Welcome to another author interview with the brilliant and talented, Ms. Sharon Srock.
Sharon, thank you so much for agreeing to be on my blog! I’ve got lots of questions so let’s dive right in. Jesse is book four in the Sisters by Design series and I had the privilege of listening to the audiobook. I thought the narration was wonderfully done. Did it capture the story the way you pictured it?
SHARON: I don’t think that anyone except the author can capture all the little nuances that you hear in your head as you write the story. But since narration is not a part of my job description, I think Becky does a fantastic job. It helps that she’s done all of the Sisters books and knows the stories and characters almost as well as I do. Each one just gets better as she builds the layers.
SHAREE: I love the books that you write because you have such a wonderful way of making the people and places come alive. I especially love the bond of friendship between the characters. What’s something you’d want a reader to take away from Jesse?
SHARON: I’ve been blessed to have just this sort of friendship with ladies I’ve known since I was fourteen. I guess I’d want my readers to know just how important these friendships are to our well being. We don’t get together as often as my characters, but I know they are there if I need them. I hope they know the same thing about me.
SHAREE: What’s something that might surprise our readers about you?
SHARON: Oh…confession time. I’m a trekkie. I have hundreds of books and videos and a couple of uniforms in my closet. The first serious piece of fiction I wrote was Star Trek fiction. I was able to meet all of the original cast and I even got James Doohan (Scotty) lost in Oklahoma City, but that’s another story.
SHAREE: What does a typical writing day look like?
SHARON: Now that I’m retired, I try to spend regular office ours out in my writing office. I try to keep to regular hours so the hubs knows when he can bother me and when he can’t. Everyday weekday between 1 and 4, I’m “working”. He knows not to bother me unless there is bleeding or death to report. LOL. When I’m writing I try to get a 1000 words a day. First I go over what I wrote the day before and see if it needs work, then I go on to what’s next. If I have writing business to do (newsletter, formatting, marketing…) I spend my time there. Maybe an admin day once every couple of weeks.
SHAREE: Do you have a muse?
SHARON: I actually had to look this up. LOL I knew what it meant, but I didn’t KNOW what it meant. What or who inspires me? Would it be cliché if I said God? He called me to this job and I depend on Him to give me the direction He wants the story to take. If that inspiration ever goes missing, I’ll stop writing.
SHAREE: Are there things you must have done or need to do before you can write?
SHARON: If you are talking about outlines and research, no. I’m a total seat-of-the-pants writer. Outlines make me feel trapped and since my characters are whispering to me all the time, things never go the way I think at the start. Research I do as necessary while I’m writing. In Jesse’s story I needed to know more about spouse abuse than I knew, so I sent out questions to my writer’s groups and Facebook readers groups. Between them and google, I can usually find what I need pretty quickly and just keep writing.
SHAREE: What do you enjoy reading?
SHARON: I am not a reader locked into a single genre. I love well done Science Fiction and fantasy. I like court room dramas and romantic suspense. I don’t read a lot of women’s fiction, and I rarely do straight romance.
SHAREE: Thanks so much for joining us today. Here’s my review of Jesse for all of you.
Author Sharon Srock went from science fiction to Christian fiction at slightly less than warp speed. Thirty years ago, she cut her writer’s teeth on Star Trek fiction. Today, she writes inspirational stories that focus on ordinary women using their faith to accomplish extraordinary things. Sharon lives in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma with her husband and three very large dogs. When she isn’t writing, she loves to read, cook, and travel. She’s still working on a way to do all three at the same time.
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Please visit her AMAZON page to find current info on her books: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Srock/e/B009OB2HSO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
These are universal links for each of the Sister’s stories:
Links:
MAC: https://books2read.com/u/4XodDg
RANDY: https://books2read.com/u/4NRpyG
CHARLEY: https://www.books2read.com/u/3RokRB
JESSE: https://books2read.com/u/4AYGJq
SYD: https://books2read.com/u/bPZNN7
Great interview, Sharon.
I’ve never been a science fiction fan, but even I think it’s really cool you got James Doohan lost in OK City. Sounds like a fun story.
I can relate to your writing schedule and setting office hours so your husband knows when he can bother you. 🙂
Hi Connie, I think it’s important to have a routine, especially now that I don’t have a daily work schedule.
Enjoyed learning about you and your writing, Sharon. I’m a panster, but would love to become comfortable with plotting. I have lots of relatives in Oklahoma and always enjoy my visits there. Thanks for a great interview, Sharee.
Laura, thanks for stopping by!