This month, we're spotlighting one of my favorite authors of one of my absolute FAVORITE series...
Shelly Crane!
About Shelly
Shelly is a NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay-at-home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. She hoards paperbacks, devours sweet tea, searches year-round for candy corn, and loves to spend time with her family and friends, go out to eat at new restaurants, site-see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music, and, of course, loves to read, but doesn’t have much time to these days with all the characters filling her head begging to come out.
Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.
Author Interview
Hi, Shelly! Welcome to Bookish! Thank you so, so much for stopping by.
Thank you for having me!! It’s so pretty here.
First off, can you tell us a little about you and the books you write?
I write love stories about soulmates, aliens, devourers, the apocalypse, guys on the run from people who murder his mother, and girls who wake up from comas, can’t remember anything, then fall in love with their physical therapists. All my stories are love stories. I don’t write romance. And I don’t write “drama”. I write the story going on around a couple and how they get through it together.
You have Undeniably Chosen (book 6 in the Significance series--AKA one of my favorite series of all time!) releasing soon. What’s it like having another story from that world so close to being in the hands of readers?
It’s so awesome! I’m absolutely excited to finally have it in your hands it’s ridiculous. It’s so nerve-wracking, but so good to be done. It’s a big book. And it took a long time to get this book out, but now the time is here and I couldn’t be happier.
What led you to return to the Significance series? (And please, please know--though I’m sure you already do, since I mention it like every time we talk, but still--that I could not be more glad this series is being continued. SO. EXCITED.)
To be honest, I missed it! When I finished Independence, I kinda knew even then that I probably might come back to it one day and when they started getting deep in all the “TV stuff’, I figured it was a good time to start the spin-off series.
Gearing away from Significance for a minute, can you share about what your writing process is like?
I’m a pantser, so I don’t plot at all. I sit down and just write, wherever the story takes me. I’m constantly texting myself notes, my computer and desk is covered in sticky notes, I carry notepads with me everywhere, and there are little notepads on every surface and in every purse I have. When it comes time to plug them all in, it’s a little bit of chaos, but it’s fun chaos.
Personally, I’m always very interested in character names and how the author came up with them. Where do you get yours? Do they have meaning, are they just ones you like, or something else?
Sometimes, I’ll use my grandparents’ names. I’ll sneak them in as side characters or something. Most of the time I troll Facebook for interesting names or write down names when I come across one that I really like for a future book.
In the same vein, how do you title your books? Do the titles come before or after the books are written?
In the beginning, they came after. In fact, Significance didn’t even have a name until about ten minutes before I published it. But lately, I have a name first. The name is more the idea and that’s just because you have to book the cover artist way in advance. ☺ Otherwise…I doubt it would be that way. I’m not particularly fond of having to come up with the title first. Lots of times, the title comes to you while the words are flowing.
Your books contain a serious level of sweetness that always makes my heart happy. Is there a particular book or character of yours that you think gives off that sweet vibe more than the others?
Significance is probably my “sweetest” book in terms of gooey love. Collide is probably my sweetest book is terms of protective love. Wide Open is my sweetest book in terms of redemptive love. Depends on what you’re in the mood for.
And now, back to the Significance series and Undeniably Chosen because A) I am so darn excited for it, and B) it’s so close to release! What can you tell us about this new book? And can you tell us anything about further continuation of the series?
Well, everyone will find out at the end of the book anyway, so I’ll go ahead and tell you. The next book in the series will be...UNDENIABLY FATED. You should also be able to tell pretty easily who the next book’s POV will be from once you dig into it.
What’s up next on the writing front for you? The next Significance book or something else? (Don’t be fooled by my total Significance fangirling--I’m gonna be excited for whatever you’ve got in the works!)
I’m debating actually. I do have the next Significance books in the works but I also have a super secret sci-fi book that’s been BEGGING to be written for months now. So I may work on it, or them both for a while.
And lastly, can you maybe share a tiny teaser from Undeniably Chosen with us today?
Of course!
He pulled my head back into the crook of his neck. “Let me hold you a little longer before I have to go back.”
With my face against his neck, he took my hand and laced our fingers over and over on his chest. I shivered and he smiled, I felt it against my forehead. “Goosebumps,” he mused. “Check.”
Thank you so much for taking to time to chat, Shelly! You are wonderful.
Thanks for having me! #YoureTheBest
About Undeniably Chosen
Ava has watched her parents, Caleb and Maggie, live the perfect fairy tale, the perfect love story, played out in front of her eyes her entire life. Her family is love, life, and happiness. The Jacobsons are everything a family should be and Ava is loved and well taken care of. But the one thing that’s missing from her life is the one thing she’s waited for every day, the one thing her kind knows will make them complete, the one thing they thought was gone and lost forever.
Her significant.
Seth has lived with the Watsons his entire life. They’re the only family he knows, but he knows that there are things they keep from him. He knows that they lie and they do unspeakable evil, things from when he was a child that he can barely remember that cling to the edges of his memory. He barely remembers his real mother and all he knows is what he’s told. He doesn’t know what to trust. He wants to believe that the Watsons love and care for him, have his best interest at heart, but isn’t so sure of that anymore when he finally—after a lifetime of waiting for her—meets his soulmate, and the Watson’s first act is to try to take her away from him.
The Virtuoso worlds collide, hearts are exposed, humans are endangered, and the lives of Seth and Ava are changed forever. They’ll have to love without judgment or reservation, they’ll have to be wise and accepting beyond their years, they’ll have to forgive for things before they’ve even happened, they’ll have to trust without seeing, have faith without knowing, and they’ll have to light their own way in the dark when everyone else is blind to show them the way. And more than anything else…
they’ll fight like hell to keep each other.
More of Shelly's Books
Giveaway
Shelly is sponsoring a giveaway! What can you win?
Either...
US - signed Significance paperback and swag pack
OR
INT - winner's choice of one of Shelly's books in ebook format
- One winner
- Giveaway ends at 12 AM EST on April 19th
- Enter through the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
Either...
US - signed Significance paperback and swag pack
OR
INT - winner's choice of one of Shelly's books in ebook format
- One winner
- Giveaway ends at 12 AM EST on April 19th
- Enter through the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
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