Victoria Ventris Shea's Blog

I confess that I have been so involved with my writing that I have not spent time in attempting to communicate with readers. I promise to do better.
My book The Ghosts of Whidbey Island came out recently, and it's been a favorite for local readers. I had no idea when I began the project that I would be learning so much about the beginnings of Washington Territory and that I'd be traveling across the country from Missouri in covered wagons so many times. I was surprised to learn that each trip was different depending on weather, disease, and changing relationships with various indigenous groups.
My research was directed by first-person journals and letters, and I loved becoming so familiar with the families in the story that I still feel like I've been adopted by them. I think it may be impossible to write a novel without my heart being poured into it. I hope you love it.

A common theme evolves in my writing as I prepare to launch my second book, Brick, Lime and Moonshine. The common theme is family, even though this new book is about Prohibition, bootlegging (my grandfather) and rumrunning (the friends who built the lake cabin I lived in most of my life).
Unlike other books that focus on the need for Unions during the time period or the horrors of the Dust Bowl or the viciousness of the Mob, this is the story of the hard work and ingenuity of everyday people and farming families who lived inland in the Pacific Northwest.
It's about finding joy within the struggle; and it's meant to be encouragement for when times get hard. Written with love.

Over the years we have sometimes saved for five years to take a trip, always preferring a cultural experience rather than just a break. I'm fortunate to have lived on the Big Island and to have taught in Maui and was delighted to include a good segment of SHAGOON immersed in that Hawaiian culture. Having spent six weeks hoofing it through Southeast Asia, visiting Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore--an amazingly memorable experience--I hope to be able to include it in a future book.
Lately, I have enjoyed reading a trilogy by Jan-Philipp Sendker: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, A Well-Tempered Heart, The Heart Remembers. They are intriguing novels set in Thailand that do a lovely job of helping us somewhat understand the difference between eastern and western thought.
For now, I am finishing up the editing on my second book, Brick, Lime and Moonshine (1920's Prohibition in the Pacific Inland Northwest).

I truly appreciate you readers who learn about other cultures. In my teaching experience in Hawaii, I learned that a person from a different culture often requires respect for their culture before building a relationship. We can't respect what we know nothing about.

It was disheartening to find that out of hundreds of literary agents I surveyed, none were interested in the content of a Native American culture. The audience would be too small. Yet in my mind, Native cultures were first, and we who live here should understand those roots. They affect us all.

It was exciting to learn about four cultures in this story, some in more depth than others and I am so very pleased that Shagoon is earning good reviews. Thank you so much for reading, Vickie