Shawn Maravel's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-rider-series"
Cover Reveal: Shifting Gears
Wesley Pierce, a Virginia State Trooper, is in search of the perfect log cabin to settle down in. After losing his brother and doing his best to care for the family he left behind he decides, a year after Nathan’s death, that he’s finally ready to move forward.
Olivia Michaels, a realtor in search of her own dream home and a way out of her parents’ attic, takes on a client who can help get her that much closer to affording her freedom. Little does she know that it isn’t the perfect home that she finds but through Wesley Pierce she manages to find herself. And maybe, if she’s capable of taking the leap, she might even manage to find love.
***
This novel, not unlike its predecessor in the Rider series, The Wanderer, is not a story about life altering suspense and mystery or a love that seemed impossible from the very start. Instead, this story is of love in its purest form. In life it isn’t mystery and excitement that drive our hearts but trepidation and the moment in which we all decide to jump unguarded into the arms of another.
Check out Shifting Gears here on Goodreads and mark as to-read.
Those Who Wander Are Not Always Lost
If you follow me as an author or you are a fan of my novels, than you may be wondering where I've been. You may be asking yourself, did she give up on writing? Has she STOPPED writing all together? What's the 411?
For those of you that might be curious, I'll brief you on what's been going on and what my future plans for writing are.
Anyone who know a bit about me knows that my family moves around a lot. And as the story goes, this past December marked our forth move in six years. A move that happened to take place while I was pregnant with our second child. In March of this year, I gave birth to our daughter. As you can imagine, settling into our new home as well as being the proud mamma of a two-and-a-half-year-old and a three month old, my hands are quite full.
My husband's job has also changed, limiting how much of my personal life I desire to make the general public's knowledge. It can be a scary world out there and I only hope to remain as cautious as I can in a world where your business is made so public, especially as an aspiring public figure. There always remains that delicate balance when trying to create a family safe public persona.
I haven't seriously written anything since completing my first screen play based on my novel, The Wanderer. Though I have jotted a few things down from time to time. I love to write but the tricky thing about writing is that it's a creative process, one that, for me at least, can not be forced out when free time is available but must flow naturally. This is not to say that sparks haven't been ignited, however, the effort to keep that flame blazing is quite a different thing when you are chasing after little ones. And I must say, I have no quorums with this. Childhood is so fleeting and so precious and I want to experience all of it.
What also remains to be a very difficult aspect of this field is the catch 22 involved. In order to become a best selling author you need to be established, yet to become established...you kind of need to be a best selling author. Making it big in the book world is on par with making it big in Hollywood or Broadway. And because I haven't had the time to try and "make it big" I have taken a few steps back to focus on my family. The thing about being an indie author is that you do all of the work yourself and everything put out to the public is only a fraction of the work actually put into it. So much more goes on behind the scenes. As you can imagine, quite often, something's gotta give.
Where that leaves me and my writing is this. My hope now is to start carving out some time to spread the word about my novels. Over the years and in my absence, I have seen a slow and constant trickle of new readers remain. Without my involvement people still have an interest in my novels. So I am inspired to now take the time to start helping my novels get the exposure they deserve. To have a loyal and supportive following without marketing, no matter how small, is justification enough for me to lend a hand in telling people what these awesome novels are all about. Each one of them is my literary child. They are near and dear to my heart. My greatest hope is to share them with as many people as I possibly can. In saying that, if you have read my novels or know me and would like to offer your support, I would love it if you too could help spread the word. Pass your read copy of one or more of my novels along, suggest one to your friend or family member. The power of word of mouth is an incredible thing.
I look forward to seeing what the future will bring and I would love it if you would join me on this journey.
For those of you that might be curious, I'll brief you on what's been going on and what my future plans for writing are.
Anyone who know a bit about me knows that my family moves around a lot. And as the story goes, this past December marked our forth move in six years. A move that happened to take place while I was pregnant with our second child. In March of this year, I gave birth to our daughter. As you can imagine, settling into our new home as well as being the proud mamma of a two-and-a-half-year-old and a three month old, my hands are quite full.
My husband's job has also changed, limiting how much of my personal life I desire to make the general public's knowledge. It can be a scary world out there and I only hope to remain as cautious as I can in a world where your business is made so public, especially as an aspiring public figure. There always remains that delicate balance when trying to create a family safe public persona.
I haven't seriously written anything since completing my first screen play based on my novel, The Wanderer. Though I have jotted a few things down from time to time. I love to write but the tricky thing about writing is that it's a creative process, one that, for me at least, can not be forced out when free time is available but must flow naturally. This is not to say that sparks haven't been ignited, however, the effort to keep that flame blazing is quite a different thing when you are chasing after little ones. And I must say, I have no quorums with this. Childhood is so fleeting and so precious and I want to experience all of it.
What also remains to be a very difficult aspect of this field is the catch 22 involved. In order to become a best selling author you need to be established, yet to become established...you kind of need to be a best selling author. Making it big in the book world is on par with making it big in Hollywood or Broadway. And because I haven't had the time to try and "make it big" I have taken a few steps back to focus on my family. The thing about being an indie author is that you do all of the work yourself and everything put out to the public is only a fraction of the work actually put into it. So much more goes on behind the scenes. As you can imagine, quite often, something's gotta give.
Where that leaves me and my writing is this. My hope now is to start carving out some time to spread the word about my novels. Over the years and in my absence, I have seen a slow and constant trickle of new readers remain. Without my involvement people still have an interest in my novels. So I am inspired to now take the time to start helping my novels get the exposure they deserve. To have a loyal and supportive following without marketing, no matter how small, is justification enough for me to lend a hand in telling people what these awesome novels are all about. Each one of them is my literary child. They are near and dear to my heart. My greatest hope is to share them with as many people as I possibly can. In saying that, if you have read my novels or know me and would like to offer your support, I would love it if you too could help spread the word. Pass your read copy of one or more of my novels along, suggest one to your friend or family member. The power of word of mouth is an incredible thing.
I look forward to seeing what the future will bring and I would love it if you would join me on this journey.
