And now for something completely different.  I told you that my friend Sherry recently had her first book published.  Well, she was nice enough to let me interview her for the ol’ blog.  Here we go.

Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: My story ideas can come from anywhere.  I’m a particularly visual person, so much of the book is from places I’ve been or, for example, the female characters from Foresight were inspired by a faerie postcard I saw in the store.  Of course I bought a whole stack of them.  Whenever I find something like that, I have this box of things that inspire me that I keep them in.

Q: Do you have a set writing schedule, or do you just write when you feel inspired?
A: I try to write something every day, no matter what.  Even if it’s just a letter to a friend.  I don’t have a set schedule per se, my life is just too hectic, but I set aside a few hours each morning to take care of the “business stuff” like answering e-mails, calling the publisher, etc.  Then the rest of the day I write whenever I can.

Q: What part of the writing process do you find most challenging?
A: My biggest problem is not being distracted by the internet.  LOL!  Seriously, I’ll get online to do a scrap of research and four hours lager I’m like, where did my day go??

Q: How did you go about finding a publisher/getting your book(s) published?
A: I found a website that was amazing.  It’s querytracker.com.  It has a forum of people who will help critique, help you form a query letter, and a HUGE database of agents and publishers.  I finished the book, wrote the query and synopsis, and started e-mailing.  Although, to be totally honest, I found my publisher through an industry friend who pointed me in their direction.

Q: In addition to the next two books in the Gods of Fate series, you have another series coming out next year.  Can you give us a little teaser about those books?
A: Ah yes.  I just sold a new teen mystery series.  It’s the Military Brats series and book one is AFTERBURN.  It follows Reece Barnet, a teen girl whose father is in the USMC.  It’s sort of a throwback to the classic Nancy Drew novels, but with a bit of an edge.

My hope is to do a four part series, one for each branch of the armed forces.  It was sort of funny, when I started looking for a publisher for it no one would take it because it was too different from anything that was out.  There are no vampires or fantasy of any kind, but it’s not a romance either.  People went, what is THIS?  After a particularly strange rejection I threatened to change the title to Military Brats: There’s No Sex In This Book.  LOL.  But when I showed it to Accomplice Press, they loved it.  Finding someone who gets you and gets your book is like striking gold.

Q: What advice would you give any aspiring authors out there?
A: Just keep writing.  I sat on a panel this last weekend of people who had sold their first book this year and every one of them has at least 3 or 4 other novels they have finished or are working on.  Rejection happens.  Every HUGE author out there could show you a stack of rejections.  The trick is to keep pushing forward, let the bad roll off and absorb the good, and never quit.  I often attribute my first sale to the fact that I am just too stubborn to quit.  Oh, and one other small thing.  Publishing a book takes FOREVER.  Seriously.  Like years.  Don’t get discouraged if you’ve been at it for 6 months with no luck.  It took me 4 months to write Foresight and 3 years to sell it.  It’s a slow business, not a reflection on you or your talent.

There you have it folks.  Now you all know how to write an publish a novel!  Okay, maybe not.  BUT, now that you’ve read this far, let’s do a giveaway!  Crazy right?  Sherry is giving away a reversible book tote with a beaded book mark, Foresight button, and various goodies from some of her favorite authors.

And *I* am giving away a signed copy of Sherry’s book!