TJ Shaw

I love writing. Ever since I was little, I’ve spent hours inside my head manipulating stories to the point I would write them down. I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer, meaning I sit at the computer, stare at a blank page, and release my fingers to the keyboard. The blank page is my canvas. Instead of being intimidated by it, I find the white space beautiful because so much is hidden within that emptiness—dragons, vampires, Critons, new worlds to explore, battles to conquer, and most of all, love.

All my stories involve romance. Romance is the glue that holds my words together.

For years, I wrote stories then “shelved” them so to speak and moved onto the next one. Caller of Light was the first I showed to others, and to my surprise, got published! Since Caller was my first, I thought I’d discuss the main characters and how they originated.

Originally, my hero had the last name of Tremaine, but one morning, I realized King Marek Tremaine was boring and one dimensional. My attempts at reinventing him failed. Anything I created in my mind, didn’t work. I guess I was experiencing a form of writer’s block.

Since Carina didn’t have anyone to interact with, I couldn’t continue the story and set it aside to await inspiration. Two weeks passed, a few things happened, and for the first time, I decided to use something other than my imagination to create my characters. I chose a real person, Gerard Butler, to pose as Marek. Since I didn’t know anything about the guy, I did some research. Found out he’s Scottish! Not that being Scottish is bad; it’s just that if I was going to use him for Marek, the flavor of the book just changed. So, instead of Marek being a Tremaine, he became a Duncan. Instead of living in Trendalin, King Duncan lives in Stirrlan (a play on the Scottish Stirling Castle). He now carries a dirk instead of a dagger and a claymore (two-handed great sword). You get the idea.

Carina McKay was much easier to define. From the beginning, she displayed a down to earth sensitivity that many might mistake for weakness, but in actuality, is strength and courage entwined around a steel spine. She’s the everyday, multi-faceted woman capable of achieving great feats, not afraid to try, and willing to fight to protect those she loves. Even now, her complex, yet contradictory, simplistic character intrigues me.

I wrote Caller of Light in a sweeping, lyrical style that some people love, and some, not so much … but that’s okay. The new release of my paranormal vampire/cop story, Divergent Bloodline, is written in a more traditional style. Why the difference? I’m not sure. I guess that’s what I first saw when I sat down and released my mind and fingers to the blank page staring back at me.

.99 cent sale – Caller of Light is on sale for .99 cents at all major retailers until December 18^th, the lowest price my publisher has ever offered it!

Half price sale AND Giveaway – The Wild Rose Press is offering the ebook version of my new vampire paranormal release, Divergent Bloodline, for half price from their website only until Saturday, December 12th.

I’m also hosting a giveaway on Goodreads for an autographed paperback of Divergent Bloodline. Easy to enter, and you might win! The giveaway ends Saturday, December, 19^th, 2015.

You also have an opportunity to win a digital ebook of Divergent Bloodline in your choice of format from TomeTender.blogspot.com. The raffle ends on December 23^rd so head on over to Tome Tender and enter!