Book Club Rewind - Shanna Swendson

Book club last night was great. Of course, that had a lot to do with fact that this month's author, Shanna Swendson, was there in person rather than over the phone. Shanna, Harry Potter fan that she is, even provided a couple of meal suggestions for June or July's (I forget) Harry Potter themed book club menu. Besides that, how could you not like someone who has enough humor to admit that her longest relationship so far has been her four year crush on one of the local TV news guys?!

The idea behind her Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. series came from a trip to New York City with friends after she had some knee surgery done. There Shanna was moving around NYC not totally sure footed and she received nothing but kindness and assistance from the locals. Her friends apparently did not get that same polite experience in NYC. A few years later, she thought to combine the concept of the two different experiences she and her friends had in NYC with her love of Harry Potter (did I mention Shanna's a fan) and Chick Lit (which she sees as the style most like her life). The Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. series was born!

So what is next in the series? The fourth book, Don't Hex With Texas, is written and scheduled to be released in January 2008. Shanna said that book three, Damsel Under Stress, was written as a two part-er and that book four was planned for release sooner than the following May (the previous three books were released in the month of May). The fourth book will have a satisfying ending, but that the fifth and final book (currently unwritten) would wrap everything up if it were published (and that my friends is up in the air right now unfortunately).

TV and movie possibilities for MSI series? There was almost a TV deal. There is a possibility of a movie deal.

Shanna is currently working on a proposal for a Young Adult book. The YA book would probably be a standalone paranormal. "Grimms' fairy tales invade Grey's Anatomy."

What does Shanna Swendson like to read when she is not writing:
- Chick Lit
- bargain bin books (She's on tour right now and is seriously binge purchasing bargain bin books.)
- recently read and recommends Babe in Toyland by Eugenie Seifer Olson.

Some of her notable quotes from the evening with our book club:
- "My legions of minions plotting against..."
- "Certain books can only be read in certain weather."

Plano Book Club - Note from this month's author, Shanna Swendson

If there's anything I like more than reading books, it's talking about books, so I'm really looking forward to meeting with the book club (eating comes right behind talking about books, so I'm anticipating the food, too).

I write a series of books that could be called fantasy/chick lit or else light urban fantasy, depending on whether I'm talking to a chick lit reader or a fantasy reader. When I started submitting the first book in the series to agents, I wasn't sure which side of that line it really fell on, so I looked for an agent who handled both genres and let her decide what it was. Now I don't worry too much about genre and just write my books, which have a mix of humor, fantasy, intrigue and romance. The best way I can think of to describe the tone and content of my books is by saying "Bridget Jones meets Harry Potter." A grown-up Harry, of course.

The fun thing about writing a series with the same main characters is getting to watch the characters grow and their relationships develop. The first book in the series, Enchanted, Inc., introduced my heroine, Katie Chandler, to the world of magic and to magical people, including a certain very intriguing young wizard. We saw her get deeper into the magical world as she struggled with her own unique abilities in the sequel, Once Upon Stilettos. In the most recent book, Damsel Under Stress, she seems to have everything more or less together -- at least at first. She's finally got the relationship of her dreams starting and she's doing well at work. But, of course, things can't go quite that smoothly for her, and next thing she knows, everything she cares about is in jeopardy and she may have to make some tough choices. There's at least one more book in the series coming, and I have plans for one more after that. Depending on how much wine they make me drink, the book club might even manage to get some hints for the future out of me.

Shanna Swendson
Damsel Under Stress, May 2007
Once Upon Stilettos, May 2006
Enchanted, Inc., May 2005
http://www.shannaswendson.com/