Hey everyone! I decided to try something different on my blog. I am going to start an Author Spotlight page. I love to read and I am always looking for new books and would love to meet more authors out there.And thought it would be great to be able to share that with you too. That way we get to meet some of today's upcoming and successful authors together. I am super excited about my special guest today and feel so grateful she took the time away from her very busy schedule to answer fifteen questions for us.
Today we get to meet the talented
SHERRY D. FICKLIN !!!
Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people.
She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is often only seen in blurry photographs.
She is the author of The Gods of Fate Trilogy. Book 1, Foresight, book 2, Second Sight, and Book 3, Hindsight, are now available. She is also the author of the adult paranormal novels, The Palmetto Moon series. Book 1, Born of Blood and book 2, Grave Secrets are now available. Her previously self-published novel After Burn: Military Brats has been acquired by Harlequin and will be released in 2014 with a second book in that series to follow.
Her newest YA steampunk novel, EXTRACTED: The Lost Imperials book 1, co-written with Tyler H. Jolley is under contract with Spencer Hill Press. Book 1, EXTRACTED, is due for release 11.12.13. It is now available for pre-order.
INTERVIEW WITH SHERRY D. FICKLIN
1 )Which was the very
first book you wrote? What inspired you to write it?
My very first book was FORESIGHT. I keep a dream journal and there was this piece of it I kept dreaming about. I was writing fan fic one day and my husband said, “Why don’t you try writing something of your own? Something you can publish?” So I went through the journal and plucked out that scene. I had the whole book written in about three weeks.
My very first book was FORESIGHT. I keep a dream journal and there was this piece of it I kept dreaming about. I was writing fan fic one day and my husband said, “Why don’t you try writing something of your own? Something you can publish?” So I went through the journal and plucked out that scene. I had the whole book written in about three weeks.
2) A lot of authors stick to a
specific genre when they write, but your books fall in a bunch of genres. Did
you always plan to be such a diverse author? Or when you first started did you
plan to write only a specific genre?
No, there was never a plan, there still isn’t! I write what I love, whatever strikes my fancy. But I do seem to lean towards YA.
No, there was never a plan, there still isn’t! I write what I love, whatever strikes my fancy. But I do seem to lean towards YA.
3) Your previously self-published novel, After Burn, was just picked up by
Harlequin. How exciting! I’m sure indie authors are curious to know how that
happened. Did they contact you? Did you query them? What tips might you have
for other previous self-published authors looking to have their already
published works picked up by a publishing company?
You know, it’s really about always looking to ‘create opportunity’. I was
reading some of my trade blogs and I discovered that Harlequin was launching a
new line that (sometimes) accepted previously self published work. I knew mine
was getting great reviews as was, but could really benefit from a strong editor
and marketing team, so I submitted it. They loved it and took it right away. I
think 99% of the time in publishing you have to watch for the chances to come
open, then jump in with both feet. The worst thing you will ever hear is ‘no’.
So you learn to be immune to the ‘no’.
4) Out of all your novels, which is your favorite and why?
That is so hard, like asking a mother to pick a favorite child. I think my heart is always most with the one I’m currently working on. You have to be madly in love with a book to finish writing it. So right now, it’s Prodigal and Dangerous Tides.
That is so hard, like asking a mother to pick a favorite child. I think my heart is always most with the one I’m currently working on. You have to be madly in love with a book to finish writing it. So right now, it’s Prodigal and Dangerous Tides.
5) Your highly anticipated novel, Extracted, was co-written with author Tyler H
Jolley. Did you find co-writing with another author harder or easier?
Writing with another author was amazing (but that might just be Tyler) and having a second set of hands to do the heavy lifting on marketing and promo has been heavenly. I think the only hard part was editing. We both had very strong ideas of the characters that when it came time to really slice and dice the manuscript, it was hard to decide what to keep and what to let go. It was different for each of us.
Writing with another author was amazing (but that might just be Tyler) and having a second set of hands to do the heavy lifting on marketing and promo has been heavenly. I think the only hard part was editing. We both had very strong ideas of the characters that when it came time to really slice and dice the manuscript, it was hard to decide what to keep and what to let go. It was different for each of us.
