
Featured Interview With Shawn McMichael
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am co-author of The Shadow and Scepter: Tales of Méhns Móri. My family lives in Washington State. The forests and mountains, as well as long gray winters, provide inspiration to write epic fantasy. Stories are a blend of all these elements, in my own family, history, travel, and technology. I have spent a large portion of my career in software, gaming, and marketing, but sharing stories have always been my passion. Having traveled to over thirty countries, I have always loved the way history, mythology, and culture create the stories we tell ourselves as people. My writing centers around that love of history and myth. My curiosity is centered around ancient worlds, lost civilizations, old gods, and the thin line between myth and reality.
I am also proud daddy to six fur babies: three pugs named Lucy, Lovie, and Mei Mei; a Pekingese named Coco; and two cats, a Ragdoll named Mochi and a British Blue named Khloe. They keep the house lively and make sure there is never a shortage of personality, chaos, or companionship while I write.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
At a very young age, I had a deep fascination with books; especially such books which made the world feel big and old and more mysterious all at once. I had always enjoyed the stories of history and mythology, adventure, and fantasy because those stories made it seem as if the past was alive right under our feet. Creatively I began working years ago, but The Shadow and Scepter was built around another love: worldbuilding. After countless years spent telling stories, reading, playing games, and exploring ancient history, the Méhns Móri world was slowly building on itself. There were lots and lots of mythology, maps, legends, characters, and that all started to become a great epic fantasy series. For me, writing acts as a way to pull together all my passions: history, myth, flawed characters, perilous journeys, ancient gods, and the genres that readers can disappear in.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I adore historical fiction, epic fantasy, mythology, and sweeping adventure stories. Some of the authors who have influenced me are Bernard Cornwell, James Michener, Jean M. Auel, Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb, John Gwynne, and Patrick Rothfuss. Authors who make history feel alive and fantasy feel ancient especially inspire me. I love books where the world is heavy, the mythology is worthy of reading, and the characters are ensnared in events far bigger than themselves. My favorite stories merge the intimate human struggle with monumental history. I want readers to feel the dust of abandoned highways, the fear of forgotten gods, the politics of kingdoms teetering on the brink of collapse, and the peril of a world where myth is not metaphor. It is real.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Currently my book is The Shadow and Scepter: Tales of Méhns Móri, a dark historical fantasy inspired by Greek mythology, ancient civilizations, and the myth of Endymion and Selene. The story takes place around the Black Sea in the ancient world where the gods once fought against one another and broke the balance between earth and sky. The Scepter of Selene is the central artifact of the story, a divine relic shattered into pieces and scattered across the world. Whoever reforges it could restore balance, or unleash something much worse. Endymion is a healer from Miletus who never sought glory, war, or prophecy. But as he gets drawn into the quest for the broken Scepter, he comes up against fading gods, ancient monsters, savage magic, and an undying vampire warlord named Vädumir looking for the relic for his own dark purposes. The book takes a perilous journey through a mythical ancient land teeming with warriors, exiled inhabitants, hidden powers, dragons, and old gods who are not as far away from the world as mortals think. It is an epic fantasy adventure, but it is also a tale of fate, sacrifice, found family, and the cost of carrying a destiny you never sought. The Shadow and Scepter was a long-delayed development—starting with worldbuilding, mythology, maps, histories, and character arcs—before finally developing into the first book of the Tales of Méhns Móri series. Readers who like Greek mythology, dark epic fantasy, ancient relics, dangerous quests, and morally ambiguous worlds should feel at home in Méhns Móri.
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