Sheri Lynn Interview Published on: 12, Sep 2018

First and foremost my Dad was pretty strict. I’m happy for that. It made me strive to challenge myself and instilled in me a desire to not disappoint people, especially ones I respect. We moved every 2-3 years so I don’t have any childhood friends that I have kept in touch with. It can be difficult moving and trying to make friends. I have strong ties to my family. They are the ones who have always been a constant in my life. I did get to live in a many different places and I know that I am fortunate to have had that opportunity.

Oh my. Georgia. Mississippi. Germany. Texas. North Carolina. Minnesota. Alabama.

Florida. I currently am splitting my time between Alabama and Florida, so I guess I would say one or the other I could live forever. My Mom is from Alabama and we moved there when my Dad retired and I was a junior in high school. Talk about a bad time to move to a new school where you don’t know a single soul. So much of my adult life I have been in Alabama. Alabama is green and lush and has mountains and beaches. Florida is not as beautiful in my opinion but it has warmer temps and beaches galore.

I don’t think I have discovered my favorite beach in the world. There are still several I wish to see. Spain. Phuket. Now that I will be living close to the beach, I will be writing there. I have written while at the beach when I am there longer than a few days. If I’m on vacation, I generally just vacation.

I don’t give my poor blog the attention I should. So, I don’t go in and see what’s new on the blogs I have followed. If while scrolling facebook I see a post that interests me with a link to a blog, I’ll click it.

I haven’t read a whole lot of paranormal to be honest. Of course I read Twilight and loved it, but I don’t know what first made me want to write one, which was years before Twilight. I think there was an open submission call years ago for some and an idea came to me. I started writing for it, but never finished. The story just stayed with me though until I did finish it. Well, I ended up liking Carlee’s friends so much in His Eternal Promise that I knew I wanted to write their stories. Lana’s story is in the works. I love watching vampire movies. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is my favorite.

I think it’s interesting to write paranormal because you can take such liberties with them. You can make it what you want. There isn’t any right or wrong. There are so many variations.

Not this one, no. I originally thought I would write Jessica’s story as her visiting Frannie in Alaska and meeting a military man. But I liked Corey, and I wanted him to find his happy ending and get a good woman he deserved. I did originally have Frannie’s story ending up differently, but that is probably the only book I’ve written to date that really didn’t go as I originally thought.

In all truth I would have to go back and look at it. I was in a Christmas anthology last year, and I would be afraid I would mix up which stories were in which book. I am the type of reader that may not read for a few months, and then I won’t be able to stop reading for several months once I pick it up again. I recently got hooked on Ginger Talbot’s books. I read several back to back. They are dark, not my usual genre, but very well written and held my interest so much I couldn’t put them down until I reached the end. I am reading Mud Vein at the moment by Tarryn Fisher. Her words and flow make me feel like a complete amateur.

I think all of my relationships surface in my writing. I have written family dynamics into my stories. Mother/Father relationships. Parent/child relationships. Friend relationships. So, yes, my personal experiences inspire my writing. I got asked a couple of weeks ago at a reader event which of my books was my favorite. I paused over several of my books I had on my table and thought about them and the reasons why it was my favorite, but I responded that they are like my children…I don’t have a favorite, they all are.

My husband doesn’t read my books. Not that he isn’t supportive, but he doesn’t think he could give any honest, constructive criticism because it’s not his reading choice. He does let me discuss plot lines with him, and read excerpts.

Yes. Frannie was happy being on her own raising Zach. Both men she had relationships with returned at the same time wanting a second chance. And of course I wrote her story how I would want her to handle it. Don’t make a rush decision. Take your time to look beyond just today, next week, next year. And, don’t forget to look at the past too. How did the past mold you? Did it hurt you? Did it strengthen you? Does the good outweigh the bad?

I used the guy of my dreams. A man that would make me throw caution to the wind, lose myself to the moment, and share my enthusiasm and the allure. A man that would protect and support me. Build me up and never put me down. One that wouldn’t allow me to feel regret and guilt by following my instincts and my heart, but encourage it.

Most likely on a Sunday you will find me in or near the water. I’m either out on the river, by the pool, or sitting on the beach. My goal is always to try and write on Sundays, but most times I have plans with family or friends and writing doesn’t get done.

I feel I have great relationships with my children. My oldest and I text several times a week and see each other when we can (both of us have had jobs where a lot of phone time is required, we both hate talking on the phone). He works a lot and lives in North Alabama. My second, a son, is married and they are expecting their first baby in November. They come and stay a weekend with me usually once a month. And my baby, the only girl, just left for college in August and is realizing she is more of a homebody and Mama’s girl than she realized. I went and saw her the first weekend and she came home the next one. She’s having a little trouble adjusting but I told her to give it time.

A confident man. A driven, self-motivated, passionate man. Kind. Sincere. Intelligent. Handsome is always a bonus, hahaha.

The Heart Won’t Forget. I recalled and relived the emotional experience I had very similar to Frannie’s. The isolation one can feel when they experience a devastating blow of disappointment in someone or ones they held in high esteem. How it can seep into other relationships you have without you realizing. The loneliness and isolation you can feel during those times. And each minor or major disappointment can compound until you are reluctant to lean on or trust anyone but yourself for fear of being once again hurt.

It’s tough out there. There is an abundance of talent and stories for readers to choose from. If you have a story that won’t leave you alone and allow you any peace of mind until you release it onto the screen, do it. If you don’t have thick skin, you better grow some. There will always be someone who isn’t going to like the way you write, or your story, or your heroine/hero. But if you touch one reader and they can relate to your story, it makes the harsher criticism, reviews, and or comments easier to not stay focused on if there wasn’t anything constructive in them. Success in writing is writing it in the first place.

I have at least four books partially finished. I’m currently finishing book 2 in The Heroines of Neoma series. It is my futuristic romance series, and I’m happy to be back working on this as I got side-tracked with other books and other deadlines so this has been sitting on the back burner for quite some time. I have a couple more anthology projects due out in the next year. I’ll finish the second book in Eternal Gifts series, my vampire romance series.