Beyond the Pages: An Inside Look at the Mind and Motivation of Shawn Winchell
- BirdieMama
- 13 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Paranormal / Horror Suspense author, Shawn Winchell's newest release Googly Eye is set to be published May 22, 2025.
Who is Shawn Winchell?
If you've been reading my author spotlights since conception earlier this year, then you know that I've met just about all of my spotlight participants on Threads or Instagram. Shawn is no exception to this, and what caught my eye about him was his profile which had a short but sweet description of him "Paranormal Suspense Author & Stay-at-home father". Being a stay-at-parent myself, I know just how tasking but also rewarding this title can be, and I always feel a deep appreciation and kindred spirit with others in a similar role. In addition, being an author on top of this role is no small feat. After diving deeper into the literary world, I have grown to further admire authors for the amount of work, time, and love that they put into their craft as it involves a lot of dedication and patience. With this in mind, imagine my mind being blown when upon further investigation into Shawn that I found he has authored and published an astounding eight titles, crazy right?!
Along with authoring a bunch of books and being a family man, Shawn Winchell comes across as genuine, humble, and I'm not sure if he realizes this but funny person. Whether he's showing his support for Autism awareness, sharing relatable family content, talking books, or making bracket showdowns for his titles (this one cracked me up), his authenticity really shines through. His unique voice and storytelling abilities have the power to make the hair on the back of your neck prickle, and his authentic perspective in sharing his experiences and thoughts makes him all the more approachable. He's an author and person who should be on your radar if he isn't already, especially if you're a reader who enjoys paranormal and horror suspense. With that said, continue reading to find out what Shawn had to say when I sent him over a series of questions to get an inside look at his mind and motivations.
The Interview
Chapter Chirp: Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you decided to become an author?
Shawn Winchell: I am a paranormal suspense/horror author and a stay-at-home father of five. My wife and I own a Christmas tree farm, and we also have pigs, chickens, and ducks (along with our mini-Australian Shepherd, Alfred). Needless to say, chaos reigns at our house.
Whether it was writing Weird Al style songs with a buddy about teachers at our elementary school, or writing my own version of a required reading book because I wanted to see what would happen if the characters made the exact opposite choices, or writing a sci-fi screenplay in middle school about Area 51 with David Duchovny as the lead, I’ve always loved making up stories. Looking back, I don’t think I ever really could have ended up doing anything else, even if it did take a medical withdrawal from college for a semester before I realized it. After getting a creative writing degree from Washington State, I did almost no writing for nearly a decade. It wasn’t due to a lack of desire or ideas, I just got stuck in a cycle of overworking myself at whatever job I had and by the time I got home all I had the energy for was turning on the TV. Shortly before our fourth child was born in 2020, my wife and I had a conversation about what we were going to do for childcare. With three kids that were still too young for school, daycare would have cost nearly what I was making at the time. We decided that I would stay home with the kids, at least for a while. But the thing about young kids is they tend to sleep a lot during the day. I found myself with nothing to do for long periods of time and started writing again. Eight months after quitting my last job, I published my debut, Eliza. Since then, I’ve published four more novels and three novellas.
Chapter Chirp: How long did it take you to write your latest title and what was your inspiration for this book?
Shawn Winchell: My most recent book, a novella called Googly Eye that will be released on May 22nd, took almost seven months from the first inkling of an idea to being completely ready for release. The idea for the book came to me when my middle daughter (who is actually the cover model for the book) gave me a dirty look for telling her to stop doing something. I don’t even remember what it was she was doing, but I snapped a picture of it and sent it to my wife. From there, like with all of my book ideas, it festered and morphed in my brain until it became all I could think about. Once that happens, the only way I’ve found to get it out of my head is to write it.
Chapter Chirp: What is your favorite part of this book (i.e: character(s), theme, title, cover art, etc.) and why?
Shawn Winchell: My favorite part of this book would probably have to be the challenge of making ordinary arts and crafts supplies frightening. Everybody has seen googly eyes, and I have yet to meet anyone who is scared of them. Creeped out, maybe, depending on what they are stuck onto, but never scared. My hope is that this book changes that. I don’t want anyone who reads it to ever be able to look at a googly eye again without cringing in fear. Most of my other books have been on the lighter end of the horror spectrum. Googly Eye leans into the horror. That was a fun change for me. As I was writing, I kept trying to one-up the last scene I wrote.
