Author Interview: Shauna Richmond

Check out this author spotlight for Shauna Richmond!

You can find all her links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out her books!

1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!

I’m Shauna. I’m an Irish indie author. I took some time out of work after I suffered a breakdown back in 2016 and writing became a form of therapy for me. I’ve been writing ever since. I live with my husband, son and our two dogs. The main genre I write is Fantasy but I have started to dip into other genres.

2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 (or more!) of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!

Winter, spring, summer or autumn? Autumn
Cat or dog? Dog
Tea or coffee? Coffee
Morning or evening? Evening
Library or museums? Museums
Hunter or gatherer? Gatherer
Witches or wizards? Witches
Ninjas or pirates? Pirates
Mountains or beaches? Mountains
Plotter or pantser? Pantser
Pen and paper or computer/phone? Computer
Standalone or series? Series
Book or ebook? Physical book
Hero or anti-hero? Anti-hero

3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?

Fantasy books generally catch my attention more so than any other. I do love any books with dark/ twisted humour and unusual stories. I hate reading the same story again and again, I look for something unique.

4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!

I mainly write fantasy. At the moment I have five projects I’m working on two are for two fantasy series I already have out. Two more are contemporary romance and the last book is about my dealings with autism as a mother whose child is on the spectrum. I think this is a topic that needs to be addressed as so many people still don’t understand what autism actually is.

5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!

My most recent release is Highland Reaper, it is book two in my Olden Chronicles series. For anyone familiar with the series the book continues on from Shattered Steel, Tristan and Catherine’s relationship is out for the world to see and they soon find out that someone has put a substantial price on their heads. The pair, along with their friends need to find a way to survive and figure out who paid to have them killed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Highland-Reaper-Chronicles-Shauna-Richmond-ebook/dp/B08TQJQRWG/

6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!

My inspiration varies with every book. For my Raghnall series, I was heavily influenced my Vikings (the show) and Game of Thrones. For my Olden Chronicles series I was influenced by The witcher series and the Throne of Glass series. My WIP contemporary romance is influenced by the flat share and the dark humour in C.J Skuse’s Sweetpea series.

7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!

I’ve little to no routine. Having a child on the spectrum means the days can get away from me. I write when I get the chance which is mostly in the two and a half hour window I get when my son is in school. If he decides to nap I’ll write when I’m not busy doing housework.

8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?

Read more. I was not a massive reader before I became an author and it shows in my earlier work. There are only so many ways you can describe a movement or a certain scene without having a frame of reference to learn from. Also, I think that it is important to see what works for the bigger names as in is it their plot, narrative or characters that readers are drawn to and why?

We have so much to learn from our peers and not just the bigger household names but other indie authors too. I have a collection of some fantastic indie authors that I adore and I love how we can all get the same bullet points for a story and come up with something vastly different. For my younger self, my current self and for anyone aspiring to be an author or wanting to improve your skills, you have to read. You can’t do your job right if you don’t.