About Novelist Djuna Shellam

Here’s a little bit about Novelist Djuna Shellam…

I currently have five novels published with independent publisher Magnhild Press. I’ve just completed my sixth novel, “A Woman Like Eve—Book Five of The Em Suite Series.” Book Five is scheduled for publication on 1 Oct 23.

I currently reside in North Idaho with my little dog.

*Full Disclosure: As a nom de plume, Djuna Shellam’s biography is a great deal of fiction. Most of it is, in fact. Most authors’ (and other public personas) biographies are a creative combination of fact and fiction. Perhaps I’m only being more honest about it than most.

To find out more about me, my books, and my podcasts, go to my website HERE.

When we think about novelist Djuna Shellam, what should we know about her?

Interview with me, Djuna Shellam

Q. When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

A. I garden, read, take my dog for long walks, and visit with friends. I also adore listening to music of all kinds. Music really is a great escape for me to just indulge in doing nothing but listening. If I’m all tapped out, I’ll allow myself the time to vegetate in front of the television, but that’s a rare occurrence.

Q. Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

I do, but if you don’t mind, I’ll keep it to myself because it’s terribly dull.

Q. What is your writing process?

A. I think a lot when gardening, walking, or driving, and that’s when I’ll start plotting out scenarios. It’s not something I plan, it just happens. Some people listen to music while they walk or garden, but I write stories in my head. Or, characters will just come to me, almost begging to participate in my new project. By the time I’m ready to insert them into the story, they’re pretty much real to me. Once they have been fleshed out, they really drive whatever story I’m working on. I’m merely taking dictation.

Q. Do you remember what the first story you ever read was about and the impact it had on you?

A. I read so much as a child; it was my only entertainment and education form. I was homeschooled by parents who weren’t formally educated, so I took what I was taught and ran with it. So while I don’t remember the very first story I ever read, reading had quite a tremendous impact on me, compelling me to devour everything written I could get my hands on.

Q. What are your five favorite books, Djuna Shellam, and why?

Counted separately these would be more than five, but I can’t choose just five: Daphne DuMaurier’s House on the Strand, because I just loved the science fiction of it and the way she was able to tell two stories at once, weaving in and out of real-life and hallucination.

The entire Tales of the City series, because Armistead Maupin has a tremendous ability to pull one into the place, the characters, and their quirky lives. If I were stuck on a deserted island with that series, I would be just fine for the rest of my life with only those lovely and entertaining books to read.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches series—The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos—because of her delicious imagination, detail, the complexity of her characters, and how she weaves the different stories so seamlessly, drawing you in and leaving you begging for more.

Q. What do you read for pleasure?

I enjoy mysteries that are entertaining as well as mysterious. Meaning, that I love a good chuckle as I’m reading, and I like to solve the mystery, though I usually never do because the authors are too wonderfully cagey about it.

Q. Describe your desk, Djuna.

A. No matter how I try, within minutes of straightening and decluttering it, my desk becomes a brambled mess. Nonetheless, it’s a large black desk with worn areas down to the wood, with a laptop, two screens, several backup drives sitting on it, and an unseemly mess of tangled wires. Stacks of files, yellow pads, cups of pencils, pens, and the odd assortment of “stuff” that never seems to have a place of its own take up every spare inch of the surface.

Ahem… That description was then, and things have changed considerably. I no longer have a desk. I had turned the above desk into a standing desk which I quite enjoyed, but keeping the clutter down was just too much. The desk is gone as is all of the clutter. Now, it’s just me and my laptop wherever we happen to be: whether on the sofa, a chair, the local coffee house, on the patio… No clutter, no designated place, and I’m much, much happier. For the moment. It could change at any time.

Ahem… Back to writing mostly at a desk, though from time to time, my laptop will come to bed with me, my favorite chair, out on the porch, or to a coffeehouse. And, yes, the clutter is back, but I’ve learned how to manage it.

Q. Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

A. * I grew up on a farm in the Australian countryside. Until I was about 14 or so, I’d never seen another human face other than my “parents.” It’s a long, interesting story that I’ve told, at least the first 25 years of it, in my recent novel, Nom de Plume. Because I was so isolated, once I started interacting with people, I became very keen on their mannerisms, the way they spoke, their body language, and so on. Everything about people and their stories interests me—even if it’s boring because I have to start somewhere, don’t I?

Q. What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

A. I make new friends. Every story I write, I gain new people in my life. Of course, they’re fictional, and “live” only in my and my readers’ imagination. Still, they really do give me tremendous joy, even when they’re breaking my heart. After all, I do live with one foot in reality and another in fiction.

Q. Tell us what’s up next?

A. I’m working on Book 5 of The Em Suite Series. It’s called A Woman Like Eve. It’s quite exciting writing scenes with the old gang, and then writing completely new characters. Also, traveling back to the Seventies is such fun. I do believe my books are my own personal time machine, but better, because I get to create the world I travel “back” to.

UPDATES:

Prairie Fire is now in its final stages of production.
Prairie Fire is now available in digital and paperback formats.
Dot in the Weeds, Book Four of The Em Suite Series, is now available in both digital and paperback formats.
Now halfway through writing Nom de Plum—An Extraordinary Life—Vol 1.
I’ve just completed Nom de Plume—An Extraordinary Life—Vol 1!
Nom de Plume—An Extraordinary Life—Vol 1 is now available for sale in paperback and digital formats!
A Woman Like Eve is about 99% finished.
I’ve just completed A Woman Like Eve—The Em Suite—Book Five!

Q. Djuna Shellam, when did you first start writing?

A. I actually didn’t begin seriously writing until my thirties. A great deal of my life is spent learning, reading, and studying the art of writing—by reading books and people. I have so many stories lined up that I’ll have to live a whole other life to finish all of them!

Q. What motivated you to become an indie author?

A. I like to direct my own art. Simply put, I don’t like being told what to do.

Q. Who are your favorite authors?

A. I have so many, so I’ll just say this: I enjoy the good ones.

Q. What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

A. Curiosity and another day on this side of the grass.

And that’s just a bit about novelist Djuna Shellam.