Bio

Professional

My first poem was published at age five and my first article (what I did for summer vacation) was published with a local newspaper at age 13.  It earned me five dollars. Right then, I knew this was what I wanted to do.  In the years that followed I delved into the poetic deep end and until about five years ago, I was a poet who was a writer.  Now I’m…a writer.  Some still refer to me as ”Sherry, the Poet” but that is not the writer-person of today.  With luck, one day you will call me an “author.”

Selected poetry has appeared in literary magazines: Encounter, and Writer’s Exchange;  online, in Poetic Future Express, Poets Online and Writer’s Block. I worked as a staff columnist and asst. poetry editor for the online magazine, Amateur Poetry Journal, and I was invited to submit to the Riverside Center for the Arts National Poetry Anthology.  I’ve enjoyed work as a staff writer and photojournalist for a local newspaper.  Online, my early stories – The Revenants of Hawthorne Mansion, When Time and Blood Converge,  A Hush of Death - earned critical acclaim and, I’m proud to say, a readership of nearly two thousand at their peak in the early ’90′s.

When Time and Blood Converge was my first collaboration with another writer and was a serialized gothic romance. Collaboration taught me patience and how to see a story from many angles. It was a remarkable and beautiful experience. My first manuscript was a co-authored novel of contemporary romantic fiction.  This second collaboration challenged me as a novelist and demonstrated the need for strong characters and stronger plotting. These two experiences set me on the path of my current novel.  

Today, I’m actively writing a historical murder mystery (see WIP) as well as scribbling the second in a four arc series of stories about faeries.  Other short stories are in various drafts.  I am seeking a publisher for a completed book of poetry which I am considering self publishing and self marketing only because poetry is so hard to sell.

I submitted a photography book to an international competition and though I did not win, I was selected as a “staff pick.”  The book is available for review on the home page, and review if you desire it.  Any profit goes to charity.

My next step in 2010 is finding an agent.  I’m a great people person with dynamic, persuasive skills.  I will work diligently and tirelessly to market my own books if there is someone who will take a calculated chance on me.  I am worth it.

Personal

I am a tweeter, a blogger, a wife, and a military veteran.  Have I mentioned  I hate giving myself titles and names?  Say simply, I am a passionate woman of many diverse talents, abilities and experiences.

Rumor has it I can converse with the wind, snow faeries, and the moon.  I have been known to do snow dances in moonlight and whisper poetry to the trees.  Most know I am a vampire connoisseur. I spent over half my life studying the myths and legends of the varied undead.  And let us be clear about one thing – I like my vampires scary and deadly (give me a wicked Lestat, thank you Ms. Rice). Also, I am endlessly fascinated with dragons because, like the undead, they have appeared in every culture around the world without being connected.  Where there is smoke…yes?

I love to read and recently read:  Jim Butcher, Jeanne Kalogridis, Katie MacAlister, Madelyn Alt,  MaryJane Davidson, Charlaine Harris, and Wm Mark Simmons.  (I am crazy for Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series!)

Finally, I am a child at heart, happily married, my best friend is a wonderful writer, my sister is a twice-published author.  My husband loves model trains, golf, his job and my craziness.  Me?  I love  coffee, chocolate, cheese, books, old movies, NASA, NASCAR, fantasy, vampires, cemeteries, wine, cooking, husband, family, bff.  I hate….LABELS! Arg!