getting a little real…

May 30

Hey, hey!

This is a long one so bear with me! I just want to take a moment and be real with you because a lot has been weighing on my mind lately and I think I’ll feel so much relief if I share some of it with you.

So if you don't know, I've been releasing books since 2012. I started publishing at 18 years old and one of my books landed on the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers list when I was 19. I don't know how I managed to do it. To this day, I like to think it was luck, good timing, and being connected to other supporting authors in the same genre.

The book that managed to hit those lists was a New Adult contemporary romance novel (Hard to Resist) and I'm ashamed to admit I didn't 100% love that book. Don't get me wrong, I loved that I was able to write it at all and that it had such an amazing run! I'm so grateful for all the doors it opened for me, like allowing me to buy my first car on my own, rent my first apartment, and even buy a gym membership! I also appreciate the opportunities that came my way because if it weren't for that book, more readers never would have found me, I wouldn’t have met my current agent, and I most likely wouldn’t be a full-time author.

But what I didn't love was that it didn't represent me. Back when I wrote it, I was in a predominantly white book space. Many of the authors I knew were white. All the books I saw that were selling in the New Adult genre featured white characters, so I assumed if I wrote a book about a white couple, perhaps I could see some changes in my career. And I was right. But it was weird because that story wasn't me. I didn't really feel connected to those characters. I wrote it because I was hungry and desperate for just one of my books to pop off and reach someone— for my name to be noticed somewhere, no matter what it took. And it did just that.

Because the book did so well, I was a bit more motivated. I figured I needed to stick to that same formula, so I wrote another series (The FireNine series - rockstar romances) which also took off… but that also featured white couples. And I kept telling myself, “just make her a Black girl. Or mixed, at least?” but I was so scared to. I was scared that if I added a main character of color, I'd lose the readership I worked so hard to build. And that's such an insane fear to have because why would I have wanted readers like that anyway? Readers upset that I, a Black woman, wanted to write a leading character of color? I mean, it’s just insane for me to think about right now? If I could go back to the past and talk to myself, I’d tell her to trust her gut and do just that. But I was so young and that’s the fear I had, and what I now realize was a systemic trauma. Girls like me were not the standard, therefore it’s not what the industry seemed to want at the time.

Eventually I pushed past that fear, so I wrote Dear Mr. Black. And I had never felt so deep into a story before. So caught up. So… in love. Chloe Knight was my leading character and she was biracial. Her father was Black and her mom was White. I thought maybe if I made her that way, she’ll be more accepted, or that people won’t notice that she’s meant to look a little different. Truthfully, the reviews were mixed. Some people loved it, some hated it. But that could also be because it was a taboo age gap romance with a bunch of drama. Haha.

Regardless, I took the dive and I'm so glad I found the strength and confidence to do so because it literally changed the trajectory of my career. All of my leading ladies there after were women of color. Then I wrote the Ace Crow duet. Ace Crow was a biracial male because again, I was afraid to take it too far and lose momentum, and that one was interesting to watch because I saw the readers drop like flies when I told them he was a half Black. And I’ll be real, it scared the f*ck out of me. But you know what? I don't regret it one bit. I lost some readers, but gained so many more. It clicked for me then that if I wanted to be happy, I had to be okay with losing temporarily in order to gain exponentially. I ran with that!

Out came the Mr. Cane Series - my hottest selling contemporary romance series to date—and Kandy is a biracial woman with a Black police officer father. I was able to touch on being a Black woman in society and even on her dad, who was a Black male in a powerful position. And despite his position, he was still stereotyped. It was such a breath of fresh air for me to be raw and real. I remember smiling as I read through each book, so happy that I could FINALLY feel proud of tossing in representation and diversity in one of my books and be so loud about. So for a while, contemporary romance seemed to be what I needed to do in order to maintain a living as an author and it was lovely. I had so much fun with it and it did (and still does) wonders for me. Beautiful Broken Love was consumed and adored, and I don’t think I’d have gotten the courage to do that if not for the Cane Series, or Coach me, or Bad For Me, or any of the other novels I wrote that a jam packed with diversity.

