What Books Helped Inspire A&R

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

Every year I say I’m going to get better about posting here and every year I start strong and then, like so many January gym memberships, I slowly forget about it.

But thanks to an opportunity I was given, I can at least start this year out strong and post in January!

I was recently approached to share what books inspired me when I first wrote World of Ash and I am all about sharing the love and helping promote other books so I was happy to join in.

Please head on over to Shepherd to read about what books helped inspire me to delve into the world of Kat and Dylan and the dreaded Pestas and see if there are a few titles you could add to your TBR pile!

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Adapting As a Writer–Part 3–Fin

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Come see the finale of my WIP saga!

Spellbound Scribes

Last we spoke, I shared how the WIP I was writing was becoming an ever-evolving beast but I was getting it done, little by little. I’d gone from an outline, to pansting, to writing out of order, to piecing scenes into the book like a quilt. to minimal word goals of 1,000 words a day during the week.

When I wrote that last blog post I was at 90k words on the WIP. For the last couple of years that would have meant I was at a completed draft. I’d gotten very good at honing my craft so I could still set the scene but not be so flowery that I was pushing over the 100k mark. But not this beast. No, 90k and the end wasn’t quite in sight. But I was so happy to be writing and moving forward that I didn’t focus on that. I…

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Do You Re-Read Before Watching?

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Spellbound Scribes

The big deal in the book world (at the moment) is the Netfilx adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s awesome series, Shadow and Bone.

I was lucky enough to discover this series early on and even got to meet Leigh at the Burbank Library just at the release of the second book in the series. And let me tell you, that author event was NOTHING compared to the release of the third book in the series when the events became actual spectacles like, at The Last Bookstore, where there were passed hors d’oeuvres by waiters dressed in Russian-inspired garb.

The library event was much more intimate, Leigh had more time to talk to those present and even do selfies with those of us brave enough to ask. Let me just say, as nice as Leigh seems online, she is better in person. She really is kind, approachable, and funny. If you get…

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Adapting as a Writer

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

Join me on the first Thursday of the month over at the Spellbound Scribes blog to see what I’m saying over there. But really, you should check out every Thursday over there because the other Scribes have some invaluable information too!

Spellbound Scribes

When I first started writing books I never outlined. I tried to outline my first book and found that, once it was outlined, I couldn’t get into the rhythm of writing the actual narration of the story.

It was incredibly frustrating and I felt like I couldn’t write. My lifelong dream of being a writer, going to college to learn how to be a writer, all my lofty goals would never be achieved because I couldn’t understand how to write.

Then I read a blog post by an author I loved at the time, she was a very prolific writer so I figured she knew what she was doing, and she said she wasn’t an outliner. She explained that she was a “pantser,” or “pantster” if you prefer, which meant she had an idea for the book and then just wrote freely, or “by the seat of her pants.” As…

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It’s been too long.

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

Oof. Bit dusty around here, isn’t it? Been a while since I opened this door. The air is a little stale, but it looks like I still have a key to this place.

I’m sorry I’ve left you hanging. I updated my Patreon, Facebook, Insta, and the Spellbound Scribes‘, but something was bound to fall through the cracks, right?

I can’t get into what happened again. The thing about going through Something is, when it’s over, it takes so much time to update people. And every time you see someone else for the first time since The Thing, they want to know what happened, how’s it going, and all the concerned questions concerned people ask. But. You get tired to answering the questions and reliving The Thing and whatever pain or anxiety it brings with it. You get stuck in that cycle and I just want out.

Suffice it to say, I’m okay, my family is okay, and very importantly, my dogs are okay.

I’m going to make a concerted effort to post more. Yes. I know! I’ve said that in the past, but I mean it this time. I want to get back into the habits that I had when I was writing prolifically. Hopefully it will help me become prolific again. I miss writing and being excited about new words and a new book and plot twists. I’ve actually been writing again. I don’t know if this book is going anywhere but my hard drive, but even if it doesn’t, it’s helping me knock the rust off and getting me back in the habit of writing again so that should lead to more writing.

I’ve even gotten back into self-care. This past weekend I treated myself to some hand and feet masks and today I got my hair done for the first time in almost four months. It’s easy to brush these things off as frivolous and unimportant but we all deserve to feel good about ourselves and to take care of ourselves. That can mean different things to different people, but I love getting my hair done. I love taking care of it and putting time into it. Loving my hair lifts my spirits, so finally getting to see my hair magic stylist this week did wonders for me.

Now to do a little something for you. In the spirit of starting fresh, I’ve made the first book of two different series free for readers. The ebooks, that is. They are still both offered wide, so you can get your free copy wherever you like to read. Hopefully you haven’t tried either of these series yet and it gives you something new to read. One is under my name, the other is under my penname (that one is NC+17, fair warning).

