by Sherry | Feb 22, 2016 | Book of Mercy, Creativity, On Writing, WriteTips, Writing
Unlike O. Henry, most of us are not short story factories. We stare at blank screens and wonder if our writing lives are over. What if we never get another fresh idea? What if that last essay or story or novel was it? Let’s look at how O. Henry defeated the...
by Sherry | Feb 7, 2016 | Book Marketing, Books, Publishing Industry
As chair of the Midwest Book Awards, I have discovered one can survive running a book awards program. It takes an immense amount of time, planning that would put most military strategists to shame, lots of contacts and friends with contacts, a patient and generous...
by Sherry | May 19, 2014 | Book Club, Reading, Writing
I love to travel so I am a fan of settings in books. But I don’t have much patience with pages of purple prose about snowy cliffs or waxy magnolia-guarded plantations or dark Victorian mansions. I like when settings infiltrate the heart of a book. Here are a few...
by Sherry | May 2, 2014 | Book Club, Book of Mercy, Parenting, Reading
The Book Club Series is an informal chat about what we love about books, movies, and television shows. Join the discussion. I’d love to hear from you. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, amateur detective and ardent chemist, is the precocious star of Alan...
by Sherry | Aug 26, 2013 | Down Dog Diary, Travel, Writing
After a visit to Tulum, the Maya ruins on the coast of the Yucatan in Mexico, and hearing about the human sacrifices, I knew I had to name the heroine in my upcoming mystery, Maya Skye: I am Maya Skye. I am named for a civilization that tracked celestial bodies...