1. When did you start writing?

I am a writer.  I have always been a story-teller.  I hope to always be one.  It’s a family tradition, learned from my grandmother, the queen of pithy comments who served putdowns at her Sunday dinners. Attendance was mandatory, not only for my immediate family, but also for my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Grandma never swore. It wasn’t ladylike, but she raised insulting someone’s intelligence, morality, behavior, manners, children, and mates to an art form.  My grandparents owned the Pine Tree Tavern below First Avenue in downtown Seattle which Grandma operated. She kept a “cuss jar” for her clientele who were not allowed to use inappropriate language in her presence, even if many of the “ladies” actually weren’t, and their “gentlemen” friends paid for the “pleasure” of their company. 

I began to write down Grandma’s stories as a young teen, although I knew nothing about the techniques or mechanics of what would become my passion. Many listeners squirmed at her turn of a phrase. However, I always admired Grandma’s use of language, which made her the powerful matriarch of our extended family. She supported my writing, repeating stories of her family numerous times, warning me to get my facts straight and asking me to repeat the stories back to her.  This became a foundation for my writing.

2. What was your journey towards becoming an author like?

When I graduated from high school, I was determined to be a writer.  My creative writing teacher had told me I had talent and suggested college.  No one in our extended family had ever attended college. The girls married and the boys went to work. I was different. The last thing I wanted was a husband. Life in a single-parent household taught reality.  As I told Grandma then, I knew men came with baggage and expected women to buy the suitcases.   Grandma told me she’d planned to remain single but when she was 22, she met Grand-dad and he refused to “live in sin” with her. 

My grandparents had worked hard all their lives, but they didn’t have the money to send me to college and neither did my mother.  I came from a poor, single-parent household. I went to work for a temporary office service and washed dishes at night in a restaurant.  I wasn’t able to fulfill my dream of joining the Army for a life of adventure because I was needed at home to raise my younger sisters, so I enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve instead.  When the wolf was at the door with a litter of pups, as my grandfather used to say, or when times were even harder, the civilian liaison of my Army Reserve unit put me “on orders.”

This meant I did office work for him, answered phones, and taught myself to type on his new electric machine.  He didn’t care what I typed as long as I looked busy and didn’t allow anyone at his desk when he was out playing golf with the general who commanded Fort Lawton.  So, I began my first novel.  At nearly nineteen, romances fascinated me. They were my favorite fantasy. I always wanted a hero on a white horse to rescue me although I knew it would never happen. I’d seen too many real-life struggles at too young an age, but romance novels were about hopes and dreams, not the monotony of every-day life.  I knew I could write a great love story.

While I happily typed away on my masterpiece, my boss occasionally looked over my shoulder.  If he felt my hero was turning into a jerk, or worse, was acting like a coward, he told me so.  My orders ran out about the time I finished the novel, so I bundled up my baby and shipped it off to Harlequin Books in Canada.  I didn’t know anything about the publishing business, so I mailed the only copy I had.  In addition to this no-no, I also didn’t have a clue about setting up a manuscript.  I finished each chapter and began the next one on the same page, a fatal flaw.  I also wrote on every scrap of paper and didn’t worry about such things as margins.  Worst of all, while the man my heroine thought she loved was dashing, romantic and charming – he was also unfaithful, dishonest, and nasty.

My father served as the perfect model for this sleazy character, and I practiced the first rule of novelists everywhere.  “Write what you know, or in this case, who you know!” I also used Grandma’s rule of understatement or as Grand-dad said it, “I wouldn’t slam an outhouse door that hard.” Harlequin eventually turned down my manuscript, but I was hooked. I was determined to write my stories and I knew someday I would sell a book. Along the way, I kept working at a variety of jobs, went to college, took classes from published authors, and never gave up on my stories or my dreams.

I sold two middle-grade novels, then when that publisher folded, went on to write for magazines and newspapers. In 2010, I sold my first romance novel to SirenBookStrand. I needed a pseudonym, so I opted for a variation of my grandmother’s name, Josie Malone. Today, I write four different series, two paranormal romance series as Josie Malone and two young adult series as Shannon Kennedy. I love writing and I always remember what my grandmother told me. Her love of language was the legacy she passed on to me. As she said more than once, “Your words have power.  Use it wisely. Don’t shout when a whisper will do.”

3. What can you tell me about your latest book?

Throw Away Teen, Book 1 in the Stewart Falls Cheerleaders series came out from Fire and Ice YA this September. Set in and around a private school, Stewart Falls Academy, twelve girls deal with timely issues while they learn to interact and build a winning cheer squad. The life lesson their coach wants them to learn is that “Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader!”

Characters grow and change in a variety of ways which may surprise the writer as much as it does the reader. When B.J. Larson, a street-smart foster kid moves to small town Stewart Falls, she’s the Princess of Passing Though, but has she found a “forever” home, somewhere it will be safe to unpack and stay a while?

This is an updated re-release as are some of the others in the series. Asking For It, the second book is a story about dating violence will soon be released. 

4. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?

I have a fabulous VA or Virtual Assistant who handles my social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Book Bub. In addition, we do blog tours for every book whether it’s a Josie Malone or Shannon Kennedy title. My VA also does the two newsletters for Josie and Shannon. We talk either on the phone or connect through email several times a week. My fabulous publisher does Amazon ads for my new releases, but I also arrange for other ads. In addition, I belong to writer groups and that helps me promote too. Now that the pandemic is coming to an end (we hope), one of those groups organizes booths at local events and I appear in person on those occasions.

5. Where do you get your ideas for stories?

They come from everywhere; books, newspapers, articles, documentaries, conversations – like other authors, I’m always playing the “what if” game in my mind. Sometimes, an idea won’t be appropriate for a teen drama or YA book, but it’s perfect for one of my paranormal romances. I also brainstorm ideas with writer friends at critique groups. We tend to meet virtually right now, but I can’t wait until we’re able to meet in person again.

6. What are you working on right now?

I’m editing upcoming releases in the Stewart Falls Cheerleader series, plotting and rough-drafting book 6 in that series. I’m polishing the final draft of Book 6 in the Shamrock Stable series. I’m also writing the next two Josie Malone romances. Since I have new releases, I’m also promoting those books with the wonderful help of my VA. A new blog tour for Throw Away Teen starts on Friday (9/29/22).

7. Any advice for other authors?

I always dreamed of someday being a writer. Then I wanted to be a published writer, and this is when I quote the cliché, “You’re never given a dream without being given the power to make it come true.” You may have to work for it, however. As the old Frank Sinatra song goes, “..and as funny as it may seem, some people get their kicks stomping on a dream..” Be true to yourself and never quit writing.

ABOUT SHANNON:

Shannon Kennedy lives and works at the family riding stable in Washington State. Teaching kids to ride and know about horses since 1967, she finds in many cases, she's taught three generations of families. Her life experiences span adventures from dealing cards in a casino, attending graduate school to get her master’s in teaching degree, being a middle and high school teacher, and serving in the Army Reserve - all leading to her second career as a published author. She recently retired from teaching school and plans to write more books for Fire & Ice YA, the Stewart Falls Cheerleaders realistic fiction series and the Shamrock Stable series about teen girls and their horses. Visit her at her website, www.shannonkennedybooks.com to learn about her YA books. To learn about her paranormal romances, visit www.josiemalone.com

Website:  https://www.shannonkennedybooks.com  

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Amazon Author Page:  Amazon.com: Shannon Kennedy: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle 

Goodreads: Shannon Kennedy (Author of Asking for It) | Goodreads

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