But—and you may not know this either—contemporary romance was never my go-to genre. Before I ever even thought about publishing my first book, I was ALWAYS into suspense, thrillers, fantasy, and paranormal stories. I even flocked to a bit of horror. I actually tried to publish my own paranormal stories when I first started (one was about fallen angels w/ a steamy love triangle and the other was inspired by greek mythology with demigods). Those didn't take off, of course, but they always held a special place in my heart because I loved the escape they provided. I had a book called The Story of Jackson Haddock (this one makes me giggle) that was about a boy who heard his parents get killed while he was in his bedroom hiding under a blanket reading comic books. He managed to escape and was then adopted and grew up to seek revenge for his parents’ death. But he also found love along the way. That one was chock full of suspense and action. And the romance was so fun! I unpublished that book a very long time ago, but now I’m thinking maybe I should rewrite and publish it again? Seriously. Why did I have to start talking about it? lol

Anyway, we’re now in 2025 and I'm realizing that my heart has never left that space of suspense, action, and even magic. Romance has always been there, but the others were put on the back burner so that I could build my contemporary romance backlist.

And here’s the truth: I've been struggling for months with where I want my author career to go. I’ve had so many opportunities come my way that have placed me in genres that aren’t contemporary romances, and I’m fortunate that all of them have worked out for me. I thought surely I'd write contemporary romances forever and only be known for that genre. I do believe I am good at them but I also am burned out with them and have been for years. Not months. Years. They don’t make me miserable—not at all—but they don’t exactly bring me immense joy to write either.

After wrapping up on Sweet Little Hearts, I realized that one may have been my bittersweet exit to contemporary. It’s a beautiful story and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, but while writing it, I just knew that one might be it for a while. That sucks to say because I LOVEEEE writing love stories, however my mind doesn't liked to be confined to simpler things. I love letting it run wild and rampant, and I can't really do that when it comes to writing contemporary because there are certain rules to follow and the risks, twists, and other elements are a lot lower. And y’all know I’m a dramatic writer, okay? I love doing the most with my stories, otherwise what’s the point? lol.

I've run these thoughts through my mind for such a long time, trying to process it. Grieving it. Celebrating it. Sitting with it. Embracing that I have to make a change for my happiness. I believe the chapter of writing contemporary romances is coming to a close for me. It makes me want to cry because if it hadn’t been for my romances, I wouldn't even be able to write for a living. I feel like I’m betraying the genre and even my career by letting it go. I don't want to say that I'll never write one again (because I have random ideas pop up all the time), but right now, I've noticed my idea vault for contemporary romances are running low. I have maybe one story left in me for a contemporary, but I'm not all that inspired to write it.

This isn't to say that I’ll stop writing romance altogether. Oh, absolutely not. I thrive when love is involved, which is why I think I've flocked to romantasy - because it has every single thing I crave when it comes to crafting a story. That genre has magic, action, suspense for my dark side, and of course romance. That blend is so highly entertaining to me. I can see myself writing fantasy or even paranormal with a big splash of romance for the rest of my life.

All this to say, I’ll be following my gut and diving deeper into the work I enjoy. I’ll go where I can create magical worlds where the stories revolve around girls who look like me, talk like me, and even act like me. Girls with thick, beautiful hair, locs, and beautiful brown skin. I've spent the majority of my career waiting for this moment - to have the freedom to create and be seen and to represent. To feel free in what I do without feeling like someone will hate me for being, well… me. To have a publisher who backs up those dreams and wants to amplify my voice and share my stories with the world is truly a wish come true—no, they’re prayers come true. I used to cry about wanting this kind of opportunity. I used to drop to my knees and pray for what I currently have. Now that blessing is here and there's no way I can let it slip through my fingers. There’s no way I can pretend this moment in time is not for me.

It’s been a journey for me, for real. One full of ups and downs. Good and bad seasons. Times when my royalties weren't enough and I had to move in with my in-laws for 4 months (yeah, I’m getting really real here.) Times when my writers block was so intense because I was grieving a sibling, or going through postpartum depression, or a combination of both. It’s been so hard and I don’t want to make it harder by not choosing the things that genuinely make me so happy and excited to be alive.

But Shanora, what about your thrillers?

Yeah, don't worry. I still have a few thrillers up my sleeve that I'm excited about.

If you're a contemporary romance lover and you don't care for fantasy/romantasy or thrillers, I completely understand if you feel like it's time to check out. Some people don't jive with certain genres and that’s okay!

If you've read all of this and you still want to stick around and support me in this new era, please know that I am so, so thankful. I mean, I'm always thankful, but more so now because pivoting is daunting (and for all I know this could backfire and I’ll have to stop writing forever so I can get a job at retail store lol) but still… I’m thankful. And for an author who doesn't like to box herself in, I find this to be the best option so that, hopefully, we’re all happy. I’ll write the stories that fuel me, excite me, thrill me… and then share them with the people who love those stories.

Okay, phew! That’s all.

Thank you so much for reading. Let’s hope this new chapter gives what it’s supposed to give!

With all my love,

Shanora