Episode 49. Crimes of Passion and Beyond: Author Shannon Jump

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After writing her debut novel, My Only Sunshine, and releasing it on February 25th of 2021, her career has been great. She's even done the one thing that she said she was not going to do, which is write a successful trilogy. Fresh off her Crimes of Passion trilogy, which includes three of her five books, she is now on the precipice.

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of releasing her sixth book, Down She Goes. So what has she been up to? Where has life taken her since we last talked to her? We're going to find out all of that as we take time to catch up with her before the release of her new book, Down She Goes. Join me as I talk to author Shannon Jump on this episode of True Crime in Authors.

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Welcome to True Crime and Authors Podcast, where we bring two passions together. The show that gives new meaning to the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction. Here's your host, David McClam. What's going on everybody. Welcome to another episode of True Crime and Authors. Of course, I am your man, David McClam. Hey, if you guys haven't already, make sure you follow me on all of our social media is one link to a link tree.

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gets you everywhere you need to go in the show. While we're keeping up with the show, you know it is once again time for another author interview. Well, the person I have today has been here before, so we're gonna catch up. But in case you have forgotten who she may be, let me go ahead and give you a little introduction. She is an avid reader and writer. She has a passion for storytelling and often writes across genres. She refuses to start the day without the perfect cup of coffee.

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is a diehard Minnesota Twins baseball fan and food network junkie. Shannon lives in small town Minnesota with her husband and two teenage kids. Her debut novel, My Only Sunshine, was released on February 25th of 2021. She penned her first short story at the age of 12 and still has the original copy, cover art included. Writing and storytelling have been a passion of hers for as long as she can remember, and if you follow her on Instagram...

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You'll see she's still just as excited about reading as she is about writing. And in addition to that, she is an independently published author and she is an active bookstagramer and NetGalley reviewer. You can follow her book reviews and publishing journey on Goodreads and Instagram. She is the author of the Crimes of Passion series, even though it's breaking and my only sunshine. Please welcome my friend, Shannon Jump. Hey Shannon, how you doing?

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Hello, hello. I'm good, how are you? I am wonderful. It is great to see you. It has been a little while and I know things have been going on with you. It has been a hot minute indeed. So how have you been and what's been happening with you since we last spoke on the personal level? Oh, I am doing great. I think since we last spoke, I released the last book of the Crimes of Passion series. It's three book trilogy, that one is Dunzo.

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And it feels good to kind of walk away from it and start a brand new project. Um, down she goes is my, my psychological suspense thriller that'll be coming out this summer. So it's, it's been fun kind of putting those characters back on the shelf and coming out with some new ones. So stepping back a little bit over the crimes of passion series, what a wonderful series. I think when we talked before you had, you had stated that it wasn't really supposed to turn out to be a series.

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wanted more, me included. So when you had to switch your mind that way, how did you put your mind in the set of, well, I'm going from one book now to three? Yeah, that was tough. I think I've said from coming out the gate with My Only Sunshine that I am not a series writer. I'm like, I don't know how writers can do that. Like, I mean, as a reader, I get attached to characters just like anybody else. But.

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As a writer, I feel the need to step away from those characters after a period of time. And then I get bored with my own stories, right? So I don't want to run that risk of overwriting a character to the point where somebody's just ready to step away from the series. So while it is now a three-book trilogy, I will say, I mean, they're short. They're not full length.

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Three hundred plus page novels there between two hundred and twenty to two hundred and seventy pages so it's a shorter series and each book in the series kind of highlights different main characters so that gave me an opportunity to explore new story lines and and kind of weave them all together so. Fun story series to write really fun characters to write but definitely still feel like I am not.

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So at this point, even though the Crimes of Passion trilogy has had great success, you still would not entertain being a series writer. Listen, I'm not adamantly against it by any means. If it works out that a book is better suited as a series or those characters need to live on elsewhere, by all means. But I don't think I will ever intentionally go into a plot line planning to put it into a series. But...

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that says there's always opportunity for crossovers, right? I mean, those characters that just hit so hard that every once in a while they come knocking on the door again and they're like, hey, bring me into this story. I feel like I can fit here. So there's always potential for that. You can kind of bring them back to life that way. And I think that's a fun little play with the character lines. Speaking of characters, I had to bring that up because I think in the other interview that we did, the first one several months ago,

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I brought this up too and it's more prevalent to me now because I'm actually, since we haven't talked in a while, I'm writing my first book. My first book is around podcasts. Oh, that's awesome. And the thing was is there's a lot of people I've talked to that says, yeah, these writers are kooky because they say that these characters live with them. And every one of you guys I've talked to now over the last seven, eight months says the same thing. Even though my book has no characters, it's just me trying to teach people how to do podcasting the right way.

