Shiela Stewart has been writing for the better part of her 40 years, pouring her heart out in words, living a fantasy through the characters she creates. It has always been a dream of hers to have her work published, a dream she has finally seen come to life.
When not writing, she is busy working on two websites for organizations she belongs to, tending to her three children, and spending time with the love of her life, William.
Shiela has a deep affection for animals and it's evident in the four cats, one dog, eight fish and three turtles she owns. Aside from writing, she enjoys sketching, painting, singing and dancing, as well as stargazing, astronomy and astrology. Her favorite time of the day is sunset.
Behind the Scenes of Shiela's Latest Release – Seducing the Darkness
We asked Shiela Stewart about the tag line she's using for her new urban fantasy series, The Darkness and what inspired her to write it....
If you're afraid of the dark…you're screwed.
"That tagline just came to me while I was writing book two in The Darkness series and I think it's perfect. Mixed metaphors and all. LOL The entire series takes place, in the dark. Originally, Seducing the Darkness was a stand alone, but with most of my stories, the secondary characters took a hold of me and demanded their own story. From there, it just skyrocketed. Seducing the Darkness, which was originally titled, "Eclipse into Death" just came to me out of the blue, as most of my stories do. I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it make a cool story if some bad ass vampire blotted out the sun and tried to take over the world and a female vampire tries to stop it. Oh…and what if this female was scorned by a lover and so she's jaded and angry and has no problem taking it out on her own race." It all just bloomed from there. I knew I wanted to make the heroine strong, her own woman yet still have vulnerabilities. Is she like me? I like to think so. I try to be strong, in charge but I'm also very vulnerable. And like Trinity, I'm more comfortable hanging out with the guys than I am the girls. More so though, she's every woman and what every woman wishes she could be, or longs to be. So as I created each story, I knew the finale had to be about a woman as well. And she so happens to be Basil and Trinity's daughter.
Funny sidebar to the story. I nearly didn't submit it. I'd written it over a year ago and it sat on my computer like so many of my stories. I hummed and hawed about submitting it, not sure what I wanted to do with it. It was one of those stories where I just sat down and let it all flow without thought to having it published. I tend to do that from time to time, write only for myself. But with the coaxing from one of my friends and my publisher, I decided, what the heck. Never did I expect it to go this far. I'm pleasantly surprised." ~ Shiela Stewart
Cast out by her kind, Trinity Ford has learned to live on her own…not an easy thing to do when you're a vampire.
Trinity was once a fragile girl. Being taken by a powerful vampire prince changed her. Discovering him in the arms of another woman changed destiny. Alone, she's learned fast how to be tough, how to survive, and how to protect the people in her city from the evil that lurks in the dark. She was managing just fine, until Basil walked back into her life.
Basil Hawthorn has been the reigning prince of vampires since banishing his father to the Realm of Dark Mystics decades earlier. When a prophetic dream makes him realize Trinity's life is at risk, he decides the only way to save her is to push her away. Doing so is not easy. Trinity is the only woman he has ever loved, ever will love, and he can't seem to let her go.
When rumors arise of a plan to raise the King and blot out the sun, both Trinity and Basil know they must do everything to stop it. Even if it means working together. Despite the betrayal and the threat, they find themselves drawn to each other. Love has no boundaries, especially in the face of danger. But will they be able to stop the ritual before it's too late?
Or will the darkness capture them both?
Shiela Stewart Trivia!
1. I am the second youngest of seven children. I have three brothers and three sisters.
2. I was deathly ill at the age of eleven and was hospitalized for two weeks with a temperature of one hundred and seven. Weird thing is, my medical records before I was sixteen have gone missing so I have no idea what it was I was sick with. My mother doesn't even know.
3. I have a wicked sense of humor and everyone is fair game. I love to play practical jokes on people especially my children who should by now know they're not safe around me. LOL
4. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love to decorate my house with everything scary including cobwebs, spiders, skeletons, floating moaning sound activated ghosts, butcher table complete with severed hands, eyeballs and fingers (all fake of course). I start preparing for Halloween in August.
5. I am passionate about music. In my youth I would always be asked to sing for my parents friends. I still love to sing and have a pretty good voice but I'm too shy to sing in public. I was once asked to join a rock band but my shyness prevented me from accepting. Music has to be playing when I write.
6. To relieve stress in my youth I used to dance. I LOVED the Solid Gold Dancers and often tried to emulate their moves.
7. I don't have a driver's license. I hate driving and never had any desire to learn how to drive.
8. I met my husband when I was seventeen while flipping burgers at Burger King. We've been together for twenty three years. We were both nineteen when we got married and were told our marriage would never last. HAH! Proved them all wrong. LOL
9. I LOVE animals. All animals. If I could live on a ranch I would literally have a zoo. I have five cats, one black lab female dog, six fish and three turtles. I sometime put food out for stray cats. I've tended to baby birds who have been left behind by their mother, or who have fallen out of their nest.
10. My new vampire novel, Seducing the Darkness, is actually a true story and I am the vampire heroine. Yes, you read that right. I am a vampire, and I have phenomenal powers. Though the Darkness series takes place over the course of a few months, in reality it was only a day. I just stretched everything out and embellished some of it.
What's Next?
Look for Desiring the Darkness due out September 1st!
With the cloak of darkness surrounding Jacob's Cove, Dante Vega must work to protect the humans from the blood-thirsty vampires trying to take over the human race. When a half-naked young woman races into his arms begging him to protect her, he is compelled to help despite the fact that she is a vampire.
Before all hell broke loose, Gypsy Dawn was an average woman carrying on with her ordinary life…until she's turned into a vampire. With no family and no where to go, she clings to Dante. Aside from his dark, mysterious, good looks, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. And when his life is threatened she discovers just how protective she has become.
Trying to bring back the sun is not easy, especially when the creature responsible, has gone into hiding. With Dante's long lost brother working with the enemy, one friend is killed and another is taken hostage. Will Dante be able to save him before it's too late?
