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Attorney and Author Shannon Humphrey writes science fiction featuring heroic women and minorities. In 2013, Shannon released her first young adult fiction novel Hope Defined. As a fiction author, she was a Hedgebrook resident in 2018. She is re-publishing the Hope series in 2019, her series Skin Trials, and the upcoming Blood Republic series.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas, she was also a trial attorney, who fought for poor families across Los Angeles.

Author interview – Shannon Humphrey

When did you start writing, and why?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid. Maybe age 8 or 9, inside a bunch of colouring sheets I took from school, stapled together, and made my diary. My mom discovered it in my bed, told me to stop cursing in my journal, and she bought me a real one.

Writing was second nature. More natural than talking to people actually, and I love words—reading them, absorbing them, and processing their meaning and power. No one else can interfere with the bond between your mind and words. No other voices can interfere. No other opinions or objections can break in and force their will upon you. Reading is a very intimate process outsiders can’t disrupt, and so is writing. I’m very comfortable, in my element, when I’m doing it. If I’m writing a story I actually love.Read More →

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What struck me recently is that most of my clients, especially the latest ones, don’t really show their work to others. Some do occasionally, and some haven’t let others look at their words in years, if at all.

‘What’s the big deal?’ you might think, but if you’re writing for an audience and not just yourself, it is a big deal.

Why?

  • Because most writers, this one included, suffer from imposter syndrome. We’re convinced our writing is absolutely terrible. No writer will ever be able to judge their own work entirely, and it’s in sharing our work with others that we learn whether or not we’re any good at it.
  • Because most writers, this one included, need encouragement. I only started to take my writing seriously once I let others read it, and it was their cheering me on that eventually led me to a finished first draft of a manuscript, after years (over a decade, in my case) of rewriting and polishing the first seven chapters. It wasn’t until multiple people read what I was working on that I found the drive to write that eight chapter. Within a year, I added over 130,000 words and finished that first draft.
  • Because most writers, this one included, are blind to their own mistakes. Whether it’s our plots, our grammar, our characters’ names (I have a tendency to go for names that end in the same sound and it makes for a terrible read!), the stereotypes we perpetuate, our spelling, others will pick up on the things—big and little—that we don’t.

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Every Monday, I go LIVE on Facebook to talk about the author mindset. In this video, I explain why it is important to share your writing with others (someone not your mum or brother or cousin, unless they are absolutely critical when it comes to reading 😉 ). I discuss what beta readers are, what they do, where you can find them, and how you can best use their feedback.Read More →