Today I have the pleasure of interviewing guest author Shannon Lawrence! Shannon has published stories in more than 50 anthologies and magazines, and in her own collections. She’s a regular contributor to the Insecure Writer's Support Group monthly blog hop with her blog, “The Warrior Muse”, and co-hosts the podcast, "Mystery, Monsters & Mayhem". Shannon has an upcoming horror/dark fantasy novel, "Wendigo Nights", which features a Native American spirit. My own knowledge of the Wendigo myth mostly comes from a story in Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark", a children’s book of scary folk tales that a movie was based on back in 2019. The story from that book, "The Wendigo", involves an invisible creature that drags its victims until they burn up into ashes. However, Shannon's book features a variant of the mythical creature which she talks about here. So, read on! 

Steven Arellano Rose: Hi Shannon and thank you for being with us for this post! Can you tell us a little about "Wendigo Nights"? Is it part of a series of books or is it stand-alone?

Shannon Lawrence: It's intended to be the first in a series, with at least two more in the works, and we'll see where it goes from there. This first one is all about hunting down a Wendigo and features a guest appearance by a Cryptid whose story originated in Native lore, and each of the future books will be about different creatures from Native lore in the future. The first book is personal to Selina, the main character, as someone she deeply cares for is at risk. The second book will have a more widespread risk.

SAR: What inspired you to write "Wendigo"?

SL: I was inspired to write Wendigo Nights because I was tired of Wendigo lore being twisted to being something it wasn't. While I take liberties since it's fiction, I've tried to stay closer to the original lore. 

SAR: Can you tell us a little about the Wendigo myth? What kind of creature is the Wendigo? What makes it so fearsome?

SL: Wendigo is the best of both worlds: a dangerous human and a dangerous monster. Wendigo is a human who has been overtaken by a spirit (or manitou), most frequently due to having committed an ultimate taboo: cannibalism. The lore originated in the cold and dangerous winters of the past, when being stranded could mean finding food...one way or another. They only crave human meat and are always starving and wasting away, no matter how much they eat. 

SAR: Do you have a favourite mythical creature or monster?  

SL: My favorite changes on the regular. I do have a particular fondness for Chessie, the lake monster/sea serpent of Chesapeake Bay, because I believed she was real as a kid and still not-so-secretly hope she is. 

SAR: What were the biggest challenges in writing this novel?

SL: My biggest challenge was personal. I started this book before my dad was diagnosed with ALS. After his diagnosis, I realized there were some serious similarities between the evolution into Wendigo and the evolution of ALS in its patients. As I watched my dad's body waste away while his mind stayed sharp, I had to set the book aside. There are parts of it that still get to me now that my dad is gone, because his condition became so linked with the condition of an important character in Wendigo Nights. Ultimately, I was able to pick it back up and dive in again, but I stayed away from it for several years.

SAR: I’m sorry about your dad. Who are your favourite authors in the horror or dark fantasy genres?

SL: Growing up, it was Stephen King, who was formative in my love of horror, but I became a huge fan of urban fantasy authors like Kelley Armstrong and horror authors Jeff Strand and Stephen Graham Jones. 

SAR: Do you have any favourites in other media, such as TV or movies, in horror or dark fantasy?

SL: I was a big X-Files fan, followed by Supernatural. Monster-of-the-week episodes, as they're often referred to, were my favorites, with the alien and angel topics, respectively, being less interesting to me. I watch a lot of horror films, but my favorites right now are horror comedy, because that's where my current mood is. Tremors is a big favorite that I revisit often. I've got the streaming station Shudder, and have really enjoyed watching older horror films I wouldn't have been able to find elsewhere, though there are plenty of bad ones, too.

SAR: What are your future writing projects or plans?

SL: Oh, so many! I want to write a memoir about my dad, who accomplished a lot in support of fellow ALS sufferers during his 6 1/2 years with it, including a medical protocol specific to ALS patients that has been named after him (The Kenoyer Protocol), because normal emergency protocols can kill ALS patients. I've got a horror comedy in edits and then it will go out to beta readers. The sequel to Wendigo Nights is in the works, and I have an amateur sleuth mystery series I'd like to try my hand at. There's more, but these are the ones taking precedence.

SAR: Finally, is there any advice you'd like to give to other writers, especially novice or aspiring ones?

SL: Absolutely! Keep trucking. Keep writing. Keep submitting. Put yourself out there. It's scary pondering letting others read your work, and you won't be able to please everyone, but you will find your readers, and their lives will be enriched by your work. Collect rejections. If you try to avoid them, you're going to struggle more, but if you aim for a certain amount of rejections in a year, you're sure to get some yeses, too, and those will be a nice bonus. 

SAR: Thank you for giving us your time here at A Far Out Fantastic Site! 

SL: Thank you for having me, and for asking such fun questions!

Shannon’s book, “Wendigo Nights”, is due for release on March 26th. You can find it at stores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and others.  Do you have a favourite mythical creature? Will you be purchasing Shannon's book? 

Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights, by Shannon Lawrence

Warrior Muse Press

Release date: March 26

A late night call from her mentor sends Selina Moonstone on a mission to Canada, determined to track down a Wendigo and exterminate it.

Accustomed to facing off with the all too real creatures of Native American lore, Selina discovers the Wendigo is someone close to her, forcing her to change gears from destruction to frantic search for a cure. There's no known way to rid a person of the Wendigo spirit once it has begun the consumption of the victim's soul, a lesson she learned the hard way in her youth.

With her loved one's transition to Wendigo imminent, Selina must fight her own lifelong training as a Myth Stalker and find another way. She gathers a mismatched group of allies, including a charming Sin Eater and a conceited mercenary Cryptid hunter from her past, and embarks on a mission to find a solution before it's too late.

Available in paperback and e-book, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and more. Find the book at your favorite store using the universal link: https://books2read.com/u/4AaOJd

About the Author

A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in over fifty anthologies and magazines in addition to her collections. Her nonfiction title, The Business of Short Stories, is available now and her debut urban fantasy novel is releasing March 2024. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem. When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. Find her at www.thewarriormuse.com.