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the book doesn't leave me alone. I could be in the middle of sleeping and then another chapter pops up or you didn't say this here or you need to add this. So from a writer's perspective who deals with several different characters, explain to the audience just how real that a character can live in your brain just like your husband is living right next to you at home. 100% and it's so funny too because I always say, you know, character writing by itself, right? I mean, these are people that feel close to us. They are real.

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to us, right? They come to life in the craziest of ways. And like you just said, they will wake you up in the middle of the night with an idea that you need to get down on paper, right? But the interesting thing is, I think writers are the type of people who like probably belong in insane asylums, right? Because we have all these characters living in our heads and talking to us. And that's where like, you know, I think for me as a writer, I don't write every single day.

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I really just write when I feel those characters are talking to me and that's going to impact obviously the timeline that it might take to pull a story together but you can have days where you know you're full on like okay this weekend I'm writing both days of the weekend I'm planning to sit here until I get to x word count right.

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But then you sit down on the computer and nobody's talking to you, right? It's one of those, one of those days. And I am very much the type of writer that will walk away from the computer and come back to it later, because unless those characters are inspiring me, I can't tell their story. So yeah, it is, it is very interesting how the characters are almost like tangible people in your life. I mean, once you.

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create them or get this idea of who they are, you really feel compelled to tell their story. The one thing I'd like to point out about your books, and I have one of the authors this way, and I know we've talked about this before, because as authors you guys get backlash, especially writing thrillers, that they're too short. I will say it again, I love the shortness of your books. 270 pages is excellent, because the thing is, is if you get a book that's not interesting, even 270 pages is too many pages.

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But when you get books like a Shannon jump book, it's a page Turner. A lot of that is because you don't deal with a lot of fluff in your books. You know, you open the book, you're right to the point. If the person's a stripper, you know that in the first 10 seconds, you know where the story's going, right? So you don't really have time to get bored, but you want to know what goes on with the next situation that she's going to be into or that character. And for me, I have to consume a lot of my books on my lunch break. So

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Are you still in that same mindset with this new book getting ready to come out? We're going to talk about in a minute, still the same length. You still feel the same way about that as you did last time? A hundred percent. I, um, I I'll, I'll caveat that with, um, I feel a little delayed in the writing of, uh, this current book because it's actually turning out to be a little longer than I wanted it to be. Where like I'm at the point now where this word count that I've hit is, you know,

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consistent with the last three books that I put out and I'm about to go beyond that. So, and I still have so much more story to tell and everything needs to come together for the plot. So my mindset is less about word count and getting to that 300 page mark, right? I think there's elements of the story that are necessary and there's elements of the story that are not and the parts that aren't are the fluff, right? I personally, as a reader,

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get bored and I tend to skip paragraphs that are overly descriptive, things that don't bring the story forward. And that's where my writing focus is, where if I have to read my own book 25, 30 times before it goes to print, I don't want to get bored with it. I don't want to read that same description over and over again. And, you know, so I tend to, if I'm setting a scene,

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And I feel that it needs a little bit of color added to it. It's going to be, you know, random word placement as opposed to an entire paragraph that builds a world, right? It's not fantasy writing. So I don't need to build a world. We know what a car looks like, right? I don't have to call out the product type of the car, make and model. Right. So I think it, it just, but it, but it's all preference, right? I mean, you know, I, I will see a 400 page book and probably avoid it in the

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I like to sit down and read a book in one sitting or in one weekend and 400 pages feels very daunting to me. I don't want 400 pages. So yeah, I am very much a straightforward to the point type of writer where unless something drives the plot forward, you probably won't read it in one of my books. The one thing I always try to get people to do is if you have what I call book anxiety, right? So you have a book, you can see exactly how thick the book is and how it

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Go to digital. Cause at least with digital it tells you a percentage point and it tells you a page. But since you don't never see the physical book, you don't feel like you haven't accomplished anything. You have a super long book. So that's why I like to read digitally. Yes. And that said though, I mean, I get to a point, even with eBooks, when I am reading digitally, I am like, why am I only at 8%? Like I've been reading for three hours. I should be a lot further, right? So I think it's, it's all a change of mindset, right? But I do agree. It does, it does help.

