Re-imagining the Classics in 2020: A Guest Interview with YA Author Shannon Price
Writing stories for others is vulnerable, daunting, and yet, rewarding. Standout stories land with the reader who needs them. A book cannot be for everyone. Author Shannon Price knew the risk she was taking releasing a novel that was self-reflective, a labor of love, and bold in it’s roots. Still she pressed on for years and is now seeing the fruit of her passionate endurance.
With the paperback release of A Thousand Fires just around the corner on October 27, 2020 and a second book, called The Endless Skies set to release next summer, Price achieved her dream of being a published author. It is evident from her blog and our interview with her, she is far from done learning or pursuing higher goals.
The lessons she shares are powerful and her narratives are rich. We have a lot to look forward to from this new Young Adult author. You don’t have to wait for the paperback, she sent along a teaser from A Thousand Fires. The hardcopy and ebook versions are available now. For a full review of her book, click, or just head straight over to Amazon and purchase your own copy.
Just an hour left. Can I take that chance? I’m trembling again, the worst of Cinderellas, eyes scanning for any sign of the Herons. Blue-and-red lights shine from one street over.
“Do you accept?” Jax shouts.
It’s not the Herons, but it’s not the Boars either. There’s just one thing—
“My brother,” I say. “His name was Leo Simons. He died in a Boar crossfire. Do you know who killed him?”
Jax smiles slow and sinister. “Yes.”
“Then I accept.”
I don’t have time to process what I’ve just done. The female Stag reaches up around me and covers my mouth with a cloth smelling of acid and heartache.
I black out.
MK: What is most dreamy about being a new breakout author? How are you still getting used to thinking of yourself as a professional writer?
SP: The best part was getting blurbs, especially from people I admire. I didn’t set my sights too high because as a debut I didn’t have any connections. Luckily, my incredible editor, Diana Gill, advocated for me and we got some beautiful blurbs. The cherry on top was when Heidi Heilig saw a tweet of mine and said she liked my book’s concept. Diana swooped in and I didn’t know Heidi had given a blurb until I got the email with the blurb itself! I’m a big fan of Heidi’s books and was humbled that she took the time to support a debut. I’ll never forget that kindness and can’t wait to pay it forward some day.
MK: What trends or themes are you most excited about in the YA genre right now? Are you hoping A Thousand Fires stands alone or becomes a trend setter in 2020?
SP: I’m really enjoying what I’m seeing in YA fantasy right now. There are a number of books showcasing bold, strong, and flawed female protagonists that chart their own courses and don’t let anyone stand in their way. Books like The Boundless by Anna Bright, where sheltered heroine Selah takes on a tyrannical ruler, and The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson, in which MC Thia continues to overcome her depression and step into the light as a leader, are giving the young women of today characters to identify with and emulate.
As for A Thousand Fires, it was always meant to be a standalone. It is a retelling of the Iliad, and there were so many elements of the Greek epic that I couldn’t get into the final drafts, namely the story of my versions of Paris and Helen. I’d love to write a prequel focusing on that part of the story so we see how the gang war first began.
MK: You host a great blog that doesn’t just focus on your book news. Talk about choosing topics for blog posts, what makes the cut for your readers?
SP: First and foremost, I try to write posts that will be as useful as they are entertaining. I can certainly rave about my favorite books all day, but—as I mentioned earlier—I want to pay it forward to writers who are just embarking on their publishing journeys. Hence my posts like the one sharing my querying stats—it’s all numbers and not much else. It paints a clear picture of what my querying experience was without the fluff.
Same goes for the post in which I shared the query that got me my agent: there are so many blogs and books and tips about how to write a query, but I don’t remember seeing a lot that just had the query itself. So I shared mine!
MK: I saw some NaNoWriMo sprinkled in your posts, share your experience with National Novel Writing Month. Maybe a highlight and a low moment?
SP: Ah-ha! So, technically I have never completed a proper NaNoWriMo in the month of November. But when I was in between my freshman and sophomore years in college, I had a whole August where I wasn’t doing anything. So I decided to set the NaNo goal of 50k in a month—and I made it! My strongest memory of the experience was immediately bawling when I hit 50,000 words. I beat the deadline by two days. It was the first real moment of “I can do this, I can write a book-length work”. I ended up revising that manuscript for years, and it became the first thing I queried.
MK: I loved the way you included part of who you are, as a Filipina American, in your protagonist Valerie. Was that a choice from the very beginning or did you discover similarities to her the longer you went about writing the story? How important is it for a writer to connect on a personal level to their own work?
SP: With this story, I knew I had an opportunity that few people get to have, and that was to help readers see themselves in books. Who was I to not to try and bring underrepresented group into the spotlight? I couldn’t sum up every experience every Filipino/a person had ever had; but I could try to shed a little light on the joy it is to have such a rich cultural background. Plus, Valerie’s Filipina identity is very clear to her, something that was not the case for me in my teenage years. It was rewarding to write a character with that level of certainty in her roots.
Since the book came out, I have had a few people call me out as being narcissistic for having a main character with whom I share a lot of traits; and I can see how they’d draw that conclusion. That said, I can say with a clear conscience that it was never my intention to put a carbon copy of myself into the book (because, yes, that would be narcissistic, ugh). It really came down to seizing the opportunity that I’d been given: crafting a Filipina main character that all readers, Filipina or not, could relate to, and I’m proud of having done my best to meet that goal.
MK: I really enjoyed meeting your protagonist, Valerie, and hope to see more of your unique style in the release of your second book next year! Thank you Shannon, for answering our questions and offering so many helpful tidbits to writers. Good luck with the release of The Endless Skies, I cannot wait to get my copy August 2021.
Shannon Price is a proud Filipina-American and Bay Area native. When not writing, she can be found watching baking shows, exploring old bookstores, and going to the beach as often as she can. Read her blog, find book updates, and meet her community of readers at www.spricewrites.com.
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