Guest Post by Author Shannon Brown!

Please welcome, author Shannon Brown, to my blog segment of Guest Posts. It is a pleasure to have you here, Shannon.

Guest Post

by Shannon Brown

 In 1987 I said I would write a book—if I had a computer and the time. (This was before everyone had computers and I was working full-time plus some.) Not long after that, my brother bought a computer and I was laid off from my job. Vividly remembering those words, I went to his place every day and wrote my first book, a sweet romance novel set in Hawaii. Rose and Colin were the main characters.

After reading up on the book submission process, I wrote up the necessary query and sent it off to a major publisher. They asked to read the first three chapters and a synopsis (happy dance!), but alas did not buy it. As is the case with many first books, I suspect that even with the journalism classes I’d taken in college that book had room for improvement anyway.

Fast forward to 2003 and a Dallas, Texas interstate. As I was driving to my job in a library, an image of a briefcase filled with feathers popped into my mind. I knew it was a mystery for kids and immediately began writing it. I finished a first draft of the book, but turned to nonfiction for a while and saw more than 600 articles published in local, regional and national publications.

Life changes also intervened—I moved to Idaho, then to Nashville. The publishing industry also changed and I decided to circumvent the system and become an indie author. February of 2014 saw “The Feather Chase,” a fun mystery for ages 8-12, published in both print and e-book.

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of “The Feather Chase” –

Jessica lowered her voice to a whisper. “We’re going to find a bunch of spies around that bend in the path.”

Sophie seemed startled, then grinned. She must not have known Jessica had a sense of humor.

As they rounded the next bend, Jessica pointed to the ground. “Look. There’s a briefcase.”

Sophie giggled. “You’re really getting into this.”

“No, I mean there really is a briefcase.”

Sophie looked in the direction Jessica pointed. “There is!”

A black leather briefcase, something like her dad used to carry papers to meetings, lay on its side, next to a big pine tree. Jessica knelt beside it.

“No!” Sophie shouted when her cousin reached for it. “Don’t you watch all those spy movies? The briefcase is booby-trapped.”

“You must be kidding.” Jessica poked at it with her finger. Then she picked it up off the ground. “Gee. Nothing happened.” Setting it on a boulder, she pushed on the latches. “It’s locked up tight.”

Print books are available on Amazon, Barnes &Noble and as a special order from most other stores that sell books. The e-book version is currently on Amazon.

The website is www.cousinsmystery.com. I created it to be a destination for kids with an online puzzle of the cover, word puzzles tying into “The Feather Chase,” and book plates they can customize with their name. I also created something that will be familiar to homeschoolers and teachers, a lap book. It teaches grades 3-6 about subjects related to the book and how to write a mystery.

Author links:

Website: www.cousinsmystery.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20786860-the-feather-chase

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shannon-L-Brown/269411533241910?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shannonlbr

Lap book:

http://www.cousinsmystery.com/#!books/cnec

http://www.ajourneythroughlearning.com

Thank you, Shannon, for sharing your book and story about your publishing adventures with my readers and me. I am happy to meet you and learn more about your book and wish you success over the year. Please keep in touch and let me know how you are doing and if you have more books to share. You are now part of the Jemsbooks family as are all who appear on my blog.

Thank you, readers, for stopping by. Please check out Shannon’s links for her book and be kind and leave a review after you purchase an author’s book.

REMEMBER: READING GIVES YOU WINGS TO FLY!

Blessings!

-Janice-