Today, we are so happy to have an interview with Shanna Swendson, author of the Enchanted, Inc. series (Enchanted, Inc., Once Upon Stilettos, Damsel Under Stress, Don't Hex With Texas and Much Ado About Magic). You can read Shel's gushing over the series here, here and here. Shanna's latest book, Much Ado About Magic is available for Amazon Kindle, at Kobo Books, All Romance Books, iTunes, Nook and soon to be available from other ebook retailers. You can learn more about Shanna and the Enchanted, Inc. series at www.shannaswendson.com.
BiblioJunkies: Your series,
Enchanted, Inc., features a company headed by Merlin. Shel is a completed addicted to the current
BBC series, Merlin – do you have a favorite movie or television series about
Arthur and Merlin?
Shanna Swendson: I
don’t really have a favorite movie or TV series about Merlin, other than
perhaps the miniseries starring Sam Neill from back in the 90s, but the series
of novels about Merlin by Mary Stewart were staples of my teen reading, and
I’ve re-read them several times since. The first book in that series, The Crystal Cave, is about Merlin as a
very young man, and I fell a bit in love with him in it. It was because of this
series that I put Merlin in my books. I already had a vague idea of there being
an executive in the magical company who was a medieval wizard who’d been
magically revived and who was learning about modern business from the popular,
trendy business books of the sort I’d had too many bosses base their latest
management fad on. After re-reading that series, I thought it would make sense
to have that wizard be Merlin, since that magical hibernation is part of the
legend. Though he turned out to adapt better to the modern world than I
anticipated.
BiblioJunkies: The Enchanted, Inc.
series is in a world in which magic exists with wizards, fairies, gargoyles,
dragons, etc., if you had a magical ability or could be any mystical/magical
creature, what would you choose?
Shanna Swendson: I
think it would be kind of cool to be a wizard, even with just a trace of
magical power, enough to do little things like clean the house with a wave of
my hand. A little bit of prescience would be nice. But I think I’d be worried
about having too much influence over other people. That could be dangerously
tempting. I think it would take a very
good person to have that kind of power without being corrupted by it.
BiblioJunkies: There was a long
lapse of time between Book 4, Don’t Hex With Texas and Book 5, Much Ado About
Magic, did Book 5 end up the same story you originally planned back when you
wrote the first four books in the series?
Shanna Swendson: I
actually didn’t have that long a gap between writing books 4 and 5 because I
wrote book 5 for the Japanese publisher several years ago. It just took a few
years of attempting to get the US publisher to take it before I finally decided
to take matters into my own hands. I plotted a lot of this book while I was
working on the first and second books, and while a few things were executed a
little differently than I initially imagined, it mostly sticks to what I
planned. I had one change of heart while writing that subtly shifted one
element that I think makes more sense, and one other thing had to be adjusted
along the way in revision to make the plot work, but otherwise, it’s pretty
close to the book I originally envisioned years ago.
BiblioJunkies: Much Ado About Magic
ends with a huge surprise (at least it was to Shel), does Book 6 begin immediately
after the events in Much Ado About Magic?
Shanna Swendson: It
begins about three months later (I figured they needed some rest), but the
situation at the end of Much Ado About Magic is what makes book 6 possible and
is critical to that plot. No spoilers, but I think you’ll like how that works.
And you only have to wait until October to find out!
BiblioJunkies: Who is your fictional
boyfriend/crush?
Shanna Swedson: I
have so many that it’s pretty embarrassing.
I seem to fall in love with someone in just about every TV series, movie
or book. My current fictional crushes include Nick on the TV show Grimm (he
even looks a lot like I imagine Owen to look) and Nathan Wuornos on the TV show
Haven, whose personality is frighteningly similar to Owen’s (and his
partner/love interest is immune to that universe’s version of “magic.” Hmmmm
…). In current books, I’m rather sweet on Gerald Dunwoody in K.E. Mills’s Rogue
Agent series. My most longstanding book crush might have to be Rhys Thuryn from
Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni series. I fell in love with him when I was in high
school and never quite got over it. I seem to have a thing for the nice-guy,
boy-next-door type. Fortunately, I generally have them all to myself while
everyone else falls for the bad boys.
BiblioJunkies: Ha! No need to be embarrassed with us - we quite literally could have an entire blog devoted just to BiblioJunkies fictional boyfriends!
BiblioJunkies: We are big fans of
pie (cupcakes and really any treats) here at BiblioJunkies HQ – what is your
favorite treat?
Shanna Swendson: I
love to bake, so picking one treat is difficult, but it’s hard to beat a really
gooey, fudgy brownie right out of the oven with a glass of milk. When I make
brownies, I like to put half the batter in the pan, then put small squares of
dark chocolate (Dove Promises work great) on top, so that one would be in each
piece, and then spread the rest of the batter on top. When the brownies are
warm, it’s like having a molten center, but it seems to stay a little gooey
even when they’ve cooled, like chocolate chips in cookies.
BiblioJunkies: Oh my! That sounds sooo good! I cannot cook, but I will definitely be convincing Nat or Bel to make me these brownies!
BiblioJunkies: We know you are a big
fan of Firefly, is that your favorite Joss Whedon series? Your favorite Whedon character? And were you as excited about Whedon
directing The Avengers and Avengers 2 as we were?
Shanna Swendson: I think Firefly has
to be my favorite, though Angel may come a close second (and there’s more of
it, while with Firefly it’s unfulfilled potential). My favorite character is
probably Wesley from Angel because he was so complex and complicated and went
through such a huge arc. It’s hard to believe that the guy we saw toward the
end of Angel was the same person who first showed up on Buffy, and yet the
transformation was so organic and driven by events that it made total sense.
But I have a shameful
confession to make: I haven’t seen The Avengers. I’ve never been a big
superhero fan, had never read any of the related comic books, and hadn’t seen
any of the movies leading up to it. My friends keep telling me I need to see
it, but I haven’t been highly motivated yet. I fear a kidnapping and forced
viewing in my future, since my friends are aghast that I haven’t seen it and
don’t really have an opinion about it. Otherwise, I may have to turn in my geek
card.
BiblioJunkies: You definitely should see Avengers (it comes out on dvd 9/25/12, not that we are excited or anything). Any Whedon fan will enjoy the classic quips and fight scenes.
A huge Thank You to Shanna Swendson for coming out to play on our blog. If you my earlier badgering has not motivated you to pick up Enchanted, Inc and the rest of the series already, you should definitely grab the books. Much Ado About Magic was nothing short of fantastic!
~Shel
