About Mike Shelton:
Mike has recently released The Cremelino Prophecy Teen/YA fantasy series (three books), including THE PATH OF DESTINY, THE PATH OF DECISIONS, and THE PATH OF PEACE.

Mike was born in California and has lived in multiple states from the west coast to the east coast. He cannot remember a time when he wasn’t reading a book. At school, home, on vacation, at work at lunch time, and yes even a few pages in the car (at times when he just couldn’t put that great book down). Though he has read all sorts of genres he has always been drawn to fantasy. It is his way of escaping to a simpler time filled with magic, wonders and heroics of young men and women.

Other than reading, Mike has always enjoyed the outdoors. From the beaches in Southern California to the warm waters of North Carolina. From the waterfalls in the Northwest to the Rocky Mountains in Utah. Mike has appreciated the beauty that God provides for us. He also enjoys hiking, discovering nature, playing a little basketball or volleyball, and most recently disc golf. He has a lovely wife who has always supported him, and three beautiful children who have been the center of his life.

Mike began writing stories in elementary school and moved on to larger novels in his early adult years. He has worked in corporate finance for most of his career. That, along with spending time with his wonderful family and obligations at church has made it difficult to find the time to truly dedicate to writing. In the last few years as his children have become older he has returned to doing what he truly enjoys – writing!

What inspires you to write?
My inspiration to write comes from my love of reading. I have always loved to escape to a new world and decided to write my own adventure. I also am inspired to write clean novels with no swearing, no sex, and little violence. I think we can be entertaining without being too graphic and still have fun, adventurous stories.

Tell us about your writing process.
My writing process varies someone with my mood, but for the most part I think of an idea for a book, outline a sentence or two of what I would like to contain in each chapter. This helps me get from the beginning to the end with the right pacing. However, I usually find my characters making their own decisions early on and my first outline goes out the window. Then i map it out again and do the same thing.

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
My characters become real to me and sometimes make their own decisions that I go “oh no” about or that I didn’t see coming. I don’t necessarily talk to them, but they become real people to me – like good friends.

What advice would you give other writers?
My advice in writing is do what you like and keep going. I worked off and on my first two books (The Path of Destiny and The Path of Decisions) for 20 years before I decided to finish it and write the third one. Life gets in the way sometimes with family, jobs, school, etc, but just keep pushing through!

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I had submitted some manuscripts in the past to publishers and was turned down (though I got to admit now they were not very good). However, when I decided to finish up my trilogy and publish it, I didn’t want to wait a year and go through all the publishing company hassles for small percentage royalties. So I decided to self publish. It was definitely a learning experience with no one really guiding me, and of course I would like to sell more books, but I am happy how things are turning out.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think Indie / Self publishing will continue to grow and change the writing world just like Youtube, MySpace, and others did for the music world. There are some great Indie authors out there that can get noticed now.

What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers

What genres do you write?: So far I have only written in YA/Teen Fantasy. I might do a paranormal or dystopian at some point.

What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Link To Mike Shelton Page On Amazon

Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.