Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is my first book but not my first publication. I have published poems in anthologies as a teenager and interviewed professors at CSU, Sacramento. I am a widow with 5 kids. Only two of them are left at home. I am a private tutor, historian and mother. I love my dogs who are all older dogs that I rescued from an animal kill facility. I believe that service is the highest expression on the human existence and I live those words. I realize that I can only do so much even though my heart says otherwise.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Because My Mother Did it!”
What started out as a research item to understand why the kids of my step sons’ generation were getting hammered exploded into something much bigger! We (my husband and I) noticed a pattern. This pattern turned into a cycle. The more we researched, the more we found. We found problems and solutions. We knew we needed to share what we found. Then my husband died from a sudden cold of all things. Before he died, Thomas made me promise that I would finish the book, publish it and not list his name as author. He was dying so I made the promise. Instead of putting him down as an author, I wove stories from our life together to demonstrate the principles we found. So in the end, he is not listed as an author but rather the hero in the book. A hero in a non fiction book about relationships? Huh? Find out how I got to give him the credit he deserves and keep my promise too!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I write, I need absolute quiet. So I close myself up in my room and write for hours at a time. The longest stretch was 12 hours straight. Some times when an idea flows it can go on forever.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Joseph Campbell (Hero with a Thousand faces) and Steven Forrest (Skymates) influenced me the most.
What are you working on now?
Book #2: The Peanut Butter Essay: How to Slay The 5 Paragraph Essay and other Academic Paper Dragons). I am half way done writing this. I am expecting to publish it about mid to late March.
Book #3: “From a “We” to an “I”: Re-inventing the Self after Catastrophic Relationship Failure — it is a kind of sequel to Because My Mother Did It! I want to publish this in May 2016.
Please don’t hold me to these dates. I have to finish the promotion of Because!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am taking a three prong approach. One I am using Fiverr.com to get assistance with Linked In and Twitter. My daugher and I post my books on Facebook groups and websites. The third prong is through promoters.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I highly recommend going through the Self-Publishing School, putting together a launch team and realize that there is just as much work to be done after you hit publish as there was to get there.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Done is better than perfect!
Be True to yourself!
If it is going to be, it is up to me!
Keep Calm and Carry on!
What are you reading now?
The Productive Person, Breaking Out of a Broken System, The Author Identity, The Benefits of Stress, As a Man Thinketh and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif! Hey Rick Riordan is a can’t put down read! I am hooked thanks to my kids!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will continue to write, finish starting up my ebook formatting business and play in my garden all while threatening my phone with colorful language. The dang thing doesn’t do what it is supposed to!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Only 4? Ok. I would bring a very thick book, cut out the inside to hide my kindle (which is loaded with books) and a solar re-charger. Then I would add a book on poisonous plants, rebind Joseph Campbell’s Masks of God series into one book, and a book on how to build boats, paddles and houses on deserted islands. Yes that is cheating.. but 4 books.. that is criminal!
Author Websites and Profiles
Shana Rhinehart Amazon Profile
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Goodreads Profile
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