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Um, to kind of, you know, get, get that visual, that, that super thick book out of your mind, but yeah, I'm, I'm definitely one of those readers where I will almost steer clear of anything over 400 pages and it's, it's gotta be shorter. So if I'm counting right, you are now at a total of five books under your belt. That's correct. And that includes, um, even though it's breaking my only sunshine, wouldn't you love to love her like a bird in flight and who will be her lover?

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And now your sixth one is soon on its way. Over those last five books, what success have you had and what have you learned along the way of that journey? Yeah, I think, well, one of the things, even that you mentioned in the introduction is that I tend to write across genres. One of the things that has really come out for me in that, in my first book was contemporary fiction. It was loosely based on a true story. And then moving into a psychological suspense thriller and then...

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generalized psychological suspense. It's been interesting to cross genres, but one of the things that I think is so cool about writing is that it's okay to mix them too. I think, and I may have even mentioned it last time I was here, I honestly can't remember, but the Crimes of Passion series is a psychological thriller series with elements of romantic suspense, right? I mean, there's seduction and sex and all that kind of stuff in it, but it fits the story.

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Again, as a reader, I will get in a slump quicker than anybody else if I only read one genre. So for me as a writer, I am more entertained and more engrossed in the story that I'm writing if I can write across genres. I don't know if it was said to me specifically or something I read somewhere. I can't honestly recall, but when I was first coming out of the gate with My Only Sunshine as contemporary fiction, a lot of folks were expecting me to produce.

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similar types of work or touch only on that genre. And I was told, you know, don't write under the same name if you're gonna genre hop. And I said, well, I'm an indie author, so I'm gonna go ahead and do that anyway. So I guess for me, you know, in terms of something I've learned along the course of writing five books over the last couple of years, is that I'm just going to write what I want, I'm going to put out what I want. And a lot of, you know, those themes work.

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across genres. They don't have to be siloed in one specific genre. And I've found from, you know, the reader base that I've built, I found that that works for them too. And that's what they expect from a Shannon Jump book now. So are you still loving being independent and why? Yes. And I tend to say the reason I love it is the creative control and the ability to set my own target dates and deadlines. And, you know,

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produce my own covers and all the content that I want, it's my choice. Beyond that, again, and I've said it in interviews previously before too, I'm not against traditional publishing. I can't say that I would never sign a contract if one was offered to me. But what I do feel is that at this point in my life as a mother of two teens, I've got one that's 18 and heading off to college soon and one that's 16 and very active in sports. But I also have a full time job. This.

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Writing gig is not my full-time job. So, you know, as responsibilities increase with the job that pays, that's what I always say, the job that's a guaranteed paycheck, right? As those responsibilities increase, I have a little bit less time to write. And I'm OK with that. But if I was under contract, I would be a lot less OK with that. So for me, at this point in my life, it just works best in terms of a work-life balance and family.

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I feel you on that with an 18 year old going to college, my 20 year old, uh, is heading off to California Baptist university in the spring or in the fall this year, September. And when they laid the paper down in front of me with the, how much it was going to cost per year, I'm like, man, I know it. Yep. Yeah. And I mean, then, then there's, you know, all the, all the other emotional aspects aspects of that too, I mean, like this is my first kid graduating high school here in

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a couple months or less and dealing with graduation and a grad party and, and getting them off to college, that's a, that's a lot to deal with. And that takes away from writing time too. So again, it's, you know, I write when I want to, or when I feel that I have the time to do it without overthinking it. Cause if I overthink it, it's, it's never going to come together. But yet with all of that, we are looking forward to a new book this summer called Down She Goes. Yes.

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So what can you tell us about Down She Goes a few months now before the release date? So Down She Goes is a psychological suspense thriller. It is a kind of a plot idea that came to mind just kind of as like an everyday thing. I love those everyday scenarios that can turn into a thriller. And this is a prime example of one. So essentially it is a multi-narrative all told in first person,

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I want to say six narrators, so six different point of views. And you get a mix of male and female and you get a mix of age range. And one of the narrators is a 17 year old girl. The whole concept of it. And I don't know why I'm having a hard time explaining it right now. I should have read the synopsis even before, before the interview. But so it's a serial killer novel where it kind of has those elements of domestic suspense as well, where, you know, there's.