Wytchcraft links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Smashwords

Hellfire links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Smashwords

World of Ash Read Along!

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This is super fucked up stressful terrifying weird right? Many of us are trapped inside, some with hobgoblins children, some not but feeling a bit lonely. I was trying to think of something to do to help you all break the monotony of being home and saw some of my teacher friends offering to do online classes with school-aged children, friends wanting to Skype board games or movie nights, anything we can do to not feel so hemmed in by our walls and maybe take a break from the anxiety of it all.

So, what can I do to help? The idea of kids watching how-to videos and having virtual classes made me think of my favorite part of school: reading time. I didn’t care if it was free-reading where I got to spend 10 mins with my own books, or we read as a class where a student read a page or so and then another kid took over, or when the teacher just read to us, I loved it all. Hell, I was a super nerd in HS and took honors and AP classes and we friggen loved it when teachers read to us. It really gave us a break from it all.

Well, that I can do.

I’m gonna read to you. Even if it’s just one or two people who sign in or if I’m just reading so the stars can hear me, I’m gonna do it. A chapter a day (maybe 2 if a chapter is particularly short). And what better than my own weird post-apocalyptic story, World of Ash? If you have a copy you can read along as I read aloud, if you haven’t been able to get a copy now’s your chance to find out what it’s all about!

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I’m trying to decide when is the right time to do this. Obviously my book is Young Adult, so it’s up to you if your kiddos are mature enough to listen, but it’s not a kids book, that’s for sure. I would say it’s 13 years old and up, but your kid’s maturity levels may vary and you can decide if it’s appropriate for them. And I’m in California so I need to plan this well. I was thinking 11am my time, that’s mid-afternoon for much of the county and just before lunch over here. English class was never my first or last class of the day, so that feels right.

But maybe late afternoon is better? I just know as the day becomes evening and night I like to curl up on the couch with the telly and the later in the afternoon I do it Pacific Standard Time, the later it is for most and we’re edging into dinner time.

I just practice read chapter 1 and it took about 14 minutes to get through. I’m a fast talker thanks to living in SoCal, so I have to  make a conscious effort not to speak too fast as I read.

Now WOA has 34 chapters, so I can always try out 11am and see how it works for people and change it to a different time if people would prefer. Obviously you can replay the videos later, but I am going to live stream so if people want to ask questions or whatever, I’m actually there for it. If you ask questions after the broadcast, I’ll answer them in the coming days (no spoilers please).

What do you think? Fun? Morbid? I saw a lot of people on Twitter and Reddit asking for end-of-the-world book recs, so I know some people are in the mood. Maybe because the books often have some message of hope? And we could all use that right now?

Anyway. I’m gonna do it.

Starting tomorrow.

You can follow me on Instagram or on Facebook. I’ll set up the livestream for both so you can watch how you like. I’m either going to use my iPad or steal my hubby’s phone so I can use my phone for Instagram and one of those for Facebook. Who knows, if it goes well and is popular enough, maybe I’ll keep reading.

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P.S.

I’m not gonna lie, guys, I am a little nervous for us right now. My husband is a private personal trainer, so if we lose clients to quarantine we’ll be in danger of not paying our bills like so many others. I’m not doing this for money, I’m doing it for the fun of it, but if you do want to drop a dollar or two, I’ll put links for that too. And you can always become a patron for exclusive content and continued support. And of course, buying books is always helpful and leaving reviews helps sell them to others, so please feel free to show your support that way!

patreon| paypal| venmo| zelle: shaunagranger82@gmail.com

Halloween Tarot, Books, and Editing Special! Oh My!

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

If you follow me anywhere, you probably know that I read tarot. It’s a tradition passed to me by my mother and something that I’ve come to love once again.

I enjoy reading tarot and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Obviously not everything is going to be spot on and sometimes the messages can be vague, but for the most part, my interpretation of the messages have been accurate for the client in front of me.

If you follow my blog you know that I offer readings to those who seek them out. But now I’m tossing my proverbial hat on the corner and setting up a table to ask for clients. I’m trying to raise a little extra money because I need to do something about my office. It has become a mess and not the most comfortable place to work in.

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Crazy right? We live in a tiny house that is nearly one hundred years old, which means it wasn’t designed with modern tastes in mind (in fact my office was added on to the original house in the 70s or 80s and you have to go through one room to get to it. It’s weird). There are no open floor plans or high ceilings here; everything is compartmentalized and a bit small. Which also means there’s not a lot of room to spread out.

As I run my business from home, so does my husband. So he has clients here six days a week, which means I’m often closed off in my office to work. Which is totally fine! But if it could been better organized with a little more comfort for the times when I’m researching, outlining, or editing, that would be amazing. When I’m just writing, my desk works for me, if not the ancient chair that I slouch in (heh), but it is often the catch-all for all things paper and business related. Which means it’s not the best place to edit, critique, or outline.

