Shayla McBride

WARM WELCOMES to my Author Page! Enjoy mature heroines and heroes with real-life issues (hot flashes! grand kids! silver chest hair!)? Suspense and mystery fiction from cozy to carnage? The occasional smooch? My fiction writing (and reading) preference is midway along the carnage spectrum, although sometimes I need a break with a good cozy. If you enjoy such authors as Harlan Coben, Robert Crais, Deanna Raybourne, and other writers who are merciless to their characters, please check out one or two of my books. I think Sonora Heat is the toughest, and The Man Who Hated Christmas the "nicest".

Writing is maybe my fifth or sixth life. So far, I've been mom, business owner, fabric artist and metalsmith, loafer, house rehabber, and now writer. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, I love to travel, but I always take my tablet along, as the urge to write must be obeyed no matter where. As a result, I've written on Yangtze and Irrawaddy River steamers, Indian railways and French TGVs, Italian buses and Moroccan taxis. Once in a tent on safari! Always I try to bring back a bit of the flavor and excitement of the places I've been, which accounts for the awesome multi-cultural clutter at home and three spice drawers in the kitchen. My suitcases don't last very long, either. I want you to remember that life is short and the world is big and 99% friendly, so get out there and have some fun exploring.

When home and not writing (I write bout six hours a day), I love to coach early writers, garden, paint (houses, fabrics, watercolors), cook both experimental and traditional (hot! hot is good!), abuse my poor orchids, and try to relate to the world's most unsatisfactory feline, the beautiful and psychotic Princess CooCoo.

For the rare nothing-doing times, I head to the kitchen. Or to museums, concerts, quality time with my kids and family and friends, red wine, sushi, Florida sunsets, dark chocolate and even darker novels. I am, naturally, a heavy reader from Boris Akunen to Anna Lee Huber, from C. S. Harris and Steven Saylor to Diana Gabaldon, J. D. Robb, Nevada Barr, and Deanna Raybourn. Among many, many others.

For a long time, I've been an enthusiastic writing teacher and coach, especially of just-started writers. My first (prize-winning!) non-fiction book, WRITING YOUR FIRST FICTION, aims to reduce the angst and increase the progress of newbie authors with a combination of curmudgeonly candor and laugh-out-loud humor. You don't know what you don't know and WRITING YOUR FIRST FICTION will jump-start your writing life. Follow me here and let me know how I'm doing.

Thanks for getting this far. Would you write a review of my book when you've finished it? Reviews make the difference between a successful book and one that sinks without a trace. Search results are based in part on them. Whichever author you read, I urge you to always take time to write a fair and balanced review of about 100 words. Reviews are the lifeblood of any author's career, and are always appreciated if not acknowledged. Hopefully, your review will be posted and other can benefit. Thanks for stopping by!