Personal

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m an artist, writer, designer, event planner, and traveling teacher, so I’m a bit of a jack-of-many-trades. I’m almost always working on something creative. I often find there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the writing and artwork projects I have in mind. I also organize events for the Pagan/alternative spirituality community in Chicago, as well as travel and teach workshops for the broader Pagan community on topics like leadership, community building, how to facilitate workshops and rituals, and other metaphysical, esoteric, and personal growth topics.

I used to be a shy little wallflower, and now I find it amusing to be teaching workshops on public speaking and facilitation. Truthfully, I’m an introvert and I still have a lot of social anxiety, but I suppose that’s why I teach this stuff—if I can learn to do it, anyone can. I’m kind of a nerd for event planning, and I love planning conferences, concerts, and other events. I used to hang out with a bunch of Star Wars fans and we’d run room parties at Science Fiction conventions; I’d orchestrate decorating the room like a scene from one of the movies, so I’ve built a life-size Jabba the Hutt and a Carbonite Chamber.

There’s nothing I love more than getting all excited about a project, whether it’s a story, a painting, designing a magazine cover, organizing an event, building an outdoor shrine, or whatever crazy thing I’ve gotten myself immersed in.

What do you like to read? What’s your favorite genre?

Currently I find myself reading a lot of Paranormal Romance. I don’t have a lot of time for reading, and my brain is usually pretty spammy when I’m going for fiction so I like to read something that’s going to let me just get into the story and devour it. I like Sherrilyn Kenyon, Karen Marie Moning, Emma Holly, Angela Knight, and Jory Strong.

In the past, I’ve read a lot of fantasy books. Some of my favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey, particularly her Pern stories, Janny Wurtz stories about Arithon, Katherine Kurtz’ Deryni books, I liked a lot of the early Mercedes Lackey stories about Valdemar, David Eddings, Charles de Lint, and two of my favorite books are The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Name your 5 favorite movies. Why?

I’m a total nerd for fantasy and scifi movies. Star Wars, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Matrix…there’s a host of other similar movies that I love. I don’t know what it is, but fantasy and scifi has always sucked me in. I also have a special place in my heart for disaster movies. I’m not really into many comedies, unless you count Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs. I don’t know what it is; heartwarming chick flicks, comedies, and dramas don’t really grab me. Futuristic, dystopian, epic fantasy…that’s what inspires me.

Where can people find you on the web? Where can they read more about your books?

I’ve just launched a new web site, www.ShaunaAuraKnight.com, and it’s a little barebones at the moment but there is information on all of my books there. But I also post excerpts and other posts on my fiction blog, https://shaunaknightauthorartist.wordpress.com. There are two longer excerpts for A Winter Knight’s Vigil there. You can also contact find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ShaunaKnightAuthorArtist. I post there about my books and other interesting things, as well as the occasional contest and giveaway.

Your Novel

What is your book about?

A Winter Knight’s Vigil takes place in a woodland cabin the weekend of the Winter Solstice. Amber is in love with Tristan, but she knows she can’t date him. She and Tristan are there with ten of their closest friends; the twelve of them are in a Pagan coven, and they are out in the woods on a spiritual retreat. Their coven has a rule that members can’t get romantically entangled in order to prevent some of the small group dynamics that can happen in situations like that. But it’s close quarters, and the rituals they are doing together keep pushing Amber and Tristan together. Things get pretty spicy, and then the two of them have to figure out what to do. Lie to each other about what they feel so they don’t break the rules? Or lie to their best friends?  They can only hope that the Longest Night vigil will show them a way through.

What inspired you to write this particular story?

This story started—as many of mine do—with a snippet of a scene in a dream. The dream seemed to take place in a cabin, and I was reminded of a time I was out in a woodland cabin with some friends of mine. We weren’t in a formal coven but we were working toward that—at least, we would have if three of the group members hadn’t been interested in the one man in our group, two of them cheating on their partners to be with him.

And I thought, there we go, there’s the perfect conflict—the whole small group dynamics issue that happens whenever people hook up within a small group, whether religious or otherwise. I was also inspired to write about some of the particular magic of the winter solstice. It’s the longest night, and that’s why it’s sometimes used as a vigil. Once I put those pieces together, the story really fell together pretty quickly.

How did you choose your title?

The title came to me all at once; it just seemed to make sense. The characters in the story are working with the myth of King Arthur, King Arthur sat in vigil before he was knighted, and these characters were also going through a vigil, and Tristan and Amber in specific are both struggling with what to do. In this case, Tristan and Amber are each knights, facing their own consciences during their vigil.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

Probably what’s most myself in this book is how the characters are working to face their own shadows, and in specific, how they are working to do the right thing. And they—like anyone—struggle with what they really want to do vs. their fears. For whatever reason, it seems to happen in our lives that we often have to make a choice. Do something that is right for us, but at the expense of someone else. I think it’s important to think about these things, to negotiate them as best we can. To do what calls to our soul, and still do the right thing.

What was your favorite part or chapter, and why?

Well…I do write erotic romance, so I’m always fond of the scenes where the characters finally get together after building all that sexual tension. But I think my favorite scene is where Tristan and Amber are finally starting to get comfortable with each other. Without giving away massive spoilers, they curl up and watch one of their favorite movies together and they are joking around. For me, it’s those funny, quirky things that people say to each other when they really know each other well…that’s when the characters really come alive for me.