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questioning of your neighbors and how safe are you at home and You know not just with your neighbors But with the people that live inside with inside the house with you. So it's it's got a lot of elements of I Keep wanting to say the word suspense, but it's like a daunting novel where you're gonna get some sarcasm I think that comes out in like every one of my books where there'll be like a random one-liner thrown in to kind of demonstrate personality here and there but it is

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You know, one of the narrators is actually the serial killer themselves and you don't know their identity. You know that they are known as the Crow River Killer or CRK and that's the title that goes above their chapters. But you are trying the entire time to figure out who this person is and you will suspect some of the other narrators as well. So it is a super fast paced serial killer novel and.

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One character actually that I'm very excited about is detective Will Sanderson, who is, this is a fun one for me because I've always loved procedurals and crime dramas. Never necessarily thought that I could write one, but again, I'm able to kind of take this concept across genres. So you get a little bit of mix of procedural crime drama with the typical psychological thriller and getting into the head of a killer. So these are brand new characters in what we've seen before in the other books.

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You've got several different characters voicing their selves here, including a child, 17 year old child. How in the world do you keep all of that separated in your mind from crossing one over the other? You know, it's so interesting that you asked that question because I, for the first time ever, this is my sixth book and I plotted this entire thing.

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I never did that, but I plotted and outlined the whole thing going into it because of the intricacies of it. And again, it's, you know, I don't have the opportunity of exploring, you know, one specific plot line and two main characters like I did with the crimes of passion series per book, right? This is one book not intended to be a series. And but I loved the idea of multiple narratives, but also felt that it was more effective.

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with the six narrators that there are. I did try at one point kind of writing it differently where it was only juggling between two and it did not have the same impact. It just didn't hit as hard. So I think this definitely was the first time that I've actually outlined a novel and so I actually felt like I knew where it was going before I started writing it. So yeah, I would say that that's probably how I keep it all together and with that, you know, character sketches and a full

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you know, timeline of events and all that kind of stuff too. Now I already know, we know how you feel about being a series writer, but at the bottom of your synopsis, which I will put the whole synopsis up on the show notes here, the bottom of it says dark and mysterious down she goes as a captivating impulse pounding, psychological suspense thriller.

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that I have readers begging for just one more. That is not any sort of hint. It's not a hint, not a red herring. I promise it is a standalone novel. That said, I did mention earlier in this discussion that every once in a while there's an opportunity for a crossover character. So there is a character coming in from a prior novel. I'm not going to say which book and I'm not going to say which character, but.

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I will say that readers who have been following me since early on will be very thrilled to see this character in the book. Can we say this book is going to have the same amount of twists or is it going to be a little bit more twistier than any other Shannon Jump book we've read? You know, man, that's a tough question, David. I don't know, because I feel like the Crimes of Passion series was super twisty, but collectively as one single book, it's probably twistier.

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than any other single book. But the Crime's Passion series was pretty twisty as three. I don't know. It's hard to say. There's twists and turns in this book. What do you feel separates Down She Goes from all the other five books you've written? What's going to be a little bit different here than what we've seen before? I actually did just the narration style. Again, with

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multiple point views again the crimes of passion series had a lot of area narrators collectively by each individual book kind of stuck to to everyone so while a third person popping in there this is this one has a good mix like i've mentioned so i think it's you did the big difference is being able to. Digest multiple characters from.

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I have a very like detailed level as opposed to a lot of secondary characters. So everybody kind of gets their own time in the spotlight. And I think that brings an added element of suspense and you know, a balance because again, you have to you have to get that right mix because there is such a thing as too many points of view. But I think this is this is a good mix of it. The other thing is getting a.

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point of view directly from a detective and getting a little bit of the procedural stuff and that almost like true crime element and getting to see the investigative side of a case. Now I know how we can be as readers. Those of us that are Shenn and John fans has been waiting on whatever would be new coming down the pipeline after you finish the crimes of passion series. You've been very candid with us as readers on your Instagram of your health journey and things of that nature. Yep.

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So I will ask you how has that been? How's your health doing? Are you back to a hundred percent now? I've been very concerned about you over the months. I just didn't reach out and write a lot to you because I wanted to respect your space I appreciate that. Thank you. No, that's that's so sweet. I'm doing great. Everything with surgery went well and as expected I think you know, the health journey itself is in a better place than

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I think even I would have hoped so. So all is good there. And I think the thing more or less pulling me away from the fans or the, the readers and the social media side of things has been a job change. I started a new position at work back in January. And that's been very busy and a lot of new learnings and training and all that kind of stuff too. So just had to be in the right head space to focus on that career move and kind of put.

