Shonell Bacon. Author. Doctoral candidate. Editor. Educator. Everywoman. Saying that Shonell Bacon wears "many" hats would clearly be an understatement. She has published both creatively and academically- novels, short stories, textbooks. She has had an essay of hers developed as part of a live theater documentary production, and currently she is anticipating the release of several of her works in 2012 to include the Between the Pages (March 2012), Into the Web (March 2012), Saying No to the Big O (April 2012), and La Dona Rising (October 2012). You can learn more about and her work at her website: Shonell Bacon, and Shonell also welcomes hellos from readers via e-mail: [email protected].The Book
The InterviewWhen did you fall in love with the written word? I was ten. My mom and I were at a flea market, and she bought me a .25 cent green diary. Instead of writing the typical 10-year-old girly things, I wrote sports articles on my beloved Baltimore Orioles and my own scripts to my favorite soap at the time, The Guiding Light.
When did you know you want ed to be a writer? Probably the same time I got that green diary. During my teen years, I wrote a lot of bad screenplays, all featuring the same story - a woman who somehow comes to own a sports team and ends up falling for and getting the hot, great player on the team. LOL I finally broke away from those and in the 90's, having recently graduated high school, I started studying the industry, trying to figure out how to become a better writer and how to break into the industry.How long have you been writing? Without revealing my age, LOL, and having given you the age I fell in love with the writing above, let's just say a long time! Talk to us about your writing journey. If you've faced rejection, how do you rise above it? If you haven't faced rejection what advice do you have for other aspiring authors? Without writing a book, I'll say that since the 90's, there has been more rejection than acceptance, but in the end, it's about loving what you do and finding other avenues to get your work out to the public. These days you don't need one of the very few major publishers to deem you worthy of being published. You can write a great book, get it edited, have someone design a cover, stir up some promotion, get self tuned into social media outlets, and with little money, get the book published.Are you an outliner or "fly by your pants" kind of writer? Definitely an outliner. I visually write my stories bit by bit until they are pretty much developed, then take to drafting an outline and writing the story.How long does it take you to write a novel? It really depends. My book coming out in March 2012 Into the Web , I wrote in about five months off and on...it's about 85,000 words. I've written a novel in that size in two months and another in a year. It really depends on how much time it takes me to do the preparatory work - visually writing and outlining. If I don't take the time to do those things , the writing of the story is a slow process for me.What social media outlets are you currently using to promote yourself/your writing? FaceBook and Twitter are my major outlets. I'm on FB ALL THE TIME, and the same can be said for Twitter. I also use my website/blog and Google Plus.Where do you see your writing career in five year? Growing. There will definitely be more books out by me, and people will be able to see that my writing covers multiple genres and styles, but there is always something signature about a Shonell Bacon work.What are you currently working on? Right now, I am finishing up a short sensual story that will be part of the SK minis Dip me in Chocolate series. The story is titled Between the Pages. I'm really in the preparing stages of things - seeing what works I need to write this year and organizing when I plan to write them.You're sitting inside your favorite coffee shop...delicious smells of flavorful lattes and pastries permeate the air...beside you is your favorite author...You have the opportunity to ask her/him three questions...what would they be? Good question. Interesting question because even though I haven't met her in the flesh, I have talked to my favorite author quite a bit: Bernice McFadden. I've interviewed her several for my own blog on women writers several times, and every time she has a new book out, I'm all over it. I think I've asked her most of the questions I wanted answers to, LOL. I would probably want her to fully explain her process for writing one of her literary works so that I can see it, sense it, see how I could use some of what she does for my own process. I would probably also ask her what three things must a writer have in his/her writer's toolbox to see if I have those. Finally, I would probably ask what she does during her "times of rest". As a person who hardly ever finds time to do nothing or to have a time of rest I could definitely learn from her responses and apply them, perhaps. Here's a kiss of Into the Web
coming March 2012Into the Web DescriptionThe minute twins and mystery novelists Jovan and Cheyenne Parham find their lives settling into a nice rhythm, all hell breaks loose – in their personal lives and in the latest crime they find themselves mixed up in. Jo is trying to build a relationship with Mark Brockman, but the deaths of her husband and Mark’s wife, and the sordid nature of their coming together keeps her from jumping into the relationship with both feet. Cheyenne is head over heels in love with former detective-now P.I. Ian Davenport, but unexpected news and Ian’s involvement in a new case causes Chey to second guess the deepness of their love. Trying to figure out their love lives becomes all the more complicated when Jo and Chey are thrust into a series of kidnappings and murders involving young girls who seem to make the wrong friends online. When a mayoral candidate’s daughter is kidnapped, Ian finds himself on the case, much to the chagrin of Chey considering he spends an awful lot of time holding and caring for the candidate’s wife. Bringing the girl home safely and finding the killer pushes the twins to the limits of their personal and professional lives. Going into a web of infidelity, lies, deception, and murder often leaves all involved in disarray. Will Jovan and Cheyenne find themselves, once again, trying to pick up the remaining fragments of their lives once this is all over?
Snippet…from Chapter One
Take downThose words rang in Jovan Parham’s mind as she danced around the ring, staring into the eyes of Derryck, her kickboxing trainer.“Come on, Jo,” Derryck said while holding up his padded hands. “Pay attention. Jab left, cross right, jab right.”“I’m doing it,” she said, her voice nearing a whine.“You look lazy.” Derryck’s left hand made its way to Jovan’s headgear. She just managed to move, but heard the sound of his fist whizzing by her face. “I haven’t tagged your face in nearly four months.”Jovan smiled and took two jabs to the side of Derryck’s face; the second one connected.“And you didn’t get me this time either,” she replied.The two continued to spar, sharing words and punches and kicks, but Jovan’s mind was still stuck on two words: take down. She woke up in the middle of the night after a horrific nightmare, one she had almost every month since she moved into her new condo a year ago. The nightmare was always the same: she watching as a host of characters took part in killing her. She lay, shackled to a metal table, dressed in a white loose gown that had been ripped to shreds. Every few minutes, someone would come into the dimly lit room and cut her with a sharp, curved blade. No words were ever exchanged. She screamed with each flick of the blade, begged for her life, but it was all for naught. Cordell came in and took a chunk of her. As did his mother. As did his brother. Alisha took her share as well, as did Sarah, which broke Jovan’s heart more than Cordell wanting to kill her. She had thought Sarah was her best friend. Finding out she had slept with Cordell and carried his child tore at her heart. To know that even in her nightmares Sarah wanted to hurt her more nearly broke her.The last person to come in was always Linda Hayes. And unlike the others, who were more like automatons, coming to do their robotic bidding, Linda had a sparkle in her eyes, a curl of her lip, an extra dig of her cut when she took her swipe of Jovan. She had hoped that her time at the altar during service that morning, where she begged God, begged him to remove the nightmares, might give her a night of respite, but it wasn’t to be. If she actually took time to think about it, she’d realize that her continuous thinking about the nightmares would only create more of them.When she woke up last night from the nightmare, Jovan rushed to her office—a place that held warm, soft thoughts for her as it was the place where words took to life. She reached for the small blue bible she kept on the desk and rifled through the pages before landing her finger on Luke 10:19, I have given you authority …to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.The words brought her peace, but she had an even better way of using her authority to overcome her enemies. She took out a pad and pen, and spent a good hour creating a list of people she needed to take down.
