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Interview with Shawna Stewart, author of Lessons from an Evil Mind

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Tell us about Lessons From An Evil Mind

Lessons from an Evil Mind is a dark Paranormal Romance. The story begins in a dungeon where the main character has been kept hostage for over three years. Strange things happen within the dungeon that makes Lue wonder if the man that keeps her there is human. Lue escapes but the evil that wants her is never far behind. Now free, she finds her life in turmoil and unable to escape the man that wants him as his own.

Tell us more about Lue, about her captor, about the room she is trapped in.  Is she being held by a kidnapper or is there something else going on? 
Lue is 29 years of age. She was to marry the love of her life when she was drugged and taken to a dungeon. The room is kept dark, with only a dim light to brighten her way around the room.She is alone in the room, except for when her captor comes in to feed her or when it is time for her to learn another lesson. Her captor is unknown to her. He wears a mask  so that his true identity is never seen. Often Lue wonders if the man that keeps her is that of one person or if there is others. The man changes from time to time. 

What she does not know until later in the book and after she escapes that she was being held by Demons. She is pure and the only way the head Demon could have her as is, he had to break her, that is why she was brought there and put through the terrifying things he put her through.. She never lost faith and one day escapes.

What genre is it?
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance.

You say it is a Paranormal romance. It sounds a bit scary to us – is it?
The book was written to be a romance, but with the mixture of demons in it, it became a bit dark. Yes there is some scary parts in the beginning. I am often told that the story will bring out every emotion you have inside.

So what kind of readers will it appeal to?
Men or women (16-75)

How long did it take to write?
3 months. I could not stop writing. It was self-published at one time but then taken off the market. I found a wonderful publisher who believed in the book as I did and has now put it back on the market.

What difference has the publisher’s input made to the book?  Is there anything from your self-publishing days that you miss?
So many people had told me that they really liked the book so I thought I would publish it myself. After I did so I realized the book should have been edited professionally and that I was really uncertain what to do after I got it out.

Since going with my new publisher we have given the book a new look, it has been edited and is getting the care it should. With the publisher knowing more than I do about advertising I am hoping to see good things come from this and look forward to entertaining others with many more stories to come.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
I would have to say that the hardest part of writing was telling myself when it was time to stop. I would write for 12 or more hours a day because I was so into the book and story line. (Often I told people I could not stop writing because I had to see what was going to happen next.)

I have been told that writing in first party is one of the most difficult things to do, but to me it was natural and I feel that the story being told by Lue made it as believable as it is.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have lived in so many places it is hard for me to pinpoint an exact place I would call home. However I lived most of my live in California.

I would like to say that I have always wanted to write but I can’t. When I was 29 I suffered a disease that wiped my memory of my life before away, leaving me with a past that I did not know. My son reminded me that I liked to write in years past. I thought he was crazy (me write a story?) The next day his words rang in my ears so I picked up my laptop and started typing away. After the first sentence I was hooked. I love writing and it is now my passion.

We are really sorry to hear that you lost your memory. Did it ever come back? Literature is full of characters who have lost their memories; are you not tempted, with your unique insight, to write something in that arena? 
No, my memory never came back. Now I make new ones.

I could write about a character like that, in fact in book two of this series there is a character that something similar happens to. It was easy to write that part because I know exactly how it feels to have your life taken from you.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
My Facebook page.

Where can we buy your book?
Amazon (US, UK ) and Barnes and Noble.

What’s next?
Since Lessons from an Evil Mind is a series, anyone who liked the first book can look for the next in the series “Seeded by Evil”

What can we expect from the rest of the series?
The fight between good and evil continues. There will be new characters introduced, some bad, some good. Lue will find out her true identity and why exactly the demon wants her so badly.

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