Until the End of Forever by Shannon Hart

Sarah Matthews life is so perfect one wonders why she would feel the need to travel to Paris for three weeks to try and find herself. But Sarah doesn’t find herself in France, she finds that she left herself behind. And what started as a trip to get away nearly destroys her marriage as she and her husband, Rob, deal with the trials and triumphs after her return.

Told in first person and in both Rob and Sarah’s point of view, Until the End of Forever is a poignant story of two people–a beautiful couple–who’ve lost their way. Shannon Hart does a fabulous job delving into the emotions of her characters. The story showcases the ‘what would happen if?’ with a couple who seems to have it all.

Until the End of Forever is emotional, real, charming, all at the same time. It’s definitely on my “You gotta Read This Book” List.

Even better…I got to ask Shannon some questions about Until the End of Forever. Here’s what she had to say.

Amie–Sarah’s life seems so perfect–happily married with 2 beautiful children and a lot like your own bio. How much of Shannon did you find in Sarah?

Shannon–Quite a bit actually. We’re the same height, we’re both sometimes neurotic and tend to over analyze things, although I think she’s way more complicated than I am. But she’s definitely prettier than me!

Amie–Because of these similarities, is it hard for you to “see” the situation from Rob’s POV?

Shannon–It was challenging when I tried to do it on my own. I got smarter about 5 chapters in and started asking questions so Rob’s point of views were very often results of discussions I had with my husband, my brother, my friends. I’d pitch them a situation like, “What would you think if….” and they’d give me all their views. I was lucky they let me dig into their minds. I wanted to be sure that whatever Rob was saying made sense to other guys, just in case a guy decided to pick it up. I also wanted women to be able to understand what goes on in men’s minds so they could understand what their partners/husbands were thinking.

Amie–What is the one thing you’d like readers to take away from The End of Forever?

Shannon–I’d actually be sad if readers only got one thing out of it… :) The basic 3 things I’d like for my readers to get out of the story are: 1. Communicate – When you keep things from your partner/husband/spouse, you just pile up emotions that will combust one day. So talk about it. Even if it’s hard, just talk about it. 2. “Me” time – Make sure that you have some every now and then because it keeps you from going insane. You still need to be your own person even if it’s just an hour every week. You need time away from routines and responsibilities for a little bit every now and then. It’s healthy. But do it wisely. 3. Forgive – In relationships, ups and downs happen. We fight, we say things we don’t mean or we do things we regret. Things can be better, and you can move past things when you can forgive. It all starts there. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but it can be done.

Amie–In the acknowledgments you give a shout out to your future sister-in-law for your cover design (which is amazing, btw). Tell us more about the design and how it came to be.

Shannon–The future sister in law in my acknowledgements is now my sister in law. She has been for about a year now, and I absolutely adore her. She’s the sweetest, most creative person I know. I asked her to design a cover for me which had a girlie vibe to it. I wanted something that could portray two people, lost in their own thoughts, but together. Something that could illustrate that although they were together, sharing a life, sharing the same space, but they weren’t really connecting. She came up with a few options and I chose one. I loved it when I saw it. It felt right.

Amie–And the most dreaded question of all–where did the idea for Until the End of Forever come from?

Shannon–Over lunch, my friends and I always talk about our relationships. We talk about our troubles, arguments, and how we sometimes wish there was more to life. Sometimes even when I meet people at other functions like a party or an event, topics would go from work, to politics, to industry talk, and then go personal. People I have met for half an hour sometimes could slip in a sentence or two about how they wished they had the guts to chase after an old dream. I figured, wow, I’m not the only person who felt that way! I was having some small issues as well at home, and I wondered what it would be like to just take a little break and do what I wanted without having to think of consequences. I always loved to share my feelings through writing, so I wanted to write something that people could relate to and hopefully learn from. And that’s how it all started.

Amie–What’s next for Shannon Hart?

Shannon–What’s next is a new book, which I hope I can share more news about sometime soon. I’m also very near to starting a third. I’m buried under a pile of scribbles as we speak!

Can’t wait to hear more about the new book! Be sure to keep us informed!

All right, now for the really fun stuff–everyone who leaves a comment on Shannon’s tour page (yes, that’s the link) will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card. Sweet!

Got that? You can leave us a comment here (and I hope you do!), but you gotta go to the tour page (not the link) to be entered for the gift card! :)

Thank you, Shannon, for sharing Until the End of Forever with us, and thank *you* for coming by to hear about it!

Want your own copy now? http://www.amazon.com/Until-End-Forever-ebook/dp/B004INHK6C/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1317004393&sr=1-1

 

{And btw–I saw Shannon’s picture on her author page at amazon.com–she’s lying. She’s much prettier than Sarah! :)}

Lot’s of <3 Amie

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