An Interview With Shanna Swendson

So, as everyone knows I'm a huge book fan. Books are my life and some of my favourite books are Shanna Swendson's Katie Chandler books, which I wrote about in the last post. So, I decided to participate in her great blog campaign, to get word out about the books and especially the upcoming Damsel Under Stress (which I am so psyched to read)! So, here is an e-mail interview with Shanna Swendson!

When did you start writing? Have you always known you wanted to be a writer?

I've always entertained myself by making up stories in my head. When I was about twelve, I realized that if I wrote them down, I'd have a book, and that was when I started thinking that I wanted to be a writer. I just didn't really know how to go about doing it. It seemed like such a big dream, like becoming a movie star. I came up with a lot of story ideas and wrote a lot of first chapters but didn't really get anywhere with it. Soon after I graduated from college, I started to pursue writing more seriously, got involved with writing organizations, went to conferences and generally learned what it took from a business standpoint as well as a craft standpoint.

When you started "Enchanted, Inc.", did you always envision it as a series? If so, did you write it planning for future books, setting up things that would come up later or saving details for further down the road?

I always saw it as a series, but I didn't have a good sense of how the series would really shape up until I actually started writing the book and really "met" the characters. I remember thinking it would be fun if there would be Internet debates on which guy Katie should end up with. At one point I thought the next book would be "Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Ltd." and be set in the London office. When I wrote chapter four of Enchanted, Inc., I got the idea for what would happen in what I thought would be book three, and midway through the book I came up with the idea of what I thought would be book two, plus who the bad guy in that book would be, so I started laying the clues and groundwork. I ended up combining the ideas for books two and three into the second book. I've also been laying clues for a big part of what I hope will be in book five.

You're working on the proposal for book 5, do you see that as the last book in the series? Do you have a clear ending for Katie's story in mind, or could it go on indefinitely?

Book 5 is the last for this "chapter" of Katie's life. There's a possibility of picking it up again for another story arc, but I'm not entirely sure yet where that will go. I have a few vague ideas already. I'd like to write some other things first, though.

Are there ever times when you just don't feel like writing, but you have to? When it stops being fun and becomes a chore? Do you still like writing? Do you still do it for fun and not just for work?

It really depends on the day. On the days when I've had a great idea and I'm all excited, it's fun. But there are also days when I'd rather do anything but write, even though I have to. Once I make myself get started, though, I have fun and remember why I like this. I don't have time these days to write much just for fun--something that's not contracted and that I'm not being paid for--other than lots of character analysis posts on Television Without Pity.

Which character is your favorite?

Owen is probably my favorite character I've ever created.

Who do you like the least?

I don't know that I have a least favorite. I seem to even have a bit of fondness for my villains because they're fun to write.

Who do you find speaks the loudest to you?

Owen's quiet in the books, but very loud in my brain. He's managed to promote himself from what I thought would be a minor supporting character into a main character.

Have any of your characters surprised you by developing in ways you didn't see coming?

Idris keeps surprising me, to the point I almost feel sorry for him at times because he has these big ambitions without the real skills to carry them out.

If you could have magical powers, would you want them and what would you do with them?

I'd love to be able to clean house by waving my hand. Teleportation or time travel would be cool, too.

Which character in your book would you most like to be?

I'd probably want to be Katie because she gets to spend so much time with Owen. :-)

Which character do you relate to the most?

I think, though, that I relate most to Owen. I didn't realize this until I'd written three books with him in them, but he's probably more like me internally than any other character.

Are we going to learn more about the backgrounds of specific characters, such as why Phillip was turned into a frog or why Rod spends all his time hiding behind that illusion? Is more of Owen's background going to be revealed in time?

You learn what happened to Philip in Damsel Under Stress, and it turns out to be related to our main story. Book five (if it gets published!) is largely about Owen's background, and Rod's issues play into that.

What's your favorite fan story?

One of my favorite stories is a lady who wrote to me to tell me that she got Enchanted, Inc. accidentally when she ordered some books online and it was in the box instead of one of the books she'd ordered -- and after looking at it, she decided to keep it, and then she became a fan of the series.

What's the best compliment on your books you've ever gotten?

The best compliment is when someone says one of my books kept her up all night reading or helped her get through a difficult time.

How does it feel when people come up to you and tell you how much they love your books?

It's still a bit of a jolt to hear from someone who loves my books. I guess I'm still getting used to the idea that these people who've been living in my head are now living in other people's heads. I'm also still a bit "Who? Me?" when someone goes fangirl on me because I'm more used to being the one doing that to other authors.