Ask the Author: Sharon Gerlach
Answered Questions (8)
Sharon Gerlach
I have one, possibly two more to add to Harper & Lyttle, and at least three more to add to Blackberry House. Since the Haldemann family is so large, there may be even more... :-)
Sharon Gerlach
I apologize for the delay in answering - it's been very hectic with the release of my latest book.
We really have lost touch with our genealogy. It's very possible that we are related to this Charles (Karl) Gerlach, but without a lot of intensive research, I wouldn't be able to tell for certain.
We really have lost touch with our genealogy. It's very possible that we are related to this Charles (Karl) Gerlach, but without a lot of intensive research, I wouldn't be able to tell for certain.
Sharon Gerlach
I wish I knew. Sometimes a story can be inspired by a song, or a lyric in a song, or something that happens in a movie, or just a random what-if that occurs to me out of the blue. This one just kind of walked in and set up shop. Since I was working on other projects at the time, I shelved it for a number of years and have just come back to it when the plot suddenly evolved into something I really wanted to write.
Sharon Gerlach
Ideas just come. Usually, they're a vague concept at first. Once I've thought about it (obsessed about it?) long enough to develop a premise, I let ideas tumble around in my mind until things start to gel and a plot begins to form. Really. That's all there is to it.
Sharon Gerlach
A stand-alone psychological thriller titled BURNING BOOKS. It's a year after a solar superstorm erased roughly a year of memories from earth's entire population - a year everyone refers to as "the missing year" or "the lost year." The EMP from the superstorm erased all data from computer systems. The world is recovering slowly from the aftermath. Molly McKinley and her mentally ill twin brother Magnus discover seven books in an obscure rare bookshop with their names printed inside the back covers. Once read, the books burn completely, leaving only the memory of the story contained inside - a psychological cat-and-mouse story that ends in brutal torture, told in the victim's own words. Molly becomes entranced with the story, following clues left behind after each book burns, certain they are the key to unraveling a mystery locked inside the lost year. As each books burns and opens up more of the mystery, Molly's fear and paranoia increase exponentially, until she begins to fear that reading the last book will be the last thing she ever does.
Sharon Gerlach
Write every day. Finish your stories, even if they are crap. Throw nothing away - you never know when an idea you had years ago could play into a story you're writing now. Seek critiques, accept feedback, don't take criticism personally.
Sharon Gerlach
Honestly? Releasing all the ideas and voices of a story onto paper and getting them out of my head. Once a story is written, those ideas and characters cease making noise. It's an enormous relief.
Sharon Gerlach
I don't believe in writer's block. I believe if you are unable to write, you are under too much stress, you have just finished another story and are in the process of "letting go," or the story hasn't developed in your mind to the point that you can write it. Any of these things can bring on a kind of mental paralysis.
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