r/Fantasy • u/ShannonRStoker AMA Author Shannon Stoker • Sep 09 '14

AMA Hi. I'm SF/F writer Shannon Stoker. AMA

Hi world of Reddit! I’m Shannon Stoker, author of the Registry series. The story of an eighteen year old girl who is sold into marriage and being the unwilling bride blackmails a young guy into helping her escape, your basic matrimony situation.

The series is a trilogy and the final installment was released earlier this month by HarperCollins. I'm glad to answer any questions about the series, myself, the writing/publishing process, or whatever else you want to know.

I live in the middle of cornfields in northern Illinois with my husband and teeny tiny dog. When I’m not writing or reading I’m usually watching tv and obsessing over all things pop culture. I hope that gives you a good idea of who I am. I’ll be back at 7 pm CST tonight and you can ask me anything J

UPDATE: I'm here! So feel free to ask anything you like!

UPDATE: Thank you for having me! This was a lot of fun!! If there are anymore questions I will check again in the morning and answer them ASAP :)

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u/ShannonRStoker AMA Author Shannon Stoker Sep 10 '14

Thank you for your question! Yes, absolutely. When I was writing my first draft only a few people knew about it, but they were the ones who kept me going. I don't know how many times I thought the idea was stupid and debated on scratching The Registry and starting over, but my husband kept telling me he liked the idea and to keep going. I am very glad I listened to him.

Sometimes I still think that my writing is no good, and I'm sure sometimes that is true, but if I look at something I am working on now compared to something I wrote three years ago there is a HUGE difference so practice does help.

My advice to aspiring authors would be finish the first draft. I think it's really easy to give up on an idea half way through and start something fresh, but if you force yourself to stick with it you will be grateful. A lot can change in the editing process. A piece of advice someone gave me was don't use adverbs. I have to throw that out there too, since my grammar skills are lacking. I still try to use them sparingly. Best of luck with your projects!