Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Ms. Shinn,

You’ve written some of my favorite romances (Yes, I know that they are published in the SF/Fantasy and YA genres, but I consider many of your books romances). General Winston’s Daughter, your latest YA fantasy novel, may not be my most cherished among your works but it’s still an unusually good book, a tale of a young woman’s coming-of-age, a powerful depiction of a society that chafes under colonialism, and the story of a romantic triangle that is quite unlike most of what I usually come across in my reading.

Averie Winston is the only child of General Winston, the highest General in the Aeberelle Army. Averie’s mother is long dead, but Lady Selkirk, her very proper and widowed chaperone, is accompanying Averie to Chiarrin, where Averie will be reunited with her father and with her fiancé, Colonel Morgan Stode, both of whom are stationed in Chiarrin as part of a military campaign.

At eighteen, Averie is curious and adventurous, and very much looking forward to her first visit to a foreign land. Averie hopes to be married in Chiarrin, and there to begin her happy life with …

If there’s one author that Jane, Jayne and I have all enjoyed reading, it’s Sharon Shinn. So when I floated the idea of interviewing her, it was met with great enthusiasm and it quickly grew into Sharon Shinn week here at Dear Author. Of course, the whole thing hinged on the author herself agreeing to be interviewed. Luckily for us, Sharon Shinn said she would be delighted to do the interview. So we sat down togeth– well, no, not really. We sat down at our computers to send the questions and answers back and forth. The result was this interview, here for your enjoyment. — Janine

Tell us a little bit about how you got started writing and how you came to be published.

I wanted to be a writer from the time I was about 8 years old. I wrote my first novel the summer I was 20 and working at a pretty slow-paced government job. Every time one of my co-workers asked me what I was doing, I said I was writing a letter. All summer! But that book was unreadable, and the …

Dear Ms. Shinn,

I think Archangel is a wonderful book. One might even say heavenly.

Most of the inhabitants of Samaria are mortals, but the world also has angels who, by taking wing and praying to the god Jovah through song can ask the god for favorable weather and other aid. Once a year, the Samarian people gather for the annual Gloria, and sing prayers together to show unity and harmony. The Gloria is led by the archangel, leader of all the angels, and indeed, the most powerful person on Samaria, and his or her spouse, the angelica or angelico. Both archangel and spouse are chosen by the god Jovah himself. It is written in Samaria’s holiest text, the Librera, that if the Gloria does not take place as prescribed, Jovah will destroy Samaria.

The angel Gabriel is not only a proud man (I use the word man because except for their wings, their beautiful voices and one or two other physical abilities, the angels on Samaria are as fallible as any person), but as the leader of a third of Samaria’s angels, he is also a very busy one. …