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writing on the back burner for a little bit. And that was a big part of the reason why I was so adamant in getting that series completed last week, because I knew that I was going to have to take a break with the surgery I had back in November and then the job change in January. So just wanted to tee it up so nobody was left hanging for too long for that final book in the series. And you know, with that too, it was, I, I think I've, I've heard.

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comments from some readers too that I'm back in action a little bit earlier than they expected because I did kind of formally announce that I was taking a break to focus on some other things and then suddenly came out and said, hey, I'm working on a book. It's coming out this summer. So yeah, I think hopefully, you know, it's a good enough.

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break that it doesn't feel like too long. And I think, right. You compared a traditional publishing. It probably would have been another year or two by the time something came out if I was going down that road. So, but thank you. I appreciate that. Well, I was shocked too. I didn't know about the job change. I feel you on that because I too went through a job change in the last eight months, which totally shifted my whole entire

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podcasting situation and I had to go to not announcing dates. I don't know what day I might be to get it up because my whole job changed, days of week, times, all of that. But then when I saw that you announced who's going to do book, I'm very, I'm very aware of the surgery you had and what happens to individuals who have this surgery. And I said the same thing. I'm like, okay, did her Instagram get hacked? That's the first thing I thought. Right. Did it get hacked? Cause she's back a little bit, a little bit early. And then when you wrote me back and said, yeah, let's schedule some time. I was like, that's quick.

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So I think the overall spirit of, you're kind of like me, I can't stand to be down or let something beat me for two. No, no, I can't either. And my recovery period for surgery was about six weeks. I had, I think, four weeks off of my job. I think I was off for four weeks, but I spent a good chunk of that just reading and catching up on my TBR. And I always feel that when writing doesn't come to me,

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very easily, I'm not reading enough, right? Because I have to understand what I enjoy as a reader to be able to transcribe that into a novel of my own. And I kind of, the last week of my time off of work is when this new story for Down She Goes came to me and I secretly kind of started writing it.

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just to see where it would go, just to get some stuff on the page. And then, you know, I had a solid like 10,000 words down. But then I started the new job in January and had to kind of take a step back again. But it's one of those things, though, where, again, you go back to that conversation of the characters kind of knocking on the door. And I really felt compelled to get this story out. And it's not, you know, it's not some life saving story, like anything like, you know.

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Inspiring right but it's one of those stories where i felt like if i don't put this together now if i write it later down the road it loses some of its integrity right like you have to read it while you feel it or write it while you feel it um and that's really kind of kind of where my focus was at so in between you know stuff with the with the new um career change and family stuff i i really just kind of write when i can and you know luckily.

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those sessions are very productive. I'm definitely writing less in terms of length of time or how often I'm sitting at the computer, but the time that I'm putting in front of it is really productive. So now with all the life changes, you have a kid going off to college, as a person in your shoes, that's not easy. We have to readjust to life, right? Especially on the mom's end. I think dads, we deal with this a little bit different.

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When we went to our orientation, they were like, yeah, we're sure the mom's are going to be balling. My wife already started crying. Like she's still going home with us today. A hundred percent. So how, what's the timeframe? Do you think that we'll be able to see other books coming out from you down the line?

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Yeah, that's tough to say. I'm very much, like I said, when I get an idea, I tend to feel the need to just kind of write it out. Like I don't have 10 manuscripts sitting on my computer waiting to get started. It's very much, you know, what am I feeling at that moment? And I have Down She Goes plan for this summer. I have another concept that has come to mind a few times. I tend to wait until it comes to mind a few more times before I start actually

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writing anything out, but there is a concept that's lingering. So, you know, if, if that comes to fruition, I would say probably early next year, um, you know, in terms of like a release date, but you know, that the three books a year I was doing last year is definitely not sustainable for me right now. So definitely have the one plan for this year. Um, and I don't want to overcommit and say that there'll be more than that one. Are you thinking about, or have you thought about having your books made into audio books at this point?

