Spotlighting local author: Shannon Dauphin

May 12, 8:58 PMNashville Authors ExaminerPaige Crutcher

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Hard work pays off. If you don’t believe me, ask local author Shannon Dauphin. She has been writing for more than a decade. She has won over fans with her novels written under the pseudonym Gwen Masters before deciding to write under her own name.

Masters has written millions of words. Included in that word count are a few novels, a handful of songs, a smattering of articles, and more short stories than even she can count. Hundreds of those stories have appeared in dozens of publications, both in print and online.

Gwen Masters writes delectable erotica. Novels where words steam from the pages and readers beware; your fingertips could get scorched. Shannon Dauphin is trying her hand at contemporary romance. She is creating worlds that are a little less sensuality, but with the same great love story.

To Shannon, what makes a great story is the “relationship and emotion behind the story.” As a writer, and reader, she loves watching relationships evolve. “Everyone goes through so many things they don’t put down on paper,” she says. Shannon decided that if she wanted to read it, she’d have to write it.

So she creates a situation and then puts two characters in it so that they will have to react. She then kicks back and reads as the drama, and relationship, unfold. While Shannon does outline the first chapter of a novel, she lets the characters carry the story the rest of the way. Like people, they constantly surprise her and do things that “blow her mind.” She never knows how a book will end, and the not knowing makes the read all the better.

For Shannon, her characters are friends. She loves being with them and watching them grow. As readers know, when you find a novel that is phenomenal, you can’t put it down. You must keep reading, even as your eyes close from exhaustion and the words blur to one giant black blob. As a writer, Shannon experiences the same sensation when she writes.

In fact, she fell so in love with one story that she completed it in two weeks. It kept her up, dogging her steps and haunting her thoughts. She wrote morning to night until she finally reached the end. Then, after the peak, she had the same sense of melancholy and dejectedness that readers experience when they close the pages on the end of a great novel.

For Shannon, that is what makes an all-star novel: when the story is so good “you can’t wait to see what happens next.”

A seasoned writer, Shannon has worked hard at learning to be the best writer she can be. She knows that her writing has evolved based on the things she loves to read and the people she loves to follow.

There is one book in particular which changed everything for her. It is the “best book she ever read” because it “changed everything” about the way she writes and the way she views the business aspect of being a writer and author.

The book is Stephen King’s, “On Writing.” According to Shannon, it is “worth reading over and over and over.” In fact, she “picks it up every 6 months to re-read.” It’s full of unparalleled advice and King’s own story. There’s nothing like being given a ‘how-to’ by a master.

Advice:

The most important elements to writing: “being passionate about it and absolutely love what you do. The writing itself can be so easy – like flowing water.” However, the “business side is intimidating; like jumping in with the sharks.” As a writer, “you must have passion to carry you through. When you love it that much – you will make time for it.”

Many people say they don’t have time to write, and that can certainly be the case, but if it’s something driving you so hard, you will learn to live without sleep or cut corners.”  You will learn to “write wherever and whenever. Do whatever it takes to get it done.”

Being a writer is hard work. But, if you want to be happy you have to work at it. You must follow your dreams and not give up. “Have a thick skin.” Rejection is hard. But, everyone deals with it. You’re in a group of many great authors when an agent or publishing house passes on your work.

As Shannon says, “when you get a rejection celebrate – that’s one down and one closer to the right agent.”

Many writers don’t realize the amount of effort and time that goes into the process of getting published. Shannon advises, “be patient.” In fact, “be very patient because writing the book is only the first step. It takes so much to get through the steps of writing, agent, publisher, and have the book reach your readers.”

The reality is, “Fame and fortune will not be yours 6 months after you write your first novel. It never happens that way. Have a lot of faith in yourself. Don’t get discouraged.”

Shannon is a big believer that a great way to network, and keep sharpening your writing skills, is to attend conferences. She attended Killer Nashville last year, and highly promotes any other author, new or seasoned, attending.

The great thing about the conference is that the “amount of available information is unbelievable. Your head may spin from so much coming at you from all sides all day long.” You are able to network and learn things every year because “the publishing world is always evolving. What is hot and fresh now won’t be in a year.”

The great thing about the smaller conferences is that “you have an intimate time with every panelist and person you run across in a hallway.”

When it comes to attending Killer Nashville, Shannon believes, “It is so worthwhile – and not just for authors who write crime novels. They have a basic publishing track where they talk about how to get published.  It’s perfect for a beginner or someone who has been involved for 20 or 30 years.”

Shannon’s Dreams:

Shannon admits that she “would like to have a best selling novel.” She “wants the novel on the front displays, like Twilight.”

But her main goal is “to be happy and to do what I do everyday and to keep doing this.” As she says, “I have been so incredibly fortunate to do this as a living every single day.” She wakes up and “lives a dream I have dreamed of since I was a little girl.”

She feels excited, passionate and thrilled she can sit down and do this. It comes in handy, as the readers feel as fulfilled and eager that she continues to entertain and delight.

To learn more about Shannon, visit her website at: http://www.shannondauphin.com/

And stay tuned for my review of her contemporary romance novel, Carolina Hurricane, as well as part two of the interview...