fiction fridays: interview with shannon vannatter

THE WINNER OF SHANNON VANNATTER’S WHITE PEARL’S IS DEBBIE ARCHER! Congrats Debbie!

I’m excited today to host inspirational romance novelist Shannon Vannatter today. Shannon’s latest novel White Pearls releases in stores this month.  

PW: Welcome Shannon, tell our readers a little about yourself.

SV: I’m a pastor’s wife, stay-at-home-mom, writer. I married my high-school sweetheart going on 27 years ago. We waited a long time to have our son, supposedly until we could afford for me to stay home. As a result, we’re in our mid-forties with a nine year old. He keeps us young.

PW: What is White Pearls about?

SV: Shell doesn’t have a good reputation…But no matter what everyone in Rose Bud, Arkansas, thinks of her, she’s back in town with a job to do. She’ll stick it out and make the best of things. But why does Ryler have to be the landscaper on this project? She was just getting her heart under control. Ryler has his own reasons for being in Rose Bud, and they don’t include Shell. Spying on his birth family was going to be hard enough. He doesn’t have time to worry about a woman who dumped him…even if his heart says otherwise.

PW: Who are your favorite characters in the novel and why?

SV: I love Ryler. I always go for the rebel and he’s a hunk. His looks are based on my husband when we met. He had long hair and a tough guy attitude. I loved redeeming Shell after her bad reputation was mentioned in the first book in the series, White Roses.

PW: What do you hope readers walk away with knowing from White Pearls?

SV: That no matter what you’ve done in the past, with God’s help, you can turn it around.

PW: White Pearls is part of a trilogy. Tell us about the other two novels.

SV: White Roses is the first book in the series. It’s about a pastor whose wife died in a car accident and the florist who always did her flowers. Book two, White Doves is about the new postmaster who left town after high school to get away from her dysfunctional family and the mail carrier who is raising the nephew she didn’t know she had. All three books are set in real towns, Romance and Rose Bud, Arkansas.

PW: What is one thing readers may be surprised to know about you?

SV: I was born in the small Arkansas town where I currently live, but my parents moved when I was about a year old. We lived in large cities in Illinois and Georgia until I was twelve, then moved back home. It was major culture shock for me, but now my town of maybe a hundred–if you count a few cows–is the only place I ever want to live.

PW: What other new projects do you have in the future?

SV: I’m currently working on a Texas rodeo series for Heartsong Presents. My husband was born there, so it’s my favorite state.

Rodeo Dust releases in October: 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?

PW: How can readers get in touch with you?

SV: My website is shannonvannatter.com. Click Contact Shannon.

PW: Thanks for chatting with us today, Shannon!

SV: Thanks for having me. I enjoyed it.