6) How did you two come up with the idea for Extracted?
The initial idea was mine. I’d been writing the third Gods of Fate book (Hindsight) and I heard this girl in the back of my mind. I got her name, Ember, and that was all for a while. Then, once that book was done, I sat down and let her story start to flow. Once I realized who she was, and that her story wasn’t just hers but Lex’s as well, I knew I needed to bring in someone who could write a strong, authentic male character and operate in a heavily science fiction world. Tyler was the logical choice.
The initial idea was mine. I’d been writing the third Gods of Fate book (Hindsight) and I heard this girl in the back of my mind. I got her name, Ember, and that was all for a while. Then, once that book was done, I sat down and let her story start to flow. Once I realized who she was, and that her story wasn’t just hers but Lex’s as well, I knew I needed to bring in someone who could write a strong, authentic male character and operate in a heavily science fiction world. Tyler was the logical choice.
7) How many books are there going to be in the Lost Imperials series?
Three. But we have toyed with the idea of doing a spin-off series later. There are a lot of characters we just don’t have time to really explore in these books, so who knows?
Three. But we have toyed with the idea of doing a spin-off series later. There are a lot of characters we just don’t have time to really explore in these books, so who knows?
8) How many books are there going to be in your Palmetto Moon series?
Again, three. This last book will (hopefully) see things begin to resolve for Sophie, thought not in the way you might expect.
Again, three. This last book will (hopefully) see things begin to resolve for Sophie, thought not in the way you might expect.
9) What is your favorite genre to read? Why?
I read a LOT of YA. I’m not sure what the lure is. I guess it takes me back to a place where literally anything is possible. First kisses and world ending dramas. It’s all so fresh and raw.
I read a LOT of YA. I’m not sure what the lure is. I guess it takes me back to a place where literally anything is possible. First kisses and world ending dramas. It’s all so fresh and raw.
10) Is there a specific author or person that has inspired you to write?
You know, my biggest inspiration is my family. They are so supportive and wonderful. I couldn’t ask for better cheerleaders.
You know, my biggest inspiration is my family. They are so supportive and wonderful. I couldn’t ask for better cheerleaders.
11) Do you work on one book at a time then go on to the next novel or do you
work on multiple stories at a time?
Usually I have three going at a time. One gets my main focus, but when I’m in a rut on it, I go tinker on other projects. It’s usually about who is talking in my head at the time.
Usually I have three going at a time. One gets my main focus, but when I’m in a rut on it, I go tinker on other projects. It’s usually about who is talking in my head at the time.
12) What advice could you give aspiring authors that may be discouraged by the
intimidating writing world?
Just write. Don’t quit writing for anything. It’s a rough business, but it’s also 99% determination. Just keep pushing until you push through. Then do it all over again.
Just write. Don’t quit writing for anything. It’s a rough business, but it’s also 99% determination. Just keep pushing until you push through. Then do it all over again.
13) You’re a full-time writer, but was there anything else you wanted to be?
(ie: Teacher, Journalist, Doctor, etc)
I wanted to be an oceanographer. I was so inspired by Robert Ballard and all the work he was doing when I was a kid, I was like, Yes. I want to do that. Underwater Volcanoes? Sign me up.
I wanted to be an oceanographer. I was so inspired by Robert Ballard and all the work he was doing when I was a kid, I was like, Yes. I want to do that. Underwater Volcanoes? Sign me up.
14) What has been your favorite moment as an author so far?
This year I got to go to BEA in NYC and sigh copies of Extracted. There were squeeling fangirls lined up around the corner for a copy. It was so rockstar. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.
This year I got to go to BEA in NYC and sigh copies of Extracted. There were squeeling fangirls lined up around the corner for a copy. It was so rockstar. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.
15) And finally if you could go any place in the world, at any point in time (Future or past too) where would you go and why?
I would go to the Library at Alexandria. So much knowledge in one place, I love libraries anyway (when I went to Switzerland I made a trek to the Library at St. Gallen and holy crap was it amazing) and it would be the ultimate.
