Book club last night was great. Of course, that had a lot to do with fact that this month’s author, Shanna Swendson, was there in person rather than over the phone. Shanna, Harry Potter fan that she is, even provided a couple of meal suggestions for June or July’s (I forget) Harry Potter themed book club menu. Besides that, how could you not like someone who has enough humor to admit that her longest relationship so far has been her four year crush on one of the local TV news guys?!
The idea behind her Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. series came from a trip to New York City with friends after she had some knee surgery done. There Shanna was moving around NYC not totally sure footed and she received nothing but kindness and assistance from the locals. Her friends apparently did not get that same polite experience in NYC. A few years later, she thought to combine the concept of the two different experiences she and her friends had in NYC with her love of Harry Potter (did I mention Shanna’s a fan) and Chick Lit (which she sees as the style most like her life). The Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. series was born!
So what is next in the series? The fourth book, Don’t Hex With Texas, is written and scheduled to be released in January 2008. Shanna said that book three, Damsel Under Stress, was written as a two part-er and that book four was planned for release sooner than the following May (the previous three books were released in the month of May). The fourth book will have a satisfying ending, but that the fifth and final book (currently unwritten) would wrap everything up if it were published (and that my friends is up in the air right now unfortunately).
TV and movie possibilities for MSI series? There was almost a TV deal. There is a possibility of a movie deal.
Shanna is currently working on a proposal for a Young Adult book. The YA book would probably be a standalone paranormal. “Grimms’ fairy tales invade Grey’s Anatomy.”
What does Shanna Swendson like to read when she is not writing:
– Chick Lit
– bargain bin books (She’s on tour right now and is seriously binge purchasing bargain bin books.)
– recently read and recommends Babe in Toyland by Eugenie Seifer Olson.
Some of her notable quotes from the evening with our book club:
– “My legions of minions plotting against…”
– “Certain books can only be read in certain weather.”
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