Jonathanbbooks

jB: Shawn it's a massive pleasure to rap with you today. Please tell my massive fan base where you were born, and if you're not there now do you ever return home to visit? SRS: Thank you for having me. I was born in Bloomington, Indiana, while my parents were students at I.U. We moved to Ft. Lauderdale when I was three. And I haven't been back to Bloomington very many times since. jB: When did you jump into the writing game and what possessed you? SRS: I started writing my first book after my son was born. I decided to quit my job at the local newspaper and stay home with him and I'd write between feedings and nap times. I'd always wanted to be a writer and had lots of encouragement along the way—I won best creative writer in high school and a professor of mine in college told me I should be writing novels, back when I was 19 and working two jobs with a full course load, trying to stay afloat financially. Needless to say 2010 was a breakthrough year for me i

JB: Riddle us this Shawn. Favorite movie and why? Shawn: Hell Or High Water—because it tells the truth about being poor without making it seem like righteous suffering. JB: There it is, nicely put. Well champ hanging with you has been stratospheric. But say, can you help me out on a little flash piece I'm working? Here's what I've got: Three grizzled dudes are pulling a home invasion. A middle aged couple is home. The trio binds and gags them, then has at the home. As the trio heads out the couple's teenaged daughter leaps from the pantry with daddy's nine millimeter beretta and puts two of the dudes down. The gun clicks empty before she can drop the third guy. He's unarmed and built like an ocean liner. He advances but stops. He recognizes her. Five years ago she was the best soccer mid-fielder he ever coached. JB: Can ya finish that off for me bro'? I'd appreciate it! Heck I'll even buy you a bourbon next time we're speaking easy in

I made it to the finals. Dang it! It's the 200 meter sprint, Bellingham, Washington on a beautiful rubber track. What was I, 19? Sounds about right. I'm stretching and doing the high-knee jog when my coach comes down from the stands and onto the inner field. What's this? All of our training and preparation had been done. It'll be 'go time' any minute. "What's up coach?" "You've got to lean extra hard into the corner," she said. "Yeah, I know." "Here's how you're going to do it. Throw your right arm across your body like this," she demonstrated. "It'll feel awkward but it'll pull you into the lean. Adjust if you have to. When you come out of the corner you'll have a bigger sling shot than ever before." I tried the technique. "Coach I don't know. You know how I—" "Perfected your form I know. Just do it. And when you get to that back stretch let's h

jB: Hey Shawn, thanks for joining jbbooks blog today. Let's jump right in. Tell us where you grew up and enlighten us as to when you were bitten by the writing bow weevil. Shawn:I was born on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Southeastern Virginia. I grew up in a small town that was as tough as a two dollar steak but also a fantastic place to learn about life through hard work, family get togethers, and bar fights lol. At age 16 I started putting pen to paper. jB: Congratulations on your book My Darkest Prayer , I'm certainly a a fan. How did you come up with your protagonist? Did you come up with him and his world at the same time or did you come up with Nathan and build the world around him? Shawn: Well first of all thank you so much.I think a version of Nathan has always lived in my head. I have always been a fan of the private eye in fiction. As Chandler said, the private eye is the man or woman who walks the mean streets who is neither tarnished nor afraid.