Shannon McNear, Author

Day Three of the tour, Day Two for me. Where was I? Oh, yes, about to write a review of John Olson's newest novel, Shade. Okay, so, much was made of Shade's scariness. Reading just the endorsements inside the front cover is entertaining. My husband snagged the book first (as he often does; his reading time is more plentiful than mine--so unfair!), and kept looking at me through the first half of the book. "When's it going to get scary?" After he finished it, he liked it well enough but his verdict: "Wasn't scary." Then Son One and Son Two read it, both before me. (More unfairness.) Although it was a "can't put it down" read for both of them, their assessment was also, "Not really scary." (Both agreed that the hospital scene early on was creepy. I concur!) Finally it was my turn. Sigh. I hate starting into a book with high expectations and with the family's opinions floating around my head, but I was determined to just

Yes, it's that time again! This month we're highlighting John Olson's newest title, Shade , billed as a "vampire-less vampire novel." It's also known in the Christian publishing industry as the story that was so scary it made a certain author sleep with the lights on and an agent swear he wouldn't touch it with a 60-foot pole. In other words, legendary, even before it came to print. Heh. You have to love a story like that, just on principle. So, God opened doors and finally, John gets to have his "baby" in print. Isn't it beautiful?? I just love this cover. Of course, I may be a wee bit prejudiced because I consider John such a good friend, but I'm thrilled that this has happened for him. I should probably call this the shameless gushing post. I'll post a review tomorrow--being sick yet again has slowed my response time on tour--but today I'd like to highlight John himself. Since coming back to writing fiction almost seven

It’s up! The second installment of my short story, Bitter Chivalry, is now up at Christian Fiction Online Magazine: http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/bitter2.html Thank you to all who read Part 1 and commented! It can still be found at: http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/july-08-bitter.html Blessings to all, and happy election day!

Friday ... uh, yeah. First day of continuing education sessions. First editor and agent appointments. Lots of other stuff going on too. I'd wound up with two editor appointments and one agent appointments--one was all I'd requested--and pretty soon after I got to Minneapolis, Michelle offered me another agent appointment. She didn't need it; she had two other agents offering her representation on the novel she just finished, and was having trouble deciding which to go with. (What a wonderful problem to have!) At first I brushed her off, but early Thursday morning changed my mind. I was pretty sure that the one agent I'd requested an appointment with was the one I wanted, but what appealed to me about the other was that she's worked on the ABA (secular publishing) side and is seeking to take on CBA (Christian publishing) writers. Since I've not been completely convinced my stories really fit in the CBA, I thought it might be an option worth exploring. So ... on