Shannon Norland is our featured author for today.
Hi Shannon! First off, please tell us a bit about yourself. Have any super powers or secret talents?
No super powers or secret talents. Just a lover of nature, books, and tidiness navigating the chaos of raising two children and five cats. Though I do put on armor and battle with a bamboo sword three nights a week.
Can you tell us a bit about what inspired your story in the anthology?
The original spark for my story came from a dream. I had actually forgotten the dream itself, but came across it years later while browsing my dream journal. Reading a dream journal of dreams you’ve forgotten feels like peering into a stranger’s twisted inner world. A bit voyeuristic.
What have you been up to lately? Do you have any books out right now? Are you working on anything new?
Currently I am revising one novel with another lined up behind it awaiting a rewrite. It is a slow process with little kids underfoot. And of course the short form still beckons on sleepless nights, the fiery fling to the novel’s long romance.
Iām always fascinated by where and how people work. What is your writing setup like? Any tools you enjoy using?
I have a simple desk with a cherry wood stain and one tiny drawer, decorated with a framed collage of inspiring photos cut from National Geographic.
Most writers are lifelong readers and books tend to be important to them. What books or stories have most influenced your life (genre stories or otherwise)?
I discovered the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections in high school (the ones edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling). They made the long bus ride home a pleasure. It was the first time I had encountered short stories outside of school reading and I was captivated by the intensity of each little tale.
Where can we learn more about you and your writing?
My website is smnorland.com.
Thanks Shannon! We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for your stories!
If you’re intrigued by the inspiration behind “The Stone Children”, consider getting yourself a copy of “The Best of Luna Station Quarterly: The First Five Years” and read it for yourself, along with the other forty-nine awesome stories and gorgeous cover art by Julie Dillon.