10 Years and 50 Books!

In April of 2015, I released my first book, Pippa of Lauramore. At that time, I had no idea where this path would take me. In the last ten years, I’ve gone on so many book adventures, made amazing author and reader friends, and had the most fulfilling career I can imagine.

Hunters and Hydrangeas came out last Friday and became my 50^th book. Today, I’m sharing a short behind-the-scenes note about each book I’ve written. I’m not going to add links to them all, but if you want to read one, check out the Quick Guide to All My Books. It will get you where you want to go. (A link to the contemporary books is at the very bottom.)

For this list, I counted all my full-length books and novellas, but I left out the novelettes and short stories. I attempted to put them in the order I wrote them, but I probably mixed some up. I did my best, but at this point, it’s like trying to herd chickens. I’m just happy I got them in a list. 

Are you ready? Let’s go!

1. Pippa of Lauramore – This was a Camp NaNoWriMo project. I wrote the whole thing in July of 2014, but I changed the ending a few months later. (Spoiler: in the original, the dragon ate Lionel.)
2. Anwen of Primewood – I got stuck while writing this book, and I remember telling Jake I was worried I’d used up all my words. Thankfully I was wrong.
3. Just the Essentials – I had a miniature schnauzer when I was growing up, and that’s who Schnitzel was based on. (My schnauzer was named Reginal Ludwig von Schnorr. We called him Reggie.)
4. Seirsha of Errinton – I was still figuring out who I was as a writer while I was working on this book, and I learned that I occasionally like writing romantic fantasy that leans a little epic. And tragic. 
5. Glitter and Sparkle – My daughter was only six while I was working on this one, and she was completely obsessed with glitter. Apparently, it infected me as well. (As glitter does.)
6. Shine and Shimmer – Even though my son will probably never read this book, a lot of the video game references were for him.
7. Rosie of Triblue – This was supposed to be the fourth book of the Eldentimber series, but Irving and Rosie were NOT having it. I ended up finishing this after I wrote Audette, wanting to get it out before that one released. My only Eldentimber regret is that I didn’t have time to make this one a full-length book.
8. Audette of Brookraven – I was obsessed with unicorns as a child. Posters in my room. Figurines. The works. (I blame The Last Unicorn.) This book would make my young self ridiculously happy.
9. The Marquise and Her Cat – Puss in Boots is my favorite fairy tale, and I knew when I ventured into retellings, I wanted it to be my first.
10. Moss Forest Orchid – I started writing this book as an escape when I was horribly stuck in my Rapunzel retelling for Fairy Tale Kingdoms. This one got published. That one didn’t.
11. Greybrow Serpent – (Spoiler)This book taught me I am a fan of a very specific trope I like to call “Second-boy Swap.”
12. Wildwood Larkwing – Flink was loosely based on our St. Bernard. (But Gunther wasn’t an elemental St. Bernard. Thank goodness.) Whenever I revisit this series, I miss him. 
13. Lily of the Desert – Yancey stole my heart in this one. If you pay attention in the spin-off, you’ll see that Soleil really takes after her dad. 
14. Sugar and Spice – Right after I published this book, a Polish publishing company bought foreign rights to the series. The paperbacks are available in Polish, and the covers have ACTUAL glitter on them. How cool is that?
15. A Bear’s Bride – This was my first multi-author collaboration! I was actually planning to write a Sorcerer’s Apprentice retelling, but East of the Sun, West of the Moon worked in the series better.
16. Elodie of the Sea – Audette was supposed to be the last Eldentimber book, but Bran needed a story. And Eldentimber needed mermaids.
17. If the Summer Lasted Forever – While I was writing this book, we were prepping for our first extended RV trip.
18. Guild of Secrets – I still don’t know how this happened, but this book went from idea to published in only one month. (It still holds the record for my fastest draft—only two weeks!)
19. Princess of Shadows – Redstone, Colorado is a real place. The hotel I burned down in the book is not. You can look up several of the landmarks that I mentioned in the story—it’s a gorgeous area.
20. The Queen of Gold and Straw – This book was originally published as Chains of Gold, a 10,000 word story in the Happily Ever After multi-author series. (And it didn’t have a happy ending. Oops.)
21. The Sorceress in Training – Remember the Sorcerer’s Apprentice retelling I thought about writing for the Entwined Tales series? Here it is! (With a few adjustments.)
22. Knights of Obsidian – This book tried to destroy me. Judging from your emails, it tried to destroy you, too. Please know we suffered together. 
23. Traitor of the Entitled – Eric needed a book. Enough said. 
24. 27 Ways to Find a Boyfriend – This is the only contemporary romance Jake has ever read, and he only suffered through it because I needed him to fact check my car stuff.
