We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shannon Symonds. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shannon below.

Alright, Shannon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Hidden Gem Magazine:
I became a certified advocate working with survivors of intimate-partner and domestic violence, as well as working with families and children, for the same reason many people enter the helping field. I did because at one point I was desperate for help and couldn’t find what I needed.

In my late twenties, I had a new home, baked bread, loved running, and was the mother of 5 children under 5 (including twins). I had been taught from an early age that if I was a good girl, bad things wouldn’t happen to me. Then something happened that obliterated my and my children’s world. And I found myself in my VW van, parked on the side of the road, with a hundred-dollar bill in my pocket.

I knew nothing about violence or trauma, or how to keep us safe.

This was the experience that gave me the drive and passion to change the world for survivors. I didn’t want anyone to be as naive and isolated as I had been. I wanted family, friends, clergy, and social services to treat survivors with respect, avoid victim blaming, and support victims’ decisions and choices after they determined what they needed and wanted to do.

Many years later, a sandwich changed my life. I was working at a social service job that lost grant funding. Once again, I was at a crossroads. I had a ten-dollar bill in my pocket until my last payday.

Out of the blue, I had a thought. I needed one of the amazing sandwiches made by the little bakery in our office building. Ridiculous, I thought. Irresponsible, I thought. And yet, in the hard years, I’d learned to follow my impressions and inspiration, and so I did.

While in line at the bakery, I met a woman who gave me an application for a job at a resource center that served survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. I enjoyed a wonderful ham sandwich and was hired.

My desire to make even a piece of the world better for survivors became a reality when I worked as an advocate responding alongside law enforcement serving survivors of abuse and trauma. It was a new project for the county. Almost immediately, thanks to the wonderful working relationships built through the project, it was a success.

Over the course of my work as an advocate, I also became an expert witness in court, was able to spark an ACLU and Oregon Legal Aid lawsuit that created case law which changed housing for survivors, took part in a Portland State University pilot project for trauma survivors, and, more importantly, I was privileged to sit beside people in their moments of need. Most everyone I met showed incredible strength as they worked their way to safety. I want the world to see the strength I’d witnessed.

When I ended up having to leave my job, even though leaving was right for me, I was devastated. I still had things to say and do for survivors. As I wrestled and prayed about how to continue to serve survivors, I was inspired again, just like the sandwich. The words came from nowhere and hit me like a truck: “Write a book.”

I knew I couldn’t write a true crime story, or I would lose my certification and privilege as an advocate. I didn’t feel qualified to write a self-help guide. My sister had an idea: Write fiction that lets people walk in the shoes of advocates and survivors.
The first publisher I submitted my novel to referred me to another publisher, Cedar Fort, which published my debut novel.

I wrote my first novel, Safe House, to answer two questions:
Why don’t they just leave?
Why don’t they hit back?

In the book, the advocate and law enforcement work as we did. The fictional victims are representations of the hundreds of people I worked with over the years. Everything in it, I’ve seen multiple times. The place is based on my small beach town. The storm in my first book was real. It happened in December 2007.

I read all of Agatha Christie’s books while I was still in elementary school. I love mysteries. Currently, I write cozy mysteries that feature three-dimensional characters. I write about survivors after the trauma is over. I am writing my eleventh novel and ninth cozy mystery.

My newest release, Murder by the Book, is Book 2 in the Balefire Bay Series, and could be read as a standalone. The protagonist is a survivor building a new life. She is strong, smart, and funny. The Balefire Bay cozies are culinary cozies, so I also published a Kindle (available on Kindle Unlimited) version cookbook called Balefire Bay Recipes.

Balefire Bay is patterned after the Pacific Coast small towns I love. Balefire Bay is more of a destination than a book. It’s a state of mind. It’s a world I hope you visit and love.

Shannon, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Shannon Symonds writes in an old house by the sea and in the Utah desert. She is the proud mother of six children and Nana to 15. She loves her Savior, time with her family, laughter, a good mystery, walking the beach, clamming, and bonfires.

Shannon is an Indie Author and traditionally published by Cedar Fort. Shannon’s professional training began at age eight, when she found an Agatha Christie novel and read it on a rainy day at the family beach house. Shannon has worked for over 15 years as a certified advocate serving survivors of violence alongside law enforcement, and on other causes that she is ridiculously passionate about. In 2018 Shannon was nominated for the Storymaker’s Witney Award, she was awarded the Author Ready Author to Watch Award for her By the Sea Cozy Mystery YA series, and in 2023 her book was a finalist for the Indie Cozy Mystery of the Year award.

Her books and audiobooks have been available on Amazon and in Indie Bookstores, Beach Books, Costco, Deseret Book, Barnes & Noble, Target, and other retailers.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

When I decided to write a book, the first thing I heard from friends and family was it’s impossible to get a publisher, no one will publish it, Don’t let anyone charge you to publish your book—but you can pay to publish.

I am a rare story, but not as rare as you might think. I sent my book to one publisher that referred me to Cedar Fort who published my debut novel. They were wonderful.

I didn’t need friends and family to tell me I couldn’t do it. I needed my sister, who support me and pushed me when I was down.

I needed one more thing, an understanding of the role of an author in the industry. Right after they accepted my book, the editor called me and asked for my marketing plan. I responded, “Marketing Plan?” Then she asked how many followers I had and if I had a newsletter community. I was instantly overwhelmed. A television station called to interview me on their morning show. I was so out of my depth, I responded, “Thank you, but I live in a small town on the coast. I am too far away from your city.” You’re laughing at me right now, aren’t you?

I asked the publisher’s marketing lead to give me a run down of what I was expected to do. She rattled it off in one hour. I couldn’t take notes fast enough. Luckily, she was good at her job and I was able to do social media and start a website. She placed it in all my favorite bookstores, as well as places like Target.

When someone tells you they want to be an author, don’t discourage them. Instead, help them find local writing groups, conferences like Storymakers, or StoryCon. Authors go it alone when they are creating their work. They need cheerleaders!

I have also witnessed parents tell their kids that they need a real job. A beloved friend of my, was a world famous artist. When his son came to him and said he wanted to make records and have a band, he encourage him, taught him to market and let him use part of his art studio as a music studio. I will never forget watching his son on Letterman.

Learn more and know, you’ve got this.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the shutdown (Covid) my publisher asked for a 7th novel. As I was turning it in, my editor let me know that they were moving away from fiction to religious educational books.

I had a complete manuscript that needed a cover, editors, and proofreading. Luckily, I’d join the Storymakers group and was paired with a few bestselling authors, like Deb Goodman. Deb, Julie, Britney, the girls saved me.

I had the funds to pay for a cover, editor, and proofreader. Then my friends showed me how to upload my books on Amazon.

I joined another group, Author Ready. Richard Paul Evans was a friend of my late sister. His group, gave me anything else I needed to know and set me up for a great book-signing event. Deb Rasmussen taught me how to get my books on IngramSpark. The group gave us discounts on ISBN numbers.

I pivoted and it worked, despite finding myself tossed in the deep end all too often. Relationships matter. I try to give back to youth. I volunteer for a group serving youth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shannonsymonds.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonsymondsauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonsymondsauthor
• Linkedin: Shannon Symonds, Author
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shannonsymondsauthor
• Other: Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B06Y5X6BYN
  Follow me on Goodreads:
  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16539647.Shannon_SymondFollow me on BookBub:
  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/shannon-symonds?list=author_books