Again, a special thanks to Sherry for taking the time out and joining me today on my blog. I hope you all take the time and check out some of her work if you haven't already. She's very talented and we definitely are going to see a lot more from her in the next year. Maybe if I am lucky she will even stop by again and say "Hello."
Check out the books she currently has available for sale below. There are a lot of good ones to check out.
Or swing by her website: http://sherryficklin.com/
Or her blog for further info: http://sherryficklin.blogspot.com/
Available for Pre-order now!
EXTRACTED Welcome to the war. The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it. The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens--their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream. Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war. When Lex's girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It's there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back. Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both again.
The Gods of Fate Series
FORESIGHT
Attacked at her graduation by a mysterious woman and a gruesome
henchmen, Grace was lucky to escape with her life. Rescued by her Aunt
Phoenix and a Fae warrior named Chris, Grace is confronted by the
startling truth about her heritage. Her mother was the Greek Goddess
Pandora. Now it has fallen to Grace to protect her mother’s box from the
crazed Demi-Goddess Lilith, who is determined to use it to unleash hell
on Earth. As if her bizarre blood legacy wasn’t enough, Grace has
begun developing frightening new powers that threaten to destroy her
from the inside out. In a world where nothing is what she thought it
would be, can Grace find the strength to defeat Lilith and learn to
control her powers before she loses her mind?
SECOND SIGHTWhen Chris is pulled into the Underworld, Grace Archer will stop at nothing to get him back. Unfortunately the fallen guardian Samael is on the loose with a dangerous relic that puts all the immortals lives in jeopardy.
With her powers on the fritz, Grace must help track down Samael and retrieve the deadly Eye of Hera before any more gods fall victim to his madness. Grace also has to infiltrate Hades and convince the god of the dead to release Chris. But when you make a bargain with the devil, you pay with your soul.
HINDSIGHTOn her own for the first time, Grace has come into her full powers as an immortal and has taken up the mantle her father, Prometheus, offered her. Leaving behind everything and everyone she loved, Grace has become a pawn in a dangerous game that threatens to undo a centuries old truce between the Gods and the Fae. On the brink of war Grace must choose to stand with Chris and Phoenix, or with Prometheus and her immortal family. Can Grace find a way to repair the damage that’s been done, or will she become the Harbinger the Gods of Fate predicted?
BORN OF BLOOD (BOOK 1)
Sophie D’Angelo
reluctantly takes over the Palmetto Moon Detective Agency in
Charleston. Though she's the third generation proprieter she had
different plans until her father passed away and left her the family
business. And it seems like all Sohie's plans fail lately. Her fiance,
Caleb Brooks, is turned into a vampire on the eve of their wedding. She
now has a business partner rather than a life partner--or so she
thinks.
Their current case seems like the act of some random arson, but as usual Sophie lands in a tough spot--bound with duct tape in the closet of a burning building. Will she escape and manage to save Caleb who is slumped beside her, druggd and vulnerable to little else but fire? Will she maintain a strictly business relationship with her former love, and what part in this ongoing horror story will Rayne, leader of the vampires, play in her case? What part might he play in her personal life? Read Born of Blood, the premier book in the edgy Palmetto Moon horror series to find out!
Their current case seems like the act of some random arson, but as usual Sophie lands in a tough spot--bound with duct tape in the closet of a burning building. Will she escape and manage to save Caleb who is slumped beside her, druggd and vulnerable to little else but fire? Will she maintain a strictly business relationship with her former love, and what part in this ongoing horror story will Rayne, leader of the vampires, play in her case? What part might he play in her personal life? Read Born of Blood, the premier book in the edgy Palmetto Moon horror series to find out!
GRAVE SECRETS (BOOK 2)
No pulse? No problem.
Sophie D'Angelo is good with weird, but
her latest investigation takes the cake. A young pregnant woman goes
missing and the only witness is a hundred year old ghost. Sophie
reluctantly agrees to play host to the specter who seems more interested
in Caleb then in solving the case. As her personal life falls apart
around her, Sophie will have to decide how far she's willing to go for
justice, and what she's willing to risk to make things right with Caleb
again.
But how is she supposed to do iany of
that with the charismatic Rayne Blackwood vying for her help, her time,
and ultimately, her heart?
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