An Interview with Sherry Ficklin!

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!

Here is Sherry, signing a copy of her book.  (Could be YOUR copy!)  Comment before midnight on Friday to enter, and I'll figure out how to use one of those random number generator thingies to pick the two winners.