So, I find myself in other parts of the house, only to scurry out of the way when clients come through. Nothing less professional than a harried writer in her pajama bottoms just hanging out with pens in her hair and papers spread everywhere.

Now to the fundraising. If you’ve read this far, I am hoping to raise between $500 and $1,500 total (low end, I just get to  make this a little more comfortable to do all my work in one room, high end I can also replace my desk and be more organized).

The first thing I’m offering is tarot card readings. Three levels.

The first level is a One Card Draw. This is $5 and suitable to basic questions, usually yes or no answers.

1 card

The second level is the Three Card Spread. This is $10 and suitable to slightly more complicated questions, nothing too life-changing but bigger than a simple yes or no.

3 card

The third level is the Five Card Spread. This is $20 and suitable to complicated questions. It can help you with pros and cons of a situation.

5 card

All you need to do is email me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com with your question and any details you think are pertinent if you’re going with one of the two larger spreads and which spread you’re looking for. If your question is time-sensitive, definitely let me know and I’ll do my best to get back to you as quickly as possible.

And, secondly, I am offering to sign and sell personalized books! I have a few copies of my books, which make excellent holiday gifts! Books are so easy to wrap you know.

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I have 10 copies each of Earth, Book One in the Elemental Series, World of Ash the first in the Ash and Ruin Trilogy, and Wytchcraft the first Matilda Kavanagh Novel. And 5 copies of Dandelions and Blackbird. They are $10 each with $3 shipping–signed and personalized to who you’d like.

And I have 5 full sets of the Ash of Ruin Trilogy for $25 and $7 shipping. And just 2 full sets left of The Elemental Series for $45 and $9 shipping. Again, just email me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com with your order and what name you’d like inscribed (see below for payment options).

Thirdly if you need a manuscript critique, check out the price page for that and see what you’re looking for, reach out to me and mention the Office Fundraiser and get 15% off the regular price!

And, finally, if you need a content edit, check out the price page for that, reach out to me and mention the Office Fundraiser and get 20% off the regular price!Supernatural, prophet, Chuck

Please review this page to see which service, critique or content edit, is more what you’re looking for.

I am planning on doing this through the end of the month, but I think I will accept requests for these prices through November since October is already half-gone.

I accept Venmo (preferred), bank-to-bank supported by Zelle (preferred), and PayPal (least preferred).

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Shauna-Granger

Bank-to-bank supported by Zelle: shaunagranger82@gmail.com

Paypal: paypal.me/thegrangers

The Struggle is Real. And That’s Okay.

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

Spellbound Scribes

I intended to write this post yesterday so it would be up and in your mailboxes this morning, but like so much that has happened this year for me, life got in the way and now I’m writing it way later than I intenended.

I didn’t even know where to start with this post because I’ve been struggling so much with writing that I’m not sure if I’m the right person to be writing blog posts about writing. But I have a commitment to this blog so I am here.

All morning I’ve been trying to think of a subject that I haven’t already covered as I’ve tried to show you both my worry about writing and effort to stay positive about my slump. But the more I thought about it, the lower I felt. But that seems like a post on its own, right?

Hear me out.

I went…

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A New Project

/ Shauna Granger / Leave a comment

If you follow me on Patreon, you know that I’ve gotten back into the habit of reading tarot. It’s a tradition of the women in my family that I let die for some years because of my own insecurities.

I always thought, to read tarot, you needed to be able to just look at the cards without any help or references and know exactly what they’re saying. Having dyslexia and dyscalculia means that asking me to memorize the meanings of a whole deck of cards is too much. It’s overwhelming and anxiety inducing. But that’s what I thought a good tarot reader did, so I obviously could never become a good tarot reader.

But I always wanted to be one. So last year I got my own deck and a new book and started doing some readings for myself. I decided, since I was doing it for myself, it didn’t matter if I needed to make notes and look up some references to understand the overall message or story the cards were telling me. I actually decided to do the same reading with two different decks just to check how I did the first time and the reading, amazingly, was the same.

I felt good about how I’d done. I liked the process I’d come up with for myself. So I thought, maybe I could read for others. I practiced more until I got the feel for my new deck and got my process down, then I offered a new reward on my Patreon tiers. Anyone pledging $15 or more got a monthly reading.

Now, after over a year, I feel really good about my tarot abilities. The process of interpreting the cards, reading the story they’re telling, has become more natural for me.

And then today, when I drew my weekly card for my Patrons, I drew a very particular card:

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I’d been thinking about extending my tarot reading online, but had been hesitant to do so. Then this card turned up. The Ace of Wands is all about taking a chance on the new project, path, or class you’ve been thinking about. It doesn’t promise anything will work out, but it does say that you should try. So I’m gonna try.

