Shanna Hughes

I am currently working on 'Starstruck', a paranormal romance novel. The idea for this novel was born in 2007 when I first went to London. It was only in the summer of 2013 that I started writing it, then after a rough 30.000 words had a long break, and picked it up again in the second half of 2014.

I'm also working on The Silver Braid Heritage, a collection of short stories about Leigha Griffin. She is one of the top-class members of Force For Good (FFG), a secret organisation sworn to protect the world from The Infected - humanlike beings without a single shred of goodness in them. The first story in this collection, The Silver Braid, will be published in January 2015. More stories will follow.

The inspiration for 'Starstruck' hit me in 2007, when I went to London for the first time. My friend had given me a ticket to a play on West End for my birthday, one that featured Orlando Bloom. After the play, we managed to secure positions right behind the paparazzi. Due to my height I wasn't able to see anything until all of a sudden, he was standing right in front of me. Later, back home, I wondered: "What if this would happen to two people who didn't know each other, yet did on some sort of unconsious level?" And the idea for Starstruck was born.

My friend and I had such a good time during those days in London - it was the start of a lot more than just Starstruck. I am absolutely in love with London - I cannot count the times I've been there. It also sparked my love for England as a country and, in 2014, I left the Netherlands, found a job in England and emigrated. I now live in Shropshire, which is rumoured to have been inspiration for 'The Shire' in J.R.R. Tolkien's books! Magical, isn't it?

As for The Silver Braid Heritage: a few years ago, I signed up for 'write a soldier'. Through that system I started emailing with an American soldier, Leigha, who inspired me to create a fierce, ass-kicking heroine that I've named after her.