Shannon Blair – Behind the Bio – Representation For All Series
Shannon Blair is a fantasy author with a fondness for elves, goblins, and general otherworldly goodness. Their love of fiction and storytelling drove them to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing from Regis University, where a short writing exercise spiraled out of control and eventually became Dawn’s Light. When they aren’t on a quest to make the fantasy genre a more LGBTQA-friendly place, Shannon can be found attempting to master the art of baking – with varying degrees of success. They live on the outskirts of the Denver metroplex with their partner and two spoiled rotten cats.
Representation For All
Author Identities: Queer, non-binary with some trans-masculine leanings, mixed race, agnostic
Character They Write About: Currently, all my main characters just fall into the gay/lesbian/bi/pan/etc. category, but I’m trying to embrace my trans-ness more in my future/in-progress projects.
Behind the Bio
Tell us something about yourself that isn’t in your standard author bio.
In high school, I used to “type” drafts of my stories on my graphing calculator during supervised study times and boring parts of math class. None of my teachers ever caught on.
Do you have any hobbies or special interests outside of writing?
Lots! There’s reading, of course, and I really enjoy playing video games (though I can’t say I’m a fan of the current online multi-player trend, so it’s hard to find new ones these days). I have a lot of great memories of baking with my grandmother as a child, so that’s something I love doing when I have the time and ingredients for it. I also collect ball-jointed dolls, which are wonderful for either delighting or terrifying visitors to my home, depending on how many doll-themed horror movies they’ve seen. And I learned to crochet this year!
How do you unwind after a stressful day?
It depends on how stressful. For mild to moderate stress, curling up on the couch with one of my cats and a cup of tea is usually enough to get me into a better headspace. On my worst days, I’ve never found a stressful situation that didn’t feel at least a little more manageable after re-watching the Lord of the Rings extended editions.
What genres do you prefer writing in? Are there any you plan to try in the future?
I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that didn’t fall under the fantasy romance genre, so I’m pretty consistent, haha. With another two Duskblade books in my writing queue, I’m at least partially going to be staying there for the foreseeable future. I’m definitely branching out into more subgenres with some future story ideas, though, so I’m excited to give those a try! My current body of work is all high/”other world” fantasy, but I’m in the outlining stage of a new project with some horror elements and I have a partial draft of an urban fantasy novella/novelette/episodic short story collection/thing.
Do you have a signature of some sort or repeating symbolism you include in your writing?
Hair is definitely my biggest use of symbolism in my work. Hair and haircuts specifically have always had a lot of significance for me in real life (despite me keeping mine cut as short as possible), so any time one of my characters’ hair undergoes a significant change, it’s related in some way to a corresponding change in their life. Plus there’s the entire “braid complexity as a symbol of social status” system I based my elven society around in Dawn’s Light.
And it’s probably always been there, but I’ve recently come to realize that most of the conflict in my writing stems from some form of trauma. Whether it’s harrowing personal experiences, societal inequity, or collective traumatic experiences like natural disasters, disease, etc., my characters are all shaped and scarred by some core wound. That’s probably why I wouldn’t consider most of my antagonistic characters to be villains in the traditional sense of the word. It feels more natural for me to write imperfect characters reacting imperfectly than characters doing cruel and hurtful things just for the sake of causing harm. People tend to be at their worst when they’re scared and hurting, but those situations are also an opportunity to let people’s best selves shine through if they’re able to pause and make a conscious decision to react in a more constructive way.
What is a piece of writing advice you’ve gotten that was actually helpful?
You can’t edit a blank page. I’m pretty sure I got some variation of that in every writing class I’ve ever attended, and I honestly think it’s the single most important lesson to learn as a writer. Nothing teaches you how to write a book better than actually finishing a full draft of a book, regardless of how messy that first draft is.
Is there a goal you hope to achieve with your writing career someday?
Being rich and famous someday would be nice, of course, but I’d settle for just finding the time, energy, and good health to get all my ideas onto paper and into print. I tend to gravitate toward series instead of stand-alone books, so it’d be a real achievement just to know I managed to get everything finished.
What’s next up for you?
Finishing up the sequel to Dawn’s Light, and then FINALLY moving on to the last book of the Duskblade series. I did not fully comprehend the effect that adding a third POV character would have on my overall word count when I started this venture, and the real world has not been very cooperative these past couple of years.
I’m also hoping to start work on a side project that’s been aggressively rolling around my head lately. It has magical trees!
SPEED ROUND!
Favorite book of the moment: Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor
Do you eat your veggies? Yes! I’ve been obsessed with zucchini lately.
Dogs or cats: Definitely cats. They’re the most emotionally intelligent domestic animal I’ve ever interacted with, and they’re an absolute delight to have around the house. Also, their purrs have healing properties! I love other people’s dogs, but they’re too high-maintenance for me to ever own one myself.
Any unusual pets: Not technically a pet, but there is currently a really cool wolf spider living in my basement window well. His name is Wendell.
Colors you’d never wear: Beige – it always ends up being weirdly flesh-tone on me, which I do not enjoy. Also not a fan of bright/saturated shades of blue.
A genre of book/movie that you’re starting to get into: I’m currently trying to figure out if I’m actually a science fiction fan, or if I just really like The Murderbot Diaries.
What is your go-to video game: It’s a toss-up between Dragon Age: Inquisition and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I’ve sunk a frankly embarrassing number of hours into both of them (with my partner watching in the background and asking me to try silly actions and/or character builds), and both have spawned countless household in-jokes. I wouldn’t actually consider either game my favorite in its respective series, but the shared memories make these ones the most special to me.
Favorite thing about where you live: You can see mountains, trees, and various woodland creatures pretty much everywhere you go. I live in a pretty urban area, but we still see lots of wildlife, and I can get a tiny glimpse of the mountains if I look out the bedroom window just right.
Moranthus is an elf who has lost everything. With his lover dead and his career stagnating, he jumps at a chance to redeem himself by rescuing a human prince from the goblins hunting him—even if failure means death or eternal exile from his homeland.Gerrick, a human soldier who bears an uncanny resemblance to his prince, has always chosen duty over desire. As the sole parent of his young daughter, he needs the extra coin that working as the prince’s body double provides—even if it may one day cost him his life.
When a case of mistaken identity puts the prince in the hands of a goblin raiding party, Moranthus’s and Gerrick’s paths collide. With winter closing in and miles of hostile goblin lands ahead, they must set aside their differences and work together to bring the prince home safely.
Their deepening connection comes with a growing certainty that rescuing the prince may be fatal. Moranthus and Gerrick must each find a way to reconcile his heart’s desires with his homeland’s needs—or die trying.
Where to find Shannon:
Website: https://shannonblair.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mx.ShannonBlair