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I have thought about it. Um, actually one of my writing buddies, Kristen Mulligan, um, she, she recently put, um, her first book on audio. I don't know. I guess I'm not an audio book listener. So to me that was never an urgent thing. I put my books out in ebook and paperback. Um, it really gave no thought to audio just again, because I'm not an audio book reader. And then I've had a lot of readers actually reach out and, and see if my books were.

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on audio and unfortunately right now they're not and unfortunately right now I don't necessarily have plans to do that. I think a lot of that is out of pocket cost when you're on the indie side and it's just not something that, again, I've got a kid going to college next year so I kind of have to worry about that before I get anything on audio. But you know, if an opportunity came up or you know, the right...

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the right arrangement came up, I would definitely pursue it, but right now it's still very much a back burner item. I will tell you, just because I had to, I've researched this before, because I had to research this from my book that I'm writing, there's over a hundred thousand podcasts consumed on a daily basis. And a lot of those people also consume audiobooks. So I do know from being in various reading groups that I'm in, some of these groups, they have challenges where they have to complete five books in a month, let's say.

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They will say, I'm going to read these two, but they will go looking to see if those books are on audio books because they can consume them faster. So hopefully one day down the line, if you get a deal like that, uh, you'll be able to take advantage of that because that will be more lucrative on that side. Cause I do know that there is a huge need, even me, I tend to listen to things audio in the car cause I'm driving and I can hear what you're saying and comes from that way. So yeah. Yeah. Well, and it's so funny that you say that too, cause I think like my mind just works the other way. I work from home.

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I'm hardly ever in the car. Like we joked that I could be home for, you know, 10 days before I like, cause I get groceries delivered and everything. So I'm like, at the time, the only reason I'm leaving the house is to pick a kid up from somewhere. Um, but you know, so I, I don't have that same drive time and then, you know, I'm, I'm working all day, so I can't really listen to audio books. I'm in meetings all the time. Um, so yeah, it is, it's such a back burner thing for me, but I've definitely heard the commentary of, you know, I, oh, I'm not going to.

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read this one for book club because I need it to be on audio. I don't have time to sit down and read and I totally get that. I mean, we all balance our time in our own way. But speaking of daunting book links though, a 400 page book is daunting to me, but you throw an audiobook like in it says, oh 18 hours to completion. I'm like that is forever. So that's a whole other like man. I don't know how people can do audiobooks. Like that's such a long time to listen, but I know the

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People adjust the speed, don't they? Like some people listen faster. Yeah, but we have a thick enough book. That's not even enough because I've done one that told me I had 40 hours on like seriously. That's such a long time. But yet again, I will sit here and binge watch a series. No problem. Right. Now, like think about how many hours you spend doing that. We make time for the things we love. Right.

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And I was the same as you before I got the job I have now. I was, you know, I was gone three days a week, but I was home, you know, most of the time during the week and I'm like, really people listen to these things that many hours. But then when I started driving all the time and I'm on the road for the whole eight hours a day, I'm like, okay, I can see how that works out because I'm no longer sitting at home. I can't just pick up a book and I want to read it. And so there you go. Yeah. Well, and I, I mean, I've, I've worked remotely for probably six or seven years now. So pre pandemic, even I was home all the time.

33:22
Um, but I did, you know, back when I was going to the office, I had a 45 minute drive one way. So, um, you know, I wish that I had gotten into audio books at that time, but even then, I mean, I'm like the type of driver that's like rocking out and singing to the radio the whole way. Right. So I'm like, I don't know if I even would have done it then. I just, I really prefer the loud music when I'm driving. Well, especially with the hours I drive too, I'm like, you know, I start out my morning, I'm listening to whatever podcast I'm listening to.

33:51
But by the time the day comes to an end, I can't listen to somebody talk because I'll fall asleep. Yes. Right. Because that sleep just peeps up on you. I mean, I'm in meetings all day for work too. So it's like you don't want to be on the phone at that point. Right. So sometimes I feel like podcasts are like being on the phone, but other times I'm like, okay, this is great. Like everybody's out of the house. I can do some cleaning, listen to this podcast. But I feel like I have to plan time just to listen to a podcast. Right.

34:21
doing something that requires me to interact with somebody or someone else is in the room, they're watching TV. I'm like, oh, headphones, I don't wanna wear those. Every excuse in the book, right?

34:34
So what do you hope everybody takes away from Down She Goes once we get our hands on it and be able to read it? I, you know, I'm really, really excited about kind of, gosh, it's hard to explain actually in words, but the tone of this book, there are so many creepy elements to it, but then there are laughable moments at the same time.

