About
Colleen Shannon has over a million books in print. Her eighteen novels have made many bestseller lists including national retailer book lists. Her first Texas Ranger book, Foster Justice, ranked #1 on Amazon's Western Romance list at debut. She's been written up in USA Today, three major newspapers and been on televistion twice. In the past she's received numerous Romantic Times awards including a nomination for Best New Historical Romance author by Romantic Times and a Career Achievement award for Best Historical storyteller. She has supported other writers by forming the Raleigh, NC chapter of Romance Writers of America, presented at RWA national seminars and judged in aspiring writers' contests. She is in a critique group currently with other talented writers and strongly believes that no matter how long someone writes, the best stories take a lifetime to live and becoming a better writer is also a lifetime process.
More recently, she converted her novel Heaven's Rogue, a lead title for Leisure's Lovespell imprint and favorite fairy tale of Amazon's romance editor, into Michelangelo and Me. Her script version has won screenwriting awards on five continents. She converted it into a family friendly story with international resonance. When she lived in Los Angeles, she got the screenwriting bug and attended UCLA's Advanced Professional Screenwriting course and subsequently authored four more scripts, two based on her own stories. She previously worked with a WGA manager and well known literary agents but of late has concentrated on polishing her current material before actively promoting them in this difficult market.
No matter how many books and scripts she writes, she can never pen a fraction of her ideas. Her newest novel projects are commercial thrillers about a sister team of forensic specialists as continuing main characters. She has over a hundred pages written of both her proposed initial stories. Her romance proposals include an historical romance trilogy set against the nation-defining War of 1812 and a contemporary romance about a marine biologist who falls in love with a billionaire shipping magnate.
She has a BA from the University of Texas at Austin in Archaeology, which propagated her love of history, and a Master of Real Estate Development degree from the University of Southern California. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, the city of her birth and is actively writing again.
Featured Work
Travis Justice
I'm going to share a favorite review by an avid romance reader. I try to make my stories as real and historically accurate as possible, reader relatable whether now or in the past. This book is a contemporary but the motor of the story is the half Japanese heroine's pursuit of her family's ancient, very valuable, samurai sword. She has to battle Texas Rangers to retrieve it. The reader, Cathy Geha, picked up the subtext beautifully:
"A Sharp Masamune Samurai blade forged centuries ago for the Nakatomi family lies at the center of this story. I wonder what stories a sword forged sometime in the 13th or 14th century would have to tell if it could speak. That is what I imagined at times while reading this book.
Zach Travis is a wanderer and warrior. After his stint as an Army Ranger he is contemplating what to do next when Hana Nakatomi breaks into his family home. This event and those that follow decide his future.
This is a story filled with history, family, honor, evil, Yakuza-like gangs, love and drama. There is affection, caring, friendship, a bit of steam and hopefully the prelude to the story of Ernie and Abby at some point in the future. Though there are Texas Rangers in this story it is more, a whole lot more, than just a romance involving a Ranger and the woman he will end up with. And, I thoroughly enjoyed it and also recommend it because it had me thinking and caring and googling to find information out and totally immersed in the story."