Chapter Chirp: What was the most surprising thing that you learned while writing your latest book and what was the biggest challenge you encountered?
Shawn Winchell: The most surprising thing I learned while writing Googly Eye, is that while I am an author, I am starting to think I might not ever be a novelist. Turns out, I think I am becoming more of a novella-ist. That’s definitely not a word, but I think it gets my point across. Even my books that are long enough to be considered novels are on the short side. My longest book is just shy of 46 thousand words. Although technically 40k and up is a novel, some people don’t consider anything that short to be one. Googly Eye is my eighth release and my third that is under 40 thousand words. I think I’ve always known that I probably will never write a doorstopper, but since writing this book, I’m starting to wonder if maybe the majority of my books will end up being novellas.
I wouldn’t say I faced any significant challenges during the writing process for Googly Eye. When I was first starting out as an author, there was so much that I didn’t know, and I was attempting to learn it all on the fly. Now that I’ve done it a few times, I’ve found a routine that works for me, though there’s still plenty that I don’t know. The biggest challenge I typically face with my work, other than marketing (which is its own special kind of monster), is making sure I stay awake during nap time. It’s always so tempting to lie down and close my eyes while the kids are in their rooms for a couple hours in the middle of the day. I do my best to take advantage of the quiet to get some work done, but some days a nap just sounds too good to pass up.
Chapter Chirp: What do you love about writing paranormal suspense and what are some of your favorite books from this genre and why?
Shawn Winchell: The thing I love most about my genre is that it’s such a broad spectrum. There is something for everyone under the horror umbrella. I typically refer to myself as a paranormal suspense author to narrow it down a little bit, but even still, there is so much that falls into that category. At least when I say paranormal suspense, readers aren’t expecting a masked killer with a machete slowly walking after a group of high school or college students and hacking them to bits—not that there’s anything wrong with a good slasher. I’m a big fan myself.
Paranormal suspense focuses on a smaller piece of that horror spectrum while still giving me the flexibility to not feel like I have to retell the same story over and over. I’ve written about ghosts and alternate dimensions, reanimation and aliens, imaginary friends and demonic possession. And I have barely scratched the surface. What’s not to love about that?
As far as some of my favorite books in the genre, I could go the obvious route and list any number of Stephen King books. I won’t, though I’m a big fan of his. There are three that I’ve read in the past several years that have stuck with me more than the others. Ghost Story by Peter Straub is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is a slow burn that sticks with you long past the final page. For months after reading it, I found my mind drifting back into the story at all hours of the day. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill is another one that sort of burrows into your head and makes itself right at home. Charlie Manx is one of the best antagonists I can think of. And finally, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean. It is such a unique take on a vampire story (instead of drinking blood, they literally eat the ink off the pages of books). It instantly became one of my all-time favorites.
Chapter Chirp: What's next for you, can you share a sneak peek or drop some teasers about your next work?
Shawn Winchell: After Googly Eye, my next release won’t be until October. I can’t share too many details yet, mostly because I’m still working them out, but I can say it will be the start of a new series of standalone books. Each book takes place in the fictional town of Creekbed Hollow and there will be some character overlap from book to book. I don’t have a set number of books in mind for it, but rather it will be an ongoing anthology series a la Goosebumps. My hope is to rapid release the first several books of the series from October 2025 to March or April of 2026. And then, if all goes well, I am considering a tie-in board game to go along with the series. Each new book would come with an expansion pack for the game. Right now, that’s barely more than an idea, but by the time October rolls around, especially if the series takes off, who knows?
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, I think it's safe to say that Shawn is quite the interesting person and a person of many talents. While his stories may be shorter than novel length, it's apparent that he has no shortage of ideas and he thinks outside of the box. Each story, regardless of its length is crafted with care, showcasing his skill in weaving tales that resonate with readers. There is a profound sense of excitement that comes from knowing that Shawn is likely to push the boundaries and explore new ideas while crafting his next story. As someone who appreciates creativity and innovation, I am really interested in what he's going to do next and I will be keeping an eye out on his upcoming releases. I would like to thank Shawn for his taking time out of his day and sitting down to thoughtfully answer the questions I sent over. I would also like to encourage my readers to learn more about Shawn and support his current and future endeavors by checking out his books, website, and give him a follow on social media.
Author Website: www.shawnwinchell.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorshawnwinchell
Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorshawnwinchell
Googly Eye is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle: www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5PQCZ96/
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