Writing

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I’m a hybrid. I like to see the whole scope of the plan in my head, and as things make sense to me I write it out in outline form or make little notes, but I don’t have this rigid need for an outline. For me, it’s a more organic process. Often times I’ll hear a particular song and an entire scene will just open up in my mind and I’ll see exactly how it goes. I find I get my worst writer’s block when there’s a part of the plot that I don’t understand or know what is happening there, or how the characters are getting from A to B. Then I sit there praying for that inspirational bolt of lightning to hit so I know how the story progresses.

Where do you get your ideas?

A lot of my best story ideas come from my dreams; I have been writing down my dreams since I was a kid. Actually, I just published a nonfiction book on dreamwork as an introduction to exploring your dreams. For me, dreams are a direct link to the mythic language of our subconscious. I won’t go into a deep dive on Joseph Campbell and the hero’s journey and the importance of myth. But any modern stories—the stories that really engage us—are working with those themes we find in myths the world over. And those are the same images and patterns and archetypes that come up in our dreams. Nothing inspires me to write a story like one of my dreams.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

For me, the hardest part is finishing the book…and that’s the advice I have is, finish the darned book. You can’t get published if you don’t complete your manuscript.

Have you written any other books?

I have dozens of books in the works, but so far I have 3 published novellas. One is a paranormal romance, Werewolves in the Kitchen; it’s currently part of an anthology but comes out as a standalone eBook in mid January. I also have an urban fantasy, The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves, coming out in the next month or so. It’s an incredibly romantic story, though it has a bit of a darker ending so I can’t really call it a romance. And I’ll release a vampire romance novella in early 2014 for free to people who join my mailing list.

What are you working on now?

I have a lot of books in production at the moment, but a few of my paranormal romance novels are almost finished. Jhalen’s a 4,000 year-old vampire held prisoner by demi-human monsters. They want the secret of his immortality, and it happens that he’s the keeper of a few secrets about the Grail. When he meets Cora, a human with some psychic abilities, they have to unravel the deeper Grail mysteries to escape and be together.

Angel is a woman who has dedicated herself to Aphrodite, and is then surprised when the Goddess begins to commune with her. She falls for Benjamin, and as their relationship grows, vampires and other monsters that live in the shadows start to come after her. Ben has been viciously attacked in the past, and he resists his connection to Hephaestus. However, accepting the Greek god is the only way to save either of them from the creatures coming after them.

*~*

| [amazon_link id=”B00H545RW0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazon[/amazon_link] | Smashwords | BN | 

Blurb

Sexy, kilt-wearing Tristan has captured Amber’s attention on many occasions. But as members of the Kingsword coven, which has strict rules about intimate relationships inside the circle, dating him is out of the question. When the coven heads to a secluded woodland cabin to celebrate the Winter Solstice, Amber finds herself closer than ever to Tristan. As the Longest Night approaches and their group’s ritual workings intensify, the pair realizes that they can no longer hide from their feelings.

Just as King Arthur held vigil before being knighted, Tristan and Amber face their shadows—and the realization that one or both of them might have to leave the coven. Or can they be together without breaking their honor?

*~* 

Excerpt:

The ritual drumming intensified. Eyes almost closed, Amber danced harder, stomping her feet, rocking back and forth, chanting the song that was escalating in intensity and volume, some of them adding harmonies and rhythmic words. She was dizzy with the dancing, ready to sink to her knees so she wouldn’t fall.

She opened her eyes enough to look at the fire to let the flickering light take her beyond herself. Then she saw Tristan. Sweating, wearing just his kilt now, he was dancing wildly by the fire, snarling and chanting. He seemed like the Horned One the way he was framed by the firelight, the way his hips moved, the complete intensity with which he danced.

She was hoarse, panting, as the sound of the chant finally hit its peak and then began to fade into a drone, a tone. The complicated drumbeats fell away until it was as it began, just a heartbeat, just their voices, then just their panting breaths.

She stumbled and Tristan’s arm flung out to steady her.

Amber looked at him, both of them panting, and she couldn’t help but follow the sweat that trickled down his neck to his chest. She wanted him so badly in that moment, wanted him to crush her lips with his, wanted him to throw her over his shoulder or lay her down by the fire right there and take her hard. Wanted him to tell her he loved her, that he wanted to be with her forever. She wanted him to drive into her until he came inside her, roaring into her neck, kissing her over and over.  She looked up at him, trying to breathe, moving just the slightest bit closer as she fought down a moan, looking at his lips.

His chest rising and falling with his breath, Tristan’s eyebrows lifted and he gave her the strangest look.

Blinking dizzily, Amber pulled back from him. He stared at her, and she backed off. She hauled on her coat, not even buttoning it before she was outside, hurrying out into the snowy woods.

*~*~*~*

Shauna Aura Knight
An artist, author, community leader, and teacher, Shauna’s work is inspired by the mythic stories of heroes, of swords and magic, and of the darkness we each must overcome. That the challenges we face shape us, and help each character—each person–to become heroes.

She’s a fantasy artist and author, including the paranormal romance Werewolves in the Kitchen, A Winter Knight’s Vigil, and the urban fantasy The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves. Her mythic artwork and designs are used for magazine covers, book covers, and illustrations, as well as decorating many walls, shrines, and other spaces.

Shauna is passionate about creating stories, artwork, experiences, spaces, and rituals to awaken mythic imagination. She travels nationally offering intensive education in the transformative arts of community leadership, facilitation, ritual, and personal transformation, and is the author of numerous articles and books on those subjects.

http://www.shaunaauraknight.com