Guest Post - Shaunta Grimes - Viral Nation

Resident teen blogger Ella has just reviewed Shaunta Grimes' new young adult novel Viral Nation. (Check out her review)

She also asked Shaunta about her path to becoming a published author.....

"I've known forever that I wanted to be a writer. It took a while for me to take the leap between wanting to be a writer and doing something about it. In between, I had several interesting jobs that could have become careers if my heart had been in it.

 My first real grown-up job was as a newspaper reporter. I was 24-years-old, suddenly a single mom with two tiny kids, and I answered a job-wanted ad looking for a reporter in a tiny Northern Nevada town called Battle Mountain. My first day on the job, I was sent to the court house to start covering a the trial of two teenage boys who murdered one of their entire families. Later I worked at both major newspapers in Las Vegas. I loved being a journalist, but it was too hard for me to do any other kind of writing after a full day writing news.

I've worked as a substitute teacher, and for a long time thought I wanted to teach high school English. I've tutored kids in reading and writing, taught creative writing through my local community college. I love teaching, and I hope that I always find ways to do it. In the end, though, my heart wasn't in being a classroom teacher.

I've also worked as a drug court counselor. That was the hardest, most stressful job I've ever had. I learned a lot at that job though. I learned that I don't have the fortitude to be a social worker. I learned important lessons about people and compassion that have definitely informed my writing.

I think the one big take away from my wide variety of jobs is this: follow your heart, but be open to learning from where ever you find yourself at the moment."

Thanks for stopping by Shaunta! You can find Shaunta on Facebook, on Twitter and at her website.