If you’d like a tarot card reading, I’m offering offering online (through email) tarot card readings. There will be two types of readings:

  1. A One Card Draw for $5. This type of reading is good for some direction or inspiration for simple issues or day-to-day life. I offer this type of reading to all my patrons as a guide for the week ahead–you could use it for that too!
  2. A Spread for $20–general or focused on a question/issue (if you sign up as a Patron at the $15 level you’ll get a monthly reading, the discount is because you’d be a re-occurring client/patron). Depending on your question, it may be a simple three card spread, or it may be something more complicated, but I promise, it’ll be the same amount of effort no matter what.

I accept Venmo (preferred), PayPal (least preferred), and bank-to-bank supported by Zelle (preferred). If there is interest in me getting Kofi, I will look into it.

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Shauna-Granger

Paypal: paypal.me/thegrangers

Bank-to-bank supported by Zelle: shaunagranger82@gmail.com

Patreon: patron.com/shaunagranger

So, hit me up! You can email me at shaunagranger82@gmail.com with your requests and questions. Let’s see what the Fates have in store for you!

Not an April Fool’s: Discount for Critiques/Beta Reads

/ Shauna Granger / 3 Comments

If you follow me on the Twitters then you know my poor puppy, Brody, has not had a good couple of months.

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At the beginning of February he had a gland infection that was pretty bad, but thankfully with antibiotics, cleared up quickly.

Shortly thereafter, literally 48 hours, he scratched his eye. Something, like a mote of dust, got in his eye, made him sneeze and we watched him, as if in slow motion, reach up with his paw to scratch his face. We stopped him, but that one swipe was all it took. When we woke up in the morning he wouldn’t–or couldn’t–open his left eye.

Our vet office is great and got in him that morning. Yes, he’d scratched his cornea. So they did all the things they do and gave me some antibiotic drops to keep it from getting infected. Sadly, every single time I put a drop in his eye, you’d think I’d re-injured it. He’d be doing okay, his eye open and personality good, then it was time for drops and bam, eye closed and laying on his bed for hours. When it was finally doing better, it would be time for the drops again and the cycle started anew. The doc agreed that was weird and gave me some new drops made from his own blood cells.

Same damn thing. He’d seem fine, then time for drops, pain.

So we tried a healing gel with hylauranic adic.

SAME DAMN THING.

So I trusted my gut after 3 weeks of this nonsense and quite a bit of money, and on that Monday I said, “No more drops. Only the pain meds.” He had an appointment that Thursday. So three days with no drops. And the change was amazing. His eye looked better every day, almost perfect when I took him back. And the doc admitted he was finally healing, it was in fact 80% healed then.

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But we were out of pain meds so I asked for more to get us through that last 20% but the doc didn’t want him on them long term so she said no. I was uncomfortable with that.

And, lo and behold, the healing slowed dramatically. So a different doc at the office agreed to another week of meds, but said if it didn’t heal, I’d have to take him to an ophthalmologist to have an grid keratotomy done. And, if like me, you have no idea what that is, it’s where they take this teeny tiny drill with a diamond head and scratch a hashtag-like mark over the injury and this will cause the white blood cells to attack and make it heal. Supposedly.

Saturday was the pup’s 11th birthday. And I looked at him and saw that his eye looked damn near perfect. So much so that I tempted the Fates and said so out loud.

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And then last night, around dinner time, I looked at him and saw that his third eyelid was up and he was trying to keep the eye closed.

Reader, my heart sank.

This morning, it looked just as bad. So I’ve obviously called the Ophthalmologist. But they can’t see him until Thursday and the consultation alone is going to be $163.

And last week a large part of our car’s engine failed and it’s going into the shop tomorrow. So, as you can imagine, things are very tight right now. And that’s where you come in, maybe.

To help offset these unexpected costs I am offering a 10% discount on all my manuscript critique services and professional beta reading services. All you have to do to get the discount is email me (shaunagranger82@gmail.com) with the information of your project and mention Brody’s name or this blog post by the end of April. That’s it! Check out the info here.

And, if you want to snag this deal but don’t have an MS ready yet, you can still get the deal by reserving your future spot and paying a 10% deposit. If you’re ready now, I do have a couple of openings this month!

Now, if you’d like to help out but don’t have a book to be critiqued or beta’d, you can become a Patreon, so you’ll still get some benefit from your monies. Or, if you’re just some eccentric person who likes to send money to people, I am also on Venmo and Paypal and my bank is with Zelle!

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Shauna-Granger

Paypal: paypal.me/thegrangers

Bank-to-bank supported by Zelle: shaunagranger82@gmail.com

Look at this face! How can you resist helping this face! And, if you’re a fan of my Ash & Ruin Series, you know Brody was the inspiration for Blue!

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