35:01
So I think it's a really good mix of genre and skill. And it just like these characters are so cool. Like you will like a typical Shannon Jump book. You will find unlikable characters, but you will also find things that you like about those individuals. And then you're going to start questioning. You're going to question whether or not you should like them and they'll be under the microscope. But I just I think then those creepy elements, you know,

35:31
song creep by radiohead always always comes into my head when I think about this book. And even though it's breaking, which was my sophomore novel, it's it's those kind of stockery feel I tend and I don't know if other writers feel this way sometimes. But sometimes I'll write a scene and I'll go, oh, wow, I can't believe I wrote that. Like, I walked away from this book for 10 days because nothing was coming to me. And I came back and I read through.

35:55
the whole draft everything i had and i went oh this isn't as bad as i thought it was. so it's one of those things that i feel it is it's it's pretty. Powerful in the way that a reader would react to it because of the multiple characters that you can connect with the way that the story is told the the flow of the pros so to speak but.

36:18
Yeah, I mean, it's like I said, it's not one of those books that you're going to walk away feeling like totally inspired, but hopefully it's one that you close and go, what did I just read? That's what I hope people walk away from is that feeling of like, you know, is this going to hit your top 10 list of the year when all is said and done? Well, from reading the synopsis, it's another one of those Shannon Jump books that is something that truly could happen in real life.

36:45
And that's why I like so much about your book just because even though we know, well, at that point we know that that scenario hasn't happened. Who knows it could have happened somewhere in the world, but to you, it hasn't happened. You can look at this book and be like, man, this is definitely something that could take place or if it already has in someplace else. So just the realism of your book makes it good. So it's funny that you mentioned that I'm pulling it up right now to see exactly what I put on it. The dedication of this book.

37:14
is one of those things that I'm like, okay, so the element of truth is there. We have, I'm trying, I don't know why I'm being so careful how I'm saying this. The guy moved. Okay. We had this neighbor. He lived alone in this large house, never had another car in the driveway. He was like never, never like active around any people, barely spoke a word. He'd go out and cut the grass and go back inside. So we had this like running joke.

37:42
that, oh man, we live next door to a serial killer. He's got bodies in the basement. Not something to joke about, I get it, but it was this thing and our family were like, oh, the serial killer's home. It turned into this book. So that inspired the story. And my dedication to the book is, for the creepy neighbor who inspired this novel, thanks for moving. He doesn't live there anymore.

38:09
So it's that element of truth. Yes, I think it's so fun, especially with psychological thrillers to be able to take everyday scenarios and turn them into something creepy and sinister and just very exciting to read. Walter, in closing, is there anything you'd like to say to your readers and fans out there that is listening today? Yeah, thanks for reading.

38:37
Thanks for listening. I am always so appreciative, I think, in the indie publishing world. It can be really hard sometimes to get someone to read your book. So for me, I am just so appreciative of anyone that picks it up, whether they like it or not. Thanks for giving it a shot. And if you liked it, thanks for telling your friends. Thanks for leaving reviews. Thanks for passing it down to the next reader or shouting me out on social media. So again, it's those.

39:07
Zero dollar days are tough to watch happen, but when you get one that something spikes or somebody reaches out and says, when's your next book coming or, hey, can I interview you on my podcast? Those moments definitely make it worth it. So yeah, absolutely. Thank you to everyone who gives a lowly old indie author like me a chance. Well, Shannon, it is great to see you. You're looking good. I can't wait to get my hands.

39:35
on your new book, Down She Goes. As always, you're always welcome to come back and I look forward to talking to you again real soon. Awesome, thank you so much for having me.

39:47
All right, guys, you heard it. That is the incredible Shannon Jump. You can find all of her books that we mentioned here today on Amazon. And if you're part of the Kindle Limited program, you can read them for free under that program. I always remind you that downloading her books is not good enough. You do have to read it and turn the pages so that she gets paid. And then also look out for Down She Goes Out This Summer. You can pre-order that right now on Amazon.

40:18
So once again, we thank you for tuning in. We hope you got something out of this episode, that you're being safe and always remember, always stay humble. An act of kindness can make someone's day. A little love and compassion goes a long way. And this is the podcast, where two passions becomes one. I'll catch you guys on the next one. Thank you for listening to True Crime and Authors. Don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe. Join us on social media.

40:47
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41:17
on True Crime and Authors.