Shauna Michaels

I have been writing for over nineteen years, finding satisfaction as well as frustration in the creative process of putting a novel together. There have been times I've thought of walking away from writing, but I haven't been able to. Writing is such a part of me that I feel incomplete without it. But I have to admit, that I might not be writing today if it wasn't for the support of my husband of twenty-nine years.

I am a lucky woman. I have lived a romance all the thirty-one years I've known my husband, Mike. We met in college, and though it wasn't love at first sight, I knew he was the one soon after I started dating him. We have a son who is now in college himself. I hope he is as lucky as my husband and I and he finds a woman to be with for the rest of his life.

I just recently sold my first historical to Precious Gem Historicals. LOUISIANA BRIDE came out in March 1999. I am so excited about this sale because when I first started writing years ago it was an historical (which will never see the light of day). I love history and being able to combine both history and a good romance is wonderful to me.

I like to travel and many of the places I have been to are in my books. I don't like to write about a place without having been there first. My novel, LOUISIANA BRIDE, takes place where I grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi which was a part of France's Louisiana territory. In the latest two books, FLIGHT OF FANTASY and HOLD ONTO THE NIGHT, much of the action takes place in a rain forest which I had the good fortune of visiting one last summer in Belize.

An Interview with Shauna Michaels

Barb S: You've been widely published since the early 1980's under a number of different names and have done both print (Silhouette Special Edition, Dell Ecstasy, Zebra Precious Gems, and ImaJinn) and ebooks for Starlight Writers Publications. That raises some interesting questions. Having written for the big houses, small print houses, and e-publishers can you tell us which you prefer? Not necessarily a particular company but in general.

Shauna M: I have enjoyed working for every publisher I have worked with. They have allowed me to publish something special of mine. Every one of the companies I've been with have been very professional so I count myself lucky in that respect. I would love to make tons of money on every book I write, so of course, the publisher with the biggest distribution system would be the best for that.

Barb S: Hold onto the Night has a shape shifter storyline. When I think of a shape shifter I think of my all time favorite -- Dark Shadows' resident werewolf Quentin Collins--man by day wolf by light of the full moon. In your new release from ImaJinn you have a jaguar man, who is an animal by day and a man by night. What inspired those choices as well as the rain forest setting?

Shauna M: I chose for my Jaguar Man to be an animal during the day for the most dramatic effect -- he shows himself to people in order to further the legend of the Jaguar Man. The atmosphere of the dark was what I wanted for my hero and heroine when they interact as humans. It gives it a sensual, intimate feel. These two people are connected on several levels. I picked the rain forest because I love the rain forest. I've been to several. They are lush, primitive, beautiful, and dangerous. All these elements I wanted for my story about the Jaguar Man. Besides, jaguars live in rain forests and I think a black jaguar is one of the most beautiful animals that we have.

Barb S: Is the book a contemporary romance? Can you tell us about the heroine and plot?

Shauna M: It is a contemporary story. My short blurb I use on my flyers and bookmarks reads:

Kathleen Dawson, a geologist for Dalco Oil, doesn't believe in the myth of the Jaguar Man until the night she encounters him in the rain forest. In the jungle at dusk she is stalked. She awakens from a dart-induced sleep in a fog, unsure of where she is except that she's in a cave. A man stirs in the shadows and moves forward. Through the haze she meets the man the Indians of the rain forest refer to as the Jaguar Man. According to the legend, he rules the jungle both as beast and man, protecting his territory against the outside world.

Kathleen has gone through life keeping her emotions locked up inside of her. Guerriro (the Jaguar Man) teaches her what it is like really to feel.

Barb S: Many of your books have been category romances. Can you tell us what led you into paranormals? Have you found that fans of your category work have followed you? Do you know if you've made any paranormal "converts?"

Shauna M: Hold Onto the Night is my first paranormal so I don't know if my fans have followed me. This is a book of my heart. The story came to me one day and I was so lucky to find someone to publish it. It's very different from my other books. But then I love to read a lot of different types of fiction from romances, both contemporary and historical, to mysteries to paranormals. I love the shows on television that have paranormal elements.

Barb S: As a fairly new paranormal author I often find it challenging to keep paranormal elements from trying to insinuate themselves into "straight" novels. Did you ever have a similar experience or are your fictional worlds fairly set once you decide which type of story your characters fit into?

Shauna M: They generally are set. That doesn't mean I might not change some future project if an element screams to be used in a story. When I write and read, I like to be carried into another world--it can be a real one or an alien one. The story is what counts.

Featured in this Issue:

Interviews with:
Susan Krinard
Shauna Michaels
Romance News:
From ImaJinn Books Publisher
Linda Kichline

Shauna Michaels

Website

 Books

Buy it now!

Imajinn Book
July 2000
ISBN: 1893896110

HOLD ONTO THE NIGHT
Dr. Kathleen Dawson is a geologist heading an advance team for a large oil company. She is investigating rumors of a large oil deposit in the rain forest of the interior of Costa Sierra in Central America. Being independent, she's feisty and demanding of herself. She has worked hard to get where she is in her profession. Her world revolves around her job.

In the jungle at dusk she is stalked. She awakens from a dart-induced sleep in a fog, unsure of where she is except that she is in a cave. A man stirs in the shadows and moves forward. Through the haze she meets the man the Indians of the jungle refer to as the Jaguar Man. The legend says he's a man at night, a jaguar during the day. He rules the jungle, protecting his domain against the outside world.

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Shauna Michaels