25. 27 Ways to Mend His Broken Heart – I was about ten when I first went to Arizona, and I will never forget seeing the scorpion lollipops. I had to add it to the café so you could be horrified, too. You’re welcome.
26. 10 Ways to Survive Christmas with your Ex – We used to host an ugly sweater party every year. I never had a cool tree sweater dress though.
27. Creatures of Midnight – This is the last Obsidian Queen book I wrote as Shannon Lynn Cook. It was around this time I decided that having two fantasy pen names wasn’t working. I knew the series had a lot of potential, and I didn’t want to give up on it. In 2023, we moved the entire series to my Tapscott name. 
28. Forest of Firelight – I wrote the first version of this book years before I started publishing, but I lost the file. I’m glad I did, because this one is much better.  Also, it’s loosely based on a game I made up when I was a kid.
29. Sea of Starlight – This book contains my favorite cliffhanger ever. No, I’m not sorry.
30. Dawn of Darkness – I hadn’t originally intended to tell Aeron and Seraphina’s story on page, but they didn’t give me a choice. It was around this time I decided multi-POV books are my absolute favorite. 
31. Age of Auroras – I was absolutely, 100% obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Horizons while I was writing this final book. I swear it’s the only reason it got finished. (Animal Crossing is my happy place.)
32. Little Lost Love Letter – I made the USA Today list with this novella! It was part of the Love in the City multi-author set. (It’s now available for free under my new romcom pen name.)
33. Genevieve of Dragon Ridge – Remember how Elodie was the new final Eldentimber book? Well, I was wrong. This is the actual final story. (Also, I didn’t know how much I love writing villain redemption stories until I tackled this.)
34. Knight from the Ashes – This is the first book I wrote with Jake! It was the best experience, and I think we make a pretty good team.
35. Forged in Cursed Flames – When Jake and I were working on the world building, we asked each other what we’d like to see in a video game—not a book. I think it gave the whole series a slightly different vibe, and I absolutely love it. 
36. The Masked Fae – This book was loosely based on a dream. (A dream that had something to do with wolves. I have no idea how it became a fae book, but here we are.) Also, it features one of my favorite tropes—Dual Identity.
37. Fall of the Ember Throne – The moment where Henrik brushes Clover’s hand when they’re finally reunited is one of my favorites in the series. It’s subtle, but it still gives me butterflies.
38. The Gilded Fae – I didn’t realize I set myself up to write a book about a fairy princess until the pre-order was live. Yep. (It’s okay. I added kidnapping and blackmail to balance it out.)
39. Rise of the Phoenix King – Jake and I wrote this while we were in the process of selling our house. That whole summer is a blur. (Also, I just realized I was obsessing over Animal Crossing at this point again. Did I just have an epiphany? Is Animal Crossing the key to me finishing a series? *gasp*) 
40. Queen of Aparia – This was the first book I wrote and published after we transitioned into full-time RVers! Oh, and it also tried to kill me. Probably because I wasn’t playing Animal Crossing.
41. The Disgraced Fae – I learned how to pluck a chicken while writing this book. Not in real life, but the internet told me. So I’m an expert now.
42. The Vampire Hunter and the Heiress – Very few books write themselves, but when they do, they’re golden children from beginning to end. This was one of those books. It was an absolute dream to write. 
43. Corsair’s Curse – I got a little choked up when I had to write Flink again, because our Gunther had passed away several years before. I almost took him out of the series completely, as it was really painful at first. But I’m glad I kept him in it.
44. Isle of Sorrows – Wilder is the reason this spinoff happened. I actually started on his story (plot squirrel), and while I was writing it, the twins’ series finally came together.
45. Sunset Horizon – I’m not sure I should admit this, but this is my only book that Jake started…but didn’t finish. He doesn’t like caves. At all.
46. 27 Recipes for Romance – This was the first book I wrote under my new romcom pen name!
47. The Werewolf Hunter and the Apprentice – Confession: I absolutely love pairing a highly competent female character with a charming rogue male character, especially when he ends up being (insert Felix spoiler here.) Want to know what that spoiler is? Go read the book. ;)
48. Blood and Buttercups – I wrote this because the idea of a blood of the month subscription club and vampire support groups was too fun to pass up. 
49. Vampires and Violas – I imagined Sophia as a sophisticated, dark villain type. When she showed up, I was shocked. And delighted. 
50. Hunters and Hydrangeas – We’ve reached the end! The fun fact about Hunters and Hydrangeas is that it’s my fiftieth book! Now let’s see if I can make it to a hundred. 

Thank you so much for all your support over these last ten years. I couldn’t have done all this without you!

Wishing you the best,

Shari