of what is bought is just one person’s opinion.
Q. For those of us interested in reading your very first published work, where can we find it?
A. I published in Living with Teenagers magazine, which I don’t think exists anymore. My first novel, RELATIVE DANGER, is available in lots of places.
Q. How many hours per day do you devote to writing?
A. That depends on what I’m writing and my family’s schedule. I retired from teaching and try to write at least four hours a day.
Q. How does living in Southeast Louisiana influence your writing?
A. Southern writers are noted for having a certain feel to their writing, maybe of hospitality. Also family. Love and family are most important in my mystery series that just started with the first book, RELATIVE DANGER. Also, my cover shows a Cajun connection, a plate of peeled boiled shrimp being speared by a fork. My protagonist travels – and “thinks” she wants to avoid her hunky ex-lover so that she can rediscover herself. But he keeps opening more Cajun restaurants in all of the places she travels. And she is so bad at avoiding tempting dishes and men. SO – many of the scenes take place in his Cajun Delights restaurant. I’ve included authentic Cajun recipes and some jokes, even Boudreaux & Thibodaux jokes, which are some of the most popular down here.
Q. Do you have any marketing tips you’d like to share with aspiring writers?
A. Yes. Get a web site as soon as possible, and keep it interactive, for example with various contests. (Please enter mine at www.juneshaw.com)
Go to conferences to hear and meet other people who are struggling just like you. And get inspired by those who’ve struggled and then finally achieved. There are also lots of online groups for writers. Join as many as you can. Writing is such a solitary task; it’s great when you can share ideas and struggles with people who know what you’re going through.
Q. Do you have a writing schedule?
A. I try to write every day. I’ve read that Steven King and Janet Evanovitch do the same thing. While I was teaching and raising my children, I’d write on weekends and vacations and when I’d find a little time during the week.
Q. Can you describe a typical day in the life of June Shaw?
A. I get up around 7, read my Daily Word, and take a cup of coffee to my computer. After about an hour, I hear my mom, who’s 100 and lives with me now, getting up. I fix breakfast for both of us and chat a little with her and then get back to work. I write for as many hours as I can, with breaks in-between, often with Mom. She’s almost blind but goes to Bingo and casinos and dances whenever there’s music. (You can see her doing the Macarena for her last birthday on my web site.) Later in the day, I usually work online, especially keeping touch with readers and other writers through e-mail.
Q. Do you work on one story at a time, or multiple?
A. I used to work on two at a time, but now I try to finish one thing before getting to something else.
Q. What’s your personal favorite June Shaw story?
A. My favorite is my recently published novel, RELATIVE DANGER.
A. Readers tell me it makes them laugh and cry and get scared. What more could an author want from her novel? My book has bodies and much more. It’s about romance and three generations in one family who really need each other.
Q. Can you tell us about your latest book?
A. I’ve almost finished KILLER COUSINS, the second book in this series. It keeps many of the main characters and adds other quirky people to the cast.
Q. How does one go about ordering a copy of your book?
A. Order RELATIVE DANGER from my web site and Amazon and Barnes and Noble and many other online sites. Thank you so much for having me here. I really appreciate your interest. BJ Bourg / June Shaw © 2007 |
June
Shaw, award-winning author from south Louisiana, is a widowed mother,
grandmother, and retired teacher fulfilling a lifelong dream of being a writer.
