A Delicate Balance of Organization

By Shannon Vannatter

Balancing writing and family is a delicate skill that requires organization. Which I don’t have. I fly through life, deadlines, and obligations by the seat of my pants. On top of that, I have the worst memory. I keep my calendar on my desk and carefully schedule family stuff, writing commitments, and church events. I write down everything from allergy shots to interviews to weddings.

I do pretty good unless I have to travel. Traveling seems to wipe everything from my brain as Preslaysa knows. I missed my deadline for this post. But she’s sweet, so she puts up with me.

Here’s my list of things I try to do to keep my family my first priority:

• Only write when they’re not home, asleep, or my son has a friend over.
• Never make my family feel neglected because of my writing.
• Try not to schedule summer deadlines since my son is home.
• When I do have to be away from my family for writing commitments, do something fun when I get back.
• Try not to schedule book signings or speaking engagements on back to back weekends.

The last one is tough sometimes. Since Saturday is really our only family day, I try to keep at least two free a month. But when I scheduled my speaking engagements early in the year, it didn’t seem like September 23 and October 1 were only a week apart. I ended up going toSt. Louis,Missouri, six hours from home one weekend andSiloam Springs,Arkansas, four hours from home the next.

I often tell my husband I need a handler to get me where I need to be on time. I also need an assistant to help me keep it all straight. With Rodeo Dust releasing through Heartsong Presents this month, my book signing schedule kicks into high gear. And I did it again, I scheduled two signings on back to back weekends. But both are close to home, so we’ll have time for fun after my events.

My husband is currently a bi-vocational pastor which means he has a full time job as a dental technician and supposedly part time job as pastor. But there’s no such thing. In December he’s taking our church on full time. With a more relaxed schedule, we should be able to carve out more family time between his and my commitments.

For the most part, I stay on track, meet my deadlines and obligations, and manage family time too. Sometimes I feel like I’m juggling china on a treadmill, but life is good.

You can visit Shannon online at: www.shannonvannatter.com/

Shannon’s latest novel Rodeo Dust is available from Heartsong Presents

About Rodeo Dust:

Ad exec, Rayna Landers meets bull rider, Clay Warren at the State Fair of Texas. While Rayna thinks she’s content solo, Clay longs for marriage and family. Though poised to win his third world championship, his ranch is in a slump. Clay convinces his publicist to hire her advertising firm in a last-ditch effort to keep his employees and lasso her heart.

Soon the city girl is on the ride of her life, until the rodeo unearths buried memories from her past. Clay sees her through the trauma, but an injury and his stubborn determination to get back in the hypothetical saddle threatens their budding relationship. Can they rely on God to find their common ground or will they draw a line in the rodeo dust that neither will cross?

I’m excited about having novelist and editor Dina Sleiman with us today. Dina’s debut historical novel, Dance of the Dandelion, is available now. You can order it on Kindle for $4 and in paperback for $14.99

Welcome to The Literary Mama. Tell our readers a little about yourself.

I live in Virginia Beachwith my Lebanese husband, three children, and two yapping maltipoos. In addition to writing, I love all of the arts and have been very involved in drama and dance. I hang out at the ocean a lot and take a lot of long walks and bike rides. What else do you want to know? Favorite color: purple. Favorite dessert: tiramisu.

When did you get the writing bug…and when did you follow the call to write?

Ever since high school I’ve known that I wanted to write novels. I did pursue a masters degree in writing, but then I had kids and homeschooled and didn’t write much for about twelve years. Honestly, I was too active at that point to sit behind a desk all day and happier running around at the playground and being involved in dance ministry at church. I probably could have written young adult novels or basic romances at that point, but I wasn’t really sure that I had done enough living to have much to say anyway. Then in 2006, I felt God telling me it was time to get serious and write my first novel.

What is Dance of the Dandelion about?

It’s a coming of age story about a young peasant woman who is haunted by the deprivation of her childhood. She’s determined to make a better life for herself, even if she must leave her sweetheart behind. This begins a long and twisted journey of self-discovery and of discovering the true meaning of love. Along the way she meets other men who represent facets of love, but all of them leave her unfulfilled. It’s only when she discovers an intimate relationship with Christ that she finds the freedom and healing to that lead her to true earthly love as well.

If this novel were made into a movie, who would you like to play the hero and heroine?

Hmm…since my book is not a typical romance novel, I’m not sure if I want to give away who ultimately is the hero. LOL. But I will say this, her sweetheart at the beginning of the book I always pictured as Heath Ledger in a Knights Tale. Sadly, he passed away shortly after I finished the book. I also had a specific person in mind when I started writing my sexy Italian sea captain—Sawyer from Lost. But he kept trying to speak with a southern accent, which was quite problematic, so I had to shift the picture a little. Lord Thomas Worthing could probably be played by Dean Cain, at least in the older version toward the end of the book.

For Dandelion, I went online and found a young picture of Taylor Swift that was just about perfect. Not sure how she’d do with an English accent, though. But if I were casting a real movie, I might cast my daughter. She’s on the cover of the book and in the trailer. She also inspired the little girl version of the main character. And since she’s currently studying acting at a high school for the arts…yeah, I’d have to cast her.

What type of research do you undergo while writing a historical?

I really immersed myself in this time period. I had the idea for the novel and jotted down some notes in 2001. So for five years in addition to reading about 20 research books, I also read every novel and watched every movie I could about the time period. I even ended up teaching Medieval English lit for a semester. By the time I wrote the book, I was more fact checking than researching. I did most of that online.

You’re also an editor for White Fire Publishing. Tell us about that.                  

I was already friends and critique partners with the owner, Roseanna White, and I was enthralled by the vision she and her husband had for WhiteFire. She wanted the company to focus on those books that fell in the cracks between CBA and ABA fiction, as well as books with unusual settings that the CBA called “unmarketable.” And their first book, A Stray Drop of Blood written by Roseanna, is one of my personal favorites. Even before they were taking submissions, I had a sense that this would be the publishing house for my Dance of the Dandelion. Once they did accept my novel, I offered to help out with the company in any way that I could. Since Roseanna knew we had almost identical taste in books, she asked me to help with acquisitions. I’ve really enjoyed working in this capacity, and I think I’ve learned more about writing through editing than I could have learned in years of classes.

Do you have any other books coming up in the future?

My agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, is currently shopping a contemporary women’s fiction series that I wrote. Here is the blurb for the first book, Dance from Deep Within.

When a veiled Muslim woman meets a blonde ballerina and a bi-racial hippie chick over a group project on diversity, these class assignments push them to experience the world from new perspectives. Layla longs for freedom and a chance to finish her degree before being pressured into marriage. Allie struggles against feelings for an ex-fiancé, unable to accept him or the church he represents. Rain desires an existence with meaning, but that longing could cost her the love of her life.

These three returning college students bond in unexpected ways as they grapple with faith, purpose, and romance, searching for truth that will resonate deep within and carry them through life’s challenges.

While the time period is very different than Dandelion, many of the themes overlap like worship, intimacy with Christ, inner-healing. They both contain a lot of romance and a dance emphasis. So I’m hopeful that my readers will be willing to cross over genres and give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by to visit to Dina!

You can visit Dina online at www.dinasleiman.com

Also, you can order Dance of the Dandelion from any of the following:

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dandelion-Dina-L-Sleiman/dp/0983455600/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317384588&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dance-of-the-dandelion-dina-sleiman/1102106110

Ebookit
https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000000691/Dance-